Fanning the flames of our desire to pray

By Dale Gish

At The Ignatian Center, we are passionate about encouraging people who have experienced the Exercises to embark on a deeper Ignatian journey. While gaining more knowledge can be beneficial, nothing compares to the experience of meeting the One who loves us through genuine prayer. Therefore, although our events provide information, teaching, and inspiration, the core of our events will be centered around Ignatian prayer times.

Our Lenten series this year includes opportunities to pray with Jesus at the Last Supper, pray with Jesus crucified and dying on the cross, and then after Easter, praying the resurrection. Each of these gatherings will have at least 45 minutes of prayer time, where we will enter these scenes individually (off of Zoom) to encounter Jesus through a guided prayer invitation.

What will we encounter in these prayer times? How will Jesus meet us? What kind of love will we receive? We hope that these times of prayer will not only reignite or fan the flame of our connection with Jesus but also deepen our desire to continue to pray. Sometimes all it takes is a little spark to open us up to a new invitation from the Lord. 

Our gatherings will also provide time to share the graces we have received within the community. We'll have opportunities to share in both small and large groups. Articulating our experiences and how God has met us is another way to fan the flames. Naming what God has done makes it more real, solid, and integrated into who we are. Additionally, we get to receive the gifts of others' sharing.

When others share their graces, it often adds fuel to our fire, fills us with gratitude, confirms God's work in us, and opens new possibilities for future experiences.

Finally, an ember on its own tends to fade and lose its heat but multiple embers together will multiply their warmth and light. When we pray and share in community, we find encouragement, strength, and resources that allow us to stay ablaze as we return to our daily lives. We are not alone, we are together on the journey, together entering deeply into the holy fire of Jesus’ love.

So welcome! We so deeply desire to have our prayers ignited. We are invited to draw near to the fire, to join in the fire, and to spread the fire till we are filled ablaze with holy fire.