Saturday Freewrite - Christmas and Looking at 2025 through God's Eyes

Lord Jesus, right from the moment of Your birth,

You lived with both the little and the great.

You charmed and challenged and won them all.

Lord, let me feel Your charismatic warmth,

That tremendous welcoming grace that made the simple love You

And their leaders seek You in the night.

Teach me to rest easy where You are,

Easy as hairy shepherd and smooth-shaven savant,

Easy as Mary who bore You gently,

Easy as Joseph who held You, your abba!

Accept the homage of my heart

Along with the shepherds’ adoring gaze

And the gifts of worshipful kings.[1]

So, I am going to write my 750 words for the day here. I usually write on Penzu.com now, but I was in the mood to write here instead. 

This poem is quoted at the end of Week 15 of the manual I wrote guiding people through the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola called Exercises for Everyone. I had such a beautiful time in Weeks 12-15 meditating on the prophecies (Jesus' family history) and activities leading up to Jesus' birth. This poem is at the conclusion of it all. I love that. On Christmas morning, I spent a lot of time in what Ignatius calls the "Application of Senses" to the scenes of the Incarnation (Ignatius' imagining of what it might have been like in heaven), Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. It was a lovely experience and hard to put into words.

I followed that with listening deeply to Handel's Messiah.  So moving since it is all Scripture. 

Now, Week 15, Day 7 is a day to "Gather the Graces" of Weeks 10-15. I did this yesterday. I look at all the "graces" I have prayed for during those weeks:

I seek the grace to. . .

• Respond to Jesus’ invitation of love in my life.
• Not be deaf to Christ’s call but prompt and diligent to accomplish his most holy will.
• Understand God’s perfect plan from Creation to Christ’s Incarnation.
• Have an intimate knowledge of the Lord who became human for me.
• Enter into the mind of the One who chose to be born as I was born. I ask to love this little infant so that my life will fall into his life’s pattern.

Then I did a yearly Examen. I have unlimited usage of a The Great Annual Examen and have sent it to friends and people in the three groups I lead through the Exercises. Someday, I will write my own, but I have been adapting it with the Year Compass that has you draw pictures and ponder some things that The Great Annual Examen does not. One of my directees, not knowing what I was thinking, said I should write my own and lead people through a retreat on the subject. That would be fun. 

I feel like I have more and more bandwidth for something like that. We will see. 

I went for a retreat at Mt. Angel Abbey from November 21-23rd. So, I was able to get through most of my Great Annual Examen during that retreat. and the week of Thanksgiving. The directees I am meeting with have greatly reduced during this time. I have loved the extra time. The directees I have are solid and lovely. Less is MORE!! I love listening to their lives. 

What a difference from last year where I was hoping things would slow down the week of Thanksgiving, but the time from Monday before Thanksgiving to December 17th was full of a friend's visits to the hospital and having that person stay with us after discharge. It was crazy and definitely added more activity to our holiday season. 

This is a shorter version to pray an Examen for the year that I wrote for my manual:

If you are following the liturgical year, it is the end of the year. This is great time to pray through an Examen of the past year and look to the year ahead. You might want to schedule a day of prayer to pray through this.

1. Light – Ask God to shed light on your year to see it through his eyes.

2. Gratitude – Recall two to three top highlights of your year and give him thanks. These are the first two or three things that immediately surface in your heart and mind. You will have more time of gratitude. This is just to light the flame of gratitude in your heart before reviewing the year.

3. Replay the Year and Pay Attention to Feelings – Look through your year with a calendar handy. Pay attention to where you sensed God’s presence and where you might have ignored it. Do this by noting…

·       Consolations – When were times this year when you especially turned toward and felt the life-giving light of God’s presence? (peace, contentment, happiness, joy) Feel free to relive these moments with all of your senses. Also, this may lead you into expressions of gratitude to God. (You’ll also have a time to do this toward the end of the Examen.)

·  Desolations – When were times this year when you especially turned away from and felt the absence of God’s light and presence? (distress, discontentment, disconnectedness, sadness, depression, anxiety, fear) This might lead you into a time of confession and conversation with God. (This isn't in my manual, but over the years, I have learned to make two columns on my paper with consolations on the left and desolations on the right. I go month by month through the year. You can just write top two or three, but the comparisons between the left and the right columns have been helpful for me in so many ways!)

4. Breakthroughs – What were the significant breakthroughs spiritually, emotionally, relationally, vocationally, and physically this year?

5. Summary Words – Think of one word to sum up your year in each area: spiritually, emotionally, relationally, vocationally, and physically.

6. One Word – If you had one word (or phrase) to sum up your year overall, what would it be?

7. Desires – What desires did God stir in your heart through the experiences of this last year?

8. Prayer of Gratitude – Dwell on those times of consolation and offer a prayer of gratefulness.

9. Prayer for Next Year - Talk to him about your year ahead. Invite him to lead and guide you through it. Maybe he has a word for next year. Have a conversation and don’t forget to listen.

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[1] Choosing Christ in the World, p. 53