Reflections on the 

Spiritual Excercice in Chiangmai

By Jobin Thayyil

For me the retreat in Chiangmai was very helpful. The place itself was very calm and quite. That surrounding helped me to think deeply. Since there was also a lot of time I was able to think more deeply about my vocation. The biblical passages given by the retreat master for contemplation were also related to vocation.

In the first day our retreat masters Rev. Fr. Paul asked us to pray three times. He gave two bible passages those were ex. 2:23 – 3: 12 and 1 Samuel 3--. 1-10. He also gave us the pictures related to these passages. First I meditated on ex2:23. It was about calling of Moses. God called Moses when he went closer to God. He approached the burning bush out of curiosity. When he approach it God talked to him. So in order to hear and respond to Gods call I should also go closer to him. Moses was also asked to take off his sandals. This means that we have to detach from world. We have to take off the impure things to approach God. To approach the holy place we have to remove everything which are hindrance to holiness. The detachment from the world will help me more to attach to God. God always listen the cry of his people. He is a God who is having compassion to his people. He chose Moses to save Israel from the slavery of Egypt. Thus we can say that every vocation is the answer for the cry of God’s people. I am also called by God to wipe the tears of his people and bring them to him. Moses was a person who could not speak well. When Moses said this to God he said that I am with you. I am also very weak but God can make me strong.

I received the same message when I reflect on the book of Samuel. God called Samuel when he was sleeping in the temple. He was very close to God. Samuel was able to respond well to His call with the help of Eli.   He said that Lord speak your servant is listening. I also have to respond to God’s call and submit myself fully to God like Samuel. In the thirds prayer period   I reflected on Luke 10. 11-12. this passage was about the choosing and sending of 72 disciples by Jesus. They were sent by Jesus to preach. It is the duty of the disciples to preach. Whether people accept or reject they must to preach the good news trusting fully in God.

The second day Fr. Paul taught us two methods of prayer; contemplation and Lectio Divina. We were asked to pray three times. I used the method of contemplation for two prayer periods. In this method there are three preludes. 1. Read and understand the history. 2. Imagine the place, the characters and the events. 3. Ask our God what I want and desire. First I reflect upon Jn .1. 34- 42.it says about the first disciples of Jesus. I also tried to put myself in the gospel. At first I found it very hard to concentrate because I was very distracted.  But after wards I was able to do that. I reflect on this gospel in the garden of seven foundens. Jesus was asking the disciples to come and see where he was living. They went and stayed with him. They were able to understand and proclaim about him. They brought Simeon to Him. Since I am also called to proclaim Christ I must know Him first. So at the end of the meditation I asked the intercession of Mary the mother of God and concluded the meditation with an Our father.

In the second section I reflected on john. 1 .43- 53using the same method. This says about the calling of Philip. Jesus called Philip and said. “Follow me.” He followed him suddenly. He was also able to bring Nathaniel to Jesus.

 When he reached Jesus told that Jesus had seen him before when he was sitting under the fig tree. He also believed in him. During the time of contemplation I was very peaceful and I was able to complete my meditation and imagine the gospel. At the end I asked the intercession of mother Mary to pray for me to increase my faith. I concluded my prayer with an our father.

In the third section I use the method of Lectio Divimna. I reflected on Jn. 1 1-18. I read the scripter passage slowly slower than usual without pausing. After that I read the passage again used word by word and phrase by phrase. When I came to know that a phrase touched me I tried to reflect on it. The phrase which touched me was Jn 1. 8, “he himself was not the light but he came to testify the light.” It was said about john The Baptize. He was sent by God and his duty was to testify Jesus. The duty of the disciples of Jesus is also same that is to show or introduce Him to the people. That is the duty of all who received the call of discipleship. I am also called to be the disciple of Jesus so that it is also my duty to lead the people to Him. This is the massage I received from this prayer section. I found this method is easier and comfortable because we reflect word by word and phrase by phrase. So if it is started to distract we can continue the reading and go to other phrases or words. So it is more helpful to avoid distractions. I found it more peaceful and comfortable. 

The last day also we were asked to pray three times. The first section I used the passage of Luke 17- 11.19. It was about the ten leopards. I used the method of contemplation. The message of the gospel was to thank God for all the blessings. I went to the main chapel and did it and gave thanks for all the graces that he gave to me.

In the second section we were asked to sing psalms of thanks giving. We were asked to do it without disturbing others. So I went to the hut at the corner of the garden and did this. I used the canticle of Daniel. I tried to remember all the blessing she had showered upon me and thanked him.

In the next prayer section I went to the Labyrinth.  I reflect on Jn. 2.5 That the words of mother Mary “do whatever he tells you.” I reflected this words and walks slowly through that .the message I received from the prayer section was to do all things according to the will of God. For doing the will of God I have to listen the word of God and to live according to the word of God.

So for me the retreat was very helpful. It really helped me to increase my spiritual life. It helped me to acquire knowledge about knew mew methods of prayer. So the retreat was very useful.

Journey through the Labyrinth

(Experiencing God through Ignatian Spiritual Exercises)

By Carlos Pezaña Avenido

      

 The Labyrinth has been known since the civilization started in every habitation around the world. In Greek Mythology, labyrinth has been described as a passage going through the different kingdoms of the gods and goddesses, including that of Hades which is the underworld, and going to the Olympus where most of the gods resided.

       According to Fr. Paul Pullock SJ our retreat director, the labyrinth has been the place of worship used by the Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians, for meditations to obtain inner peace and enlightenment. To have a firsthand experienced in the labyrinth during our three day retreat at the Seven Fountains Spirituality Center run by the Jesuits in Chiang Mai was very inspiring and faith enriching. For three days I prayed in the labyrinth many times, and there was a day that I prayed three times with different styles of prayer.

       As I go through with this reflection, I will be writing here the development of my prayers in the labyrinth and as a whole in the Seven Fountains Spirituality Center, since from the beginning until the end of our retreat.

       I was really amazed after experiencing praying in the Labyrinth many times because it is just like the story of yourself journeying towards God which is at the center of the Labyrinth, sometimes you feel that God is very near to you but you could not touch Him because it is not the end of your journey yet, sometimes you would feel that God is very far from you because you are walking at the very side of the Labyrinth. While continuing your journey you would think a lot of things and many distractions would try to trouble you. Sometimes you would lose your consciousness as regards to what you do and sometimes you would feel very tired because of thinking that you are walking too far already. And then, when you feel very tired but you still want to continue to walk, it would be the time that you would reach God at the center of the labyrinth which means that would be the end of your journey. It was really an amazing experienced!

      

On the first day of the retreat, there were a lot of things troubled and distracted my attention especially during prayers. The feeling that I just wanted to walk and walk until the day would be over. At that time I had no destination, I had no goals, and I could not concentrate on the things that I must supposed to do. I have a lot of questions in my mind such as, how much time did I spend eating? How much time I spent at the chapel? How much time did I spend walking around the spirituality center? And how much time did I spend praying at the labyrinth? The time runs very slow for me at the moment, I have completed the three prayers that should be prayed for the day, I have prayed the rosary three times already, I walked around many times and I prayed at the labyrinth twice already but still these were not enough to end the day immediately. On the other hand, my experienced in the labyrinth during that day was not so good because of the distractions that troubled me a lot, but just like the other days it should have ending and so, I ended the day not so perfect and waited for the next day to come.

       On the second day, I started to love the place, the ambiance of the environment, the trees, the plants and flowers at the surroundings. At least unlike the first day, I have plans and goals already to be achieved at the end of the retreat, in other words I knew already what to do. In my prayers in the chapel and in the labyrinth, I have accomplished and made them without too much distractions. I was able to talk to the Lord deep inside me without minding all the disturbances that were trying to control my consciousness. And unlike the previous day, I did accept the place wholeheartedly.

       The only thing that for me made my day incomplete is that, I was not able to talk to my retreat director because of overstaying at the chapel for my first prayer period. I did not really notice the time and so when I finished my prayer period without knowing that I have overstayed at the chapel, then when I went to the main building it was already 11:15 am and I supposed to meet my retreat director 10:50 am. Thus I have no choice but to wait for another day to have a chance to talk to him. However, all in all, the day was good for me and I felt the gladness and joy in my heart through reading and understanding some scripture passage in the New Testament.

       On the third day, I have realized so many things especially the things that I have in myself. Through accomplishing all the recommendations of the retreat director I have realized that I have a lot of reasons to thank God for all the good and bad things that happened in my life which lead me to develop my skills and talents that I believed will be used in the future for His greater glory. The achievements that I have gained, the skills and talents that I have developed, the unique personality that I have inherited from His wonders, and even the small things that I have received from Him are some of the reasons that I should thank God. God is really all good and all powerful because whatever we ask from Him surely He would give it to us through different ways and manner. Hence, in every grace that we receive from God we should also do our part to thank Him. God does not need our ‘thank you’ but if we did thank Him we would receive more consolation from Him just like the leper who came back to Jesus to thank Him for healing him of his disease.

       For me, the retreat was successful, I have reached my objectives, and my goals in the first place were actualized. Experiencing this kind of retreat is very effective to a person who is finding answers from his/her questions. This kind of spirituality is really faith enriching because you don’t always find the answers to your questions through discussions and sharing from the spiritual director. Sometimes discussions should be set aside, and you only have to look deep within yourself through continuous silence and meditations to find the answers you are looking for.

       I can say that I have really understood definitely this kind of retreat which is very effective by which I have experienced it firsthand. For three days I was looking up to heaven to find the peace I was looking for, eventually I have found it and it was not in the sky but it was deep inside me.

ADDENDUM:

The two days of traveling going to Chiang Mai and the four days of travelling going back here including the visit to some Stigmatine confreres here in Thailand were the longest land travel that I experienced since then. It was very tiring but it’s worth experiencing because of the inspirations that the individual Stigmatine Thai Confrere shown to us through their ministries and characters in their assign areas. For me personally, I got many things from them though the visits were very quick, I have thought a lot of things that I must do also in the future, if it is the will of God for me. Those were 10 days out of the novitiate house memorable experience, and thanks be to God that we were able to come back home safe and sound.

Christmas Party 2013

Our gifts for our Christmas buddy.

Novice Jobin
receives his gifts from Fr. Jim

Novice Louie receives
his gift from Novice Carlos

Fr. Paul and Mr. John Marzelli
(an American Lay Stigmatine)

     

Fr. Michael is giving his gift to 
Mr . John

Novice Fab sang a song for all of us

     



                Last December 22, 2013 we had our Christmas party together with Fr. Michael the Superior in Phuket community and Mr. John Marzelli an American Lay Stigmatine Associate.

         It was a very simple celebration of Christmas but we had a lot of fun especially during the giving of gifts. Our way of giving the gift to our specific buddy was unique because the audience would have to guess first the buddy of the person before revealing his buddy, thus we consume more time in guessing than opening the gift.

         We had also other visitors that night, they were children from our neighbors. They also joined and participated the celebration with all the singing, dancing, playing, etc. and they also received gifts from us.

      The foods that we prepared were simple foods, there was beef steak, rice, and some Thai foods that were very delicious. After perhaps 2 hours of fun, we ended our celebration with big smiles in our faces and of course we were also tired because of the preparation and everything, but all in all our Christmas celebration in the community was very good and through the participation of each one of us we felt the presence and message of Christ this Christmas season, i.e. to become united in His name. Merry Christmas to everyone!