Listen to the Spirit… adapt as needed…
stay longer where you are drawn…
Ignatian Roots
“I beg for the gift of an intimate knowledge of all the goods which God lovingly shares with me. Filled with gratitude, I want to be empowered to respond just as totally in my love and service.” – Spiritual Exercises 233
Opening Prayer
Grace to seek/ask: For a greater awareness of the graces, gifts, and growth that have occurred over the past few months since our group first started meeting…
Check-In
Please share for a few minutes about how you are doing, based on the following questions:
- Since the last time we’ve met, what has given you life or drawn you closer to God?
- What has drained you of life or drawn you away from God?
- Please describe any significant encounter with God in prayer, service, or relationship with others.
Focus Exercise
Tonight we’re going to spend some time looking back on our journey together as a group so far. We’ve shared much of ourselves, and it may be helpful to sit more with the graces that have already surfaced for us, to better allow us to realize what has happened and what God has done for us during this time. Let’s look at the handout for tonight (“The Road Behind Looking Back on the Journey”) together to introduce how we might go about reviewing our time together.
(Have paper, crayons, marker, and pens/pencils available to those who would like to use them for the creative expression option towards the end of the prayer time.)
Listening and Sharing
Let’s focus our sharing tonight by using the motifs that we drew (or wrote about, etc.) and the questions at the bottom of the handout:
- How have I changed through my relationships with others, myself, and God?
- What gifts have grown / been developed within me during these past months?
- Where or how am I being led?
- Where and how might God have been present and inviting me to grow?
- Is there an apt title to this pictorial description of my time?
Thank you everyone for sharing and listening. We now have an opportunity to listen deeper and reflect to the group what we have been hearing during this meeting. We are going to take a minute of silence. Let us pay attention to what is taking place within each of us and among us. One of these questions may help:
- How have you been feeling throughout the meeting? Comfortable? Anxious? Curious?
- Were you touched or moved by any sharing? How so?
- What is remaining with you as you leave the meeting?
Moving Forward
Thank you to the people who hosted the meeting. Thank you everyone for being present and participating. Let us pray for one another and for any special intentions that may have surfaced through our conversation tonight.
Closing Prayer
Write/find a prayer that fits the meeting or ask if anyone from the group would like to offer a spontaneous prayer.
