Ignatian Meditation: Imagining the Scene

Ignatius believed that God uses the gift of our creative imaginations when we pray with scriptures. Composition of Place invites us to “locate” ourselves in the reading, to be present to the real places, people, objects and events of the story and actively engage with the scene. Jesus of the Gospels is present to us in the here and now of our prayer. Rather than projecting our own experiences, we let our prayer unfold, recognizing ourselves as people who are loved.

 I invite you to re-read the Gospel for today with these questions in your heart:

What would it be like to be the disciples in the Gospel reading today, waking up with fear and doubt?  Or the boat that carries believers across the water, swamped and beaten by waves? What is it like to be Jesus, resting in the stern of the boat? Or be his words “peace,” “be,” or “still,” spoken into the stormy, weathered world?

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

Mark 4: 35-41

Where do I locate myself in the Gospel today? How am I being drawn into the mind and heart of Jesus?

“In me, there is darkness, but with you there is light; I am lonely, but You do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help; I am restless, but with you there is peace.In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience; I do not understand Your ways, but You know the way for me.” “Lord Jesus Christ, You were poor and in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am. You know all my troubles; You abide with me when others fail me; you remember and seek me; it is Your will that I should know You and turn to You. Lord, I hear Your call and follow. Help me.”

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer