Issuu

To Set the World on Fire invites readers into a steady rhythm of prayer rooted in the four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) adopted at the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus in 2019. The four UAPs guide us in: • • • •

Showing the way to God Walking with the excluded Journeying with youth Caring for our common home

Through eight-day prayer octaves, thematic reflections, and Examens, To Set the World on Fire seamlessly integrates the depth, wisdom, and sincerity of the UAPs into daily prayer life. FR. TOM KRETTEK, SJ, entered the Society of Jesus in 1971. His ministry has focused on Jesuit formation, governance, and philosophy education in Kenya and the U.S., including service as Wisconsin Province Provincial (2005–2011). He currently serves as Director of Mission & Identity for Loyola Press and Superior of the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House Community. JOELLYN CICCIARELLI, Publisher and President of Loyola Press, is a writer and educator with a passion for helping people grow in faith and deepen their understanding of Catholic tradition. With experience in ministry and formation, she brings a thoughtful and engaging approach to sharing the Gospel through her work. Joellyn’s writing reflects her commitment to supporting families, catechists, and communities in living out their faith with joy and purpose. ISBN: 978-0-8294-6263-0

$14.99 U.S.

To Set the world on fire

Drawing from Scripture, the Spiritual Exercises, and the writings of luminaries in the Ignatian tradition, including St. Peter Faber, Jerome Nadal, Mark Thibodeaux, William Barry, and Gregory Boyle, this book offers prayers, reflections, and contemplative practices to help us discern, act, and live our lives with spiritual intentionality.

Krettek • Cicciarelli

Religion/Prayer

Thomas Krettek, SJ and Joellyn Cicciarelli

To Set the world

on fire Praying with Jesuits

Copyright © 2026 Thomas Krettek Copyright © 2026 Joellyn Cicciarelli Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Cover art credit: Rafael Lopez ISBN: 978-0-8294-6263-0 Library of Congress control number: 2026931540 Published in Chicago, IL Printed in the United States 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Versa 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Odd though it seems to dedicate a collection of prayers, there are many with whom we join in prayer by it: To the Holy Spirit, who guides the Society of Jesus and its ministries into Jesus’s way of proceeding To Pope Francis, who inspired the members of General Congregation 36 to call for what became the four Universal Apostolic Preferences To the Delegates to General Congregation 36, who felt the need to return to the origins of the Spiritual Exercises and the practice of Communal Apostolic Discernment To the Communities, Apostolic Works, Provinces, and Regions, men in Formation of the Society of Jesus across the globe who participated in the process that led to the development of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences To the staff at Loyola Press, whose commitment to the four Universal Apostolic Preferences inspires this volume To those teachers who are entrusted with promoting the Spiritual Exercises and Discernment To the men and women for and with others, who accompany in a ministry of reconciliation and justice the excluded and forgotten

To all who walk with young people toward a hope-filled future To everyone involved in ministries caring for our Common Home To all the members of the Society of Jesus whose important ministry is praying for the Church and the Society To all those whose prayers are found in this volume To all who are seeking God in all things To all the excluded and forgotten to whom justice is due To all young people yearning for a hope-filled future, and To all in our Common Home that need to be cared for This volume is dedicated to you.

Contents Preface Introduction

xix xxi

Part I Introductory Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

The Fifth Annotation St. Ignatius of Loyola Preparatory Prayer to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences A New Heart Andy Alexander, SJ Examen to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences Embracing the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences Adapted from Kevin O’Brien, SJ

3 3

4 4

Contents

Reflection to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences The Spirit Working Within Us Jerome Nadal, SJ Prayers to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

5 5

Grant Me Your Spirit Arturo Sosa, SJ

Wherever I Am Arturo Sosa, SJ

The Presence of God in the World Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Scripture to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

Luke 18:35–43

Psalm 127

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

Part II Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the First Preference: Showing the Way to God

Contents

The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for Showing the Way to God

vii

Various Prayers of Petition from the Exercises St. Ignatius of Loyola

Suscipe Prayer (Traditional) St. Ignatius of Loyola

Spiritual Exercises for Showing the Way to God St. Ignatius of Loyola

Preparatory Prayer to Accompany Showing the Way to God

God Is Present The Irish Jesuits

Help Me Love and Trust William A. Barry, SJ

Examen to Accompany Showing the Way to God In Preparation for the Examen for the Condition of Our Hearts David L. Fleming, SJ Examen for the Condition of Our Hearts David L. Fleming, SJ Reflections to Accompany Showing the Way to God God’s Proposal Arturo Sosa, SJ

22 22 23

24 24

viii

Contents

God’s Tenderness Gregory Boyle, SJ

God’s Will Revealed William J. Byron, SJ, quoting Gerald Blaszczak, SJ

Our Encounter with Others Dennis Hamm, SJ

Calling Upon the Exercises George M. Anderson, SJ

Time and Place Richard J. Hauser, SJ

Prayers to Accompany Showing the Way to God

Ask Your Heart Jerome Nadal, SJ

His Divine Handicraft Jerome Nadal, SJ

Good Spirit St. Peter Faber, SJ

Earnest Desire St. Peter Faber, SJ

Prayer to Know God’s Will St. Ignatius of Loyola

Prayer for Generosity Attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola

Contents

Scripture to Accompany Showing the Way to God

Luke 24:13–32

Psalm 63:1–8

Psalm 40:1–9

Octave of Prayer to Accompany Showing the Way to God

Part III Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Second Preference: Walking with the Excluded 43 The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for Walking with the Excluded Various Prayers of Petition from the Exercises St. Ignatius of Loyola Preparatory Prayers to Accompany Walking with the Excluded

44 44

Ever Alive St. Ignatius of Loyola

Know You Deeply Arturo Sosa, SJ

Examen to Accompany Walking with the Excluded Examen for Reconciliation St. Peter Faber, SJ

46 46

Contents

Reflections to Accompany Walking with the Excluded

Don’t Walk Away William A. Barry, SJ

Promote Social Justice SJ Global

Men and Women for Others Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Stretching Jerome Nadal, SJ

Only Love Gregory Boyle, SJ

On Pain and Holiness Gregory Boyle, SJ

Compassion Gregory Boyle, SJ

On Suffering Ignatio Martín-Baró, SJ Kevin O’Brien, SJ

A Life for and of Others Gary Smith, SJ

Decision Makers Gary Smith, SJ

Shake the Dust from Our Feet Brendan Busse, SJ

Prayer That Pierces the Soul George M. Anderson, SJ, quoting John Lenz, SJ

Contents

Prayers to Accompany Walking with the Excluded

More Compassion and Forgiveness Andy Alexander, SJ

Hold Me Gently, Lord Andy Alexander, SJ

Teach Me to Love You Andy Alexander, SJ

Give Me the Wisdom Andy Alexander, SJ

Give Me the Patience Andy Alexander, SJ

For Your Greater Service and Praise Edited and Adapted from David L. Fleming, SJ

Empower Us to Companion with You Edited and Adapted from David L. Fleming, SJ

True Humility St. Ignatius of Loyola

Yours the Labor St. Peter Faber, SJ

The Great Gift of Freedom The Irish Jesuits

More Conscious The Irish Jesuits

His Pain Is My Pain Gary Smith, SJ

xii

Contents

Blessed with Skills and Talents Gary Smith, SJ

Death Again Gary Smith, SJ

Breach Menders Gary Smith, SJ

Prudence Luis Espinal Camps, SJ

Share Our Table Arturo Sosa, SJ

Give Us Sincerity Arturo Sosa, SJ

Help Me to Become a Neighbor Arturo Sosa, SJ

To Love Without Condition Joe Simmons, SJ

I’ll Go with You Joseph Tetlow, SJ

Scripture to Accompany Walking with the Excluded

Mark 10:46–52

Luke 10:25–37

Titus 3:4–7

Psalm 145

Psalm 102

Contents

Octave of Prayer to Accompany Walking with the Excluded

xiii

J. F. X. O’Conor, SJ

Part IV Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Third Preference: Journeying with Youth

The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for Journeying with Youth

Various Prayers of Petition from the Exercises St. Ignatius of Loyola Preparatory Prayer to Accompany Journeying with Youth Lord, Whatever You Will Blessed Rupert Mayer, SJ Examen to Accompany Journeying with Youth Examen for the Condition of Our Hearts Adapted from Peter Faber, SJ, and Psalm 118 Reflections to Accompany Journeying with Youth

89 89

90 90

The Spirit Working Within Us SJ Global

Joining Prayer to Action Jerome Nadal, SJ

xiv

Contents

In Search of Kinship Gregory Boyle, SJ

Finding Stillness Mark Thibodeaux, SJ

The True Meaning of Freedom William J. O’Malley, SJ

Joy Through Prayer Ján Korec, SJ

My Life Journey Brendan McManus, SJ

Clean Heart, Fresh Start Brendan McManus, SJ

How Can I Be Helpful? Jake Martin, SJ

A Work in Progress Sam Sawyer, SJ

100

Prayers to Accompany Journeying with Youth

101

Recognizing God’s Invitation Arturo Sosa, SJ

101

A Heart to Listen Arturo Sosa, SJ

101

Help Me to See Andy Alexander, SJ

102

Something to Rejoice In Andy Alexander, SJ

102

Contents

Yes, I Will Follow You Gary Smith, SJ

102

Finding God Jerome Nadal, SJ

103

A Future of Love Luis Espinal Camps, SJ

103

Jesus’s Wounds and Ours Joseph Tetlow, SJ

104

How to Believe Now Joseph Tetlow, SJ

105

A Prayer of Hope Luis Espinal Camps, SJ

105

Connections Eric Sundrup, SJ

106

A Prayer for Spiritual Freedom Anonymous

106

In the Hands of God Pedro Arrupe, SJ

107

Scripture to Accompany Journeying with Youth

108

Luke 4:16–21

108

Ezekiel 36:25–28

109

Jeremiah 1:4–10

110

Luke 7:11–15

111

Psalm 103

112

Psalm 121:1–2, 7–8

114

xvi

Contents

Octave of Prayer to Accompany Journeying with Youth

115

Adapted from J. F. X. O’Conor, SJ

Part V Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Fourth Preference: Caring for Our Common Home

119

The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for Caring for Our Common Home

120

Prayers for Creation St. Ignatius of Loyola Preparatory Prayer to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home Give Me Today What to Do Today Joseph Tetlow, SJ Examen to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home Profound Gratitude for Life Andy Alexander, SJ Reflections to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home The Future of Our Earth SJ Global

120

121 121

122 122

123 123

Contents

xvii

God’s Act of Creation William A. Barry, SJ

124

A Harmonious Universe William A. Barry, SJ

125

God Is Knocking at Our Door William A. Barry, SJ

126

The Transformative Power of God Jerome Nadal, SJ

127

Tending to the Earth’s Wounds Pedro Arrupe, SJ

128

The Evils of Our Time Pedro Arrupe, SJ

129

Prayers to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home

130

Grant Us a Fresh Vision SJ Global

130

Live Eternally in Me Jean-Pierre Médaille, SJ

132

Help Me to Remember The Irish Jesuits

133

A Prayer for Compassion Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

134

A Prayer for Conversion and Synodality Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific

135

Since I Am Clay Joseph Tetlow, SJ

136

xviii

Contents

Scripture to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home

137

Genesis 1:26–31

137

Romans 8:19–23

138

Daniel 3:71–76

139

Isaiah 42:1–4

140

Psalm 104

141

Octave of Prayer to Accompany Caring for Our Common Home

145

Endnotes Contributing Authors About the Authors

151 159 165

Preface Praying with This Book The four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) set forth in 2019 by the Society of Jesus call us to become collaborators in Christ’s mission, with purpose and focus in four key areas, as we pray for understanding, wisdom, guidance, and grace before, during, and after our efforts, both independently and with others. This book is crafted to be a prayer and contemplation aid by providing inspiration and guidance for individuals and groups, both lay and religious, who engage with the four Universal Apostolic Preferences. The book is divided into five parts: Part I: Introductory Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences Part II: Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the First Preference: Showing the Way to God Part III: Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Second Preference: Walking with the Excluded Part IV: Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Third Preference: Journeying with Youth Part V: Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Fourth Preference: Caring for Our Common Home Use the prayers and contemplations you find helpful, rephrasing them as you like. Return to the prayers that stir your mind and heart. Feel consoled that other people are praying these prayers too, both with you, and for you. xix

Preface

All five parts include the seven forms of prayer and contemplation described below. Excerpts from The Spiritual Exercises Excerpts from The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola are provided as a reference point for recognizing the significance of the mission to be carried out on behalf of the UAPs. Preparatory Prayers These prayers are intended to be prayed as partners embark on a mission related to the UAPs. Examens These classic Ignatian prayers can be experienced at any pause point during an apostolic activity related to a UAP. Reflections Reflections can be used individually or in groups to set the stage for journaling, discussion, or commissioning. Prayers Thematically organized, these prayers can be experienced whenever readers wish to awaken their desires to go forth on a mission related to a UAP. Scriptures and Psalms These carefully curated Scriptures and psalms provide foundational support in carrying out the UAPs. Octaves of Prayer Partners in mission are invited to embark on an eight-day period of private or shared prayer to strengthen their resolve in carrying out the mission of a UAP.1

Introduction The four Universal Apostolic Preferences (the Preferences) are the fruit of a process of discernment that started in 2017 and ended almost two years later. The journey began when members of General Congregation 36 explicitly asked the newly elected Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa, to review the apostolic preferences of the Society of Jesus. The General chose Jesuits as well as lay and religious partners from all over the world to engage in spiritual conversation and discern the needs of the world, calls of the Spirit, and ways for the Society of Jesus to better serve. Every Jesuit Province reported their findings and provided material for discernment to be considered at the Jesuit Conference of Provincials in the six regions of the world where Jesuits are present. In early January 2019, the presidents of the six Jesuit Conferences took part in an “Extended Council” led by Father General Sosa for a time of discernment. Father General Sosa presented the proposals to Pope Francis on January 17, 2019. The Preferences identify four areas vital to today’s world; they also provide a ten-year action plan for the Society of Jesus and their collaborators in mission. The four Preferences are: Showing the Way to God, Walking with the Excluded, Journeying with Youth, and Caring for Our Common Home. xxi

xxii

Introduction

An Invitation to Prayer and Careful Preparation As we prepare to go forth and serve in keeping with the four Universal Apostolic Preferences, we are invited to consider what is indispensable for them to bear fruit. In addition to essential practical items—ample resources, good processes, and dedicated companions—we must consider that prayer, careful preparation, discernment (especially through the Spiritual Exercises), and a preference toward seeking justice are also indispensable as we seek to fulfill mission and mandate. A call to these essential activities comes from many sources, including Scripture, the Society of Jesus, and the words and writings of the late Pope Francis. Scriptural Invitation Consider St. Paul’s invitation to adopt the unique point of view that is exclusive to Christ’s ministry. This fresh perspective manifests dynamically between God and his ambassadors for Christ in the mutual, reciprocal, ongoing reconciliation that undergirds the fulfillment of mission and mandate.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. —2 Corinthians 5:16–21

Introduction

xxiii

An Invitation from the Society of Jesus Through Decree 4 of the 1975 General Congregation 32, “Our Mission Today,” the Society of Jesus summons us to prayer, careful preparation, and discernment, especially through the Spiritual Exercises.1

Consequently we must undertake a thoroughgoing reassessment of our traditional apostolic methods, attitudes and institutions with a view to adapting them to the new needs of the times and to a world in process of rapid change.2 All this demands that we practice discernment, that spiritual discernment which St. Ignatius teaches us in the Exercises. Moreover discernment will yield a deeper grasp of the movements, aspirations, and struggles in the hearts of our contemporaries, as well as those in the heart of mankind itself.3 In short, our mission today is to preach Jesus Christ and to make Him known in such a way that all men and women are able to recognize Him whose delight, from the beginning, has been to be with the sons of men and to take an active part in their history.4 In carrying out this mission, we should be convinced, today more than ever, that “the means which unite the human instrument with God and so dispose it that it may be wielded dexterously by His divine hand are more effective than those which equip it in relation to men.”5 From all over the world where Jesuits are working, very similar and very insistent requests have been made that, by a clear decision on the part of the General Congregation, the Society should commit itself to work for the promotion of justice. Our apostolate today urgently requires that we take this decision. As apostles we are

xxiv

Introduction

bearers of the Christian message. And at the heart of the Christian message is God revealing Himself in Christ as the Father of us all whom through the Spirit He calls to conversion. In its integrity, then, conversion means accepting that we are at one and the same time children of the Father and brothers and sisters of one another. There is no genuine conversion to the love of God without conversion to the love of neighbor and, therefore, to the demands of justice. Hence, fidelity to our apostolic mission requires that we propose the whole of Christian salvation and lead others to embrace it. Christian salvation consists in an undivided love of the Father and of the neighbor and of justice. Since evangelization is proclamation of that faith which is made operative in love of others, the promotion of justice is indispensable to it.6 The ministry of the Spiritual Exercises is of particular importance in this regard. A key element in the pedagogy of the Exercises is that its aim is to remove the barriers between God and man so that the Spirit speaks directly with man. Inherent in this Ignatian practice of spiritual direction is a deep respect for the exercitant as he is and for the culture, background, and tradition that have gone into making him what he is. Moreover, the pedagogy of the Exercises is a pedagogy of discernment. It teaches a man to discover for himself where God is calling him, what God wants him to do, as he is, where he is, among his own people.7 The Exercises also help to form Christians who, having personally experienced God as Savior, are able to stand back from the spurious absolutes of competing ideologies, and because of this detachment can play a constructive part in the reform of social and cultural structures. Thus, the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises is one of the most important we can undertake today. We should by all means

Introduction

xxv

encourage studies, research, and experiment directed toward helping our contemporaries experience the vitality of the Exercises as adapted to the new needs which are theirs. Moreover, the spirit of the Exercises should pervade every other ministry of the Word that we undertake.8 An Invitation from Pope Francis When Fr. General Sosa wrote his letter of promulgation, he was pleased to report to the General Congregation that the Holy Father approved of their work. Pope Francis saw in the fruits of the labor a process of “real discernment”, and he praised the four UAPs for being in alignment with the “current priorities of the Church as expressed through the ordinary magisterium of the Pope, the Synods, and the Episcopal Conferences, especially since Evangelii Gaudium.” Fr. General Sosa also wrote that, having given his stamp of approval, Pope Francis shared a bit of wisdom we all would do well to remember: The first preference is crucial because it presupposes as a basic condition the Jesuit’s relationship with the Lord in a personal and communal life of prayer and discernment. Without this prayerful attitude the other preferences will not bear fruit.9 May this book provide the prayerful attitude needed for you to forge ahead boldly, with imagination and joy. Yours in Christ, Fr. Tom Krettek, SJ Joellyn Cicciarelli

Part I Introductory Prayers and Contemplations to Accompany the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences

he purpose of this section is to provide you with prayers and contemplations for the four Universal Apostolic Preferences as one collective grouping. Whenever you wish to pray with the four Universal Apostolic Preferences as one united concept, look to this section. Perfect for times when you are introducing the Universal Apostolic Preferences to mission partners or students, use these prayers and reflections to ensure or reinforce comprehension, and to provide meaningful connections.

The Spiritual Exercises: Foundation for the Four Preferences

The Fifth Annotation Contemplate the Fifth Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises within the context of the call of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences. What might be holding you back from going forward in a courageous or generous manner? What might you ask of God in your preparation?

It is very helpful to him who is receiving the Exercises to enter into them with great courage and generosity towards his Creator and Lord, offering Him all his will and liberty, that His Divine Majesty may make use of his person and of all he has according to His most Holy Will (SE 5).* —St. Ignatius of Loyol a

Editor’s Note: Throughout the book, verse enumerations of St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises are marked parenthetically, as seen here: (SE 5). In each case, the authors have relied upon The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius by George E. Ganss, SJ (Loyola Press, 1992).

Preparatory Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences

A New Heart Lord, I so wish to prepare well for this time. I so want to make all of me ready and attentive and available to you. Please help me clarify and purify my intentions. I have so many contradictory desires. My activity seems to be so full of busyness and running after stuff that doesn’t really seem to matter or last. I know that if I give you my heart whatever I do will follow my new heart. May all that I am today, all that I try to do today, may all my encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings all place my life in your hands. Lord, my life is in your hands. Please, let this day give you praise.1 —A ndy A lex ander, SJ

Examen to Accompany the Four Preferences

Embracing the Four UAPs Place yourself in the presence of God: Dear Jesus, I come to you today longing for your help in embracing the Four Universal Apostolic Preferences. I desire to make them a priority with you as my example. Ask for the grace to recount the day with openness. Give thanks for the gifts of this day. As you recall your day, ask yourself: How were the UAPs present? How did I engage with each opportunity brought forth through the UAPs? Focus on noteworthy happenings that affected you in relation to the UAPs. Offer thanks or seek forgiveness for your response. Then listen attentively to hear what Jesus is saying to you regarding your response. Close by asking the Holy Spirit to inspire aspirations for the next day, and to recognize times when you might be invited to respond to the four UAPs.2 —A dapted from K ev in O’Brien, SJ

Reflection to Accompany the Four Preferences

The Spirit Working Within Us Reflect on the guidance of early Jesuit Jerome Nadal, SJ, in relation to the words of St. Paul and your engagement with the four Universal Apostolic Preferences. Consider where you feel weak and where you feel hope. Ask the Holy Spirit for direction and guidance in these areas.

When you approach the time of your prayer, always dispose yourself by the inner understanding of St. Paul’s words: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself prays for us with sighs too deep for words.” And also with the inner understanding of St. Paul’s other words: “We have received the spirit of sons, in which spirit we cry out ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God.” This teaching of Paul, if felt intensely within yourself at the opening of your prayer, will have a penetrating influence. It, first of all, gives a sense of lowliness and a sense of the Spirit working within us. It then inspires us to hope, it unites us to Christ, it endows us with familiar converse with the Father.3 —Jerome Nadal, SJ

Prayers to Accompany the Four Preferences

Grant Me Your Spirit Lord, grant me your Spirit so that I may be moved by the Universal Apostolic Preferences and be willing to love you and follow you through them.4 Amen. —A rturo Sosa, SJ

Wherever I Am Lord, help me to use the gifts you have given me to partner with your mission wherever I am.5 Amen. —A rturo Sosa, SJ

Prayers to Accompany the Four Preferences

The Presence of God in the World Let us pray: Lord, Jesus Christ, you truly contain within your gentleness, within your humanity, all the unyielding immensity and grandeur of the world. And it is because of this, it is because there exists in you an ineffable synthesis of what our human thought and experience would never have dared join together in order to adore them—element and totality, the one and the many, mind and matter, the infinite and the personal; it is because of the indefinable contours which this complexity gives to your appearance and to your activity, that my heart, enamored of cosmic reality, gives itself passionately to you. I love you, Lord Jesus, because of the multitude who shelter within you and whom, if one clings closely to you, one can hear with all the other beings murmuring, praying, weeping. . . . I love you because of the transcendent and inexorable fixity of your purposes, which causes your gentle friendship to be colored by an intransigent determinism and to gather us all ruthlessly into the folds of its will. I love you as the source, the activating and life-giving ambience, the term and consummation, of the world, even of the natural world, and of its process of becoming. You, the Centre at which all things meet and which stretches out over all things so as to draw them back into itself: I love you for the extensions of your body and soul to the farthest corners of creation through grace, through life, and through matter.

Prayers to Accompany the Four Preferences

Lord Jesus, you who are as gentle as the human heart, as fiery as the forces of nature, as intimate as life itself, you in whom I can melt away and with whom I must have mastery and freedom: I love you as a world, as this world which has captivated my heart; and it is you, I now realize, that my brother-men, even those who do not believe, sense and seek throughout the magic immensities of the cosmos. Lord Jesus, you are the center towards which all things are moving: if it be possible, make a place for us all in the company of those elect and holy ones whom your loving care has liberated one by one from the chaos of our present existence and who now are being slowly incorporated into you in the unity of the new earth.6 Amen. —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Scripture to Accompany the Four Preferences

Luke 18:35–43 Of the several lessons embedded in this passage, one stands out as a paradigm for the Jesuitical mission: We respond to our Lord by going to the periphery of society, where we will find isolated, needy outcasts who are yearning to get closer to Jesus, and we bring these people to him. Reflect on what it means to reenact this iconic scene of companionship and healing in the twenty-first century.

As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

Scripture to Accompany the Four Preferences

Psalm 127 Psalm 127 reminds us that the Lord is in command and blesses our toil in his name. After praying and reflecting upon this psalm, ask God to provide you with grace and blessings as you seek to fulfill the four Universal Apostolic Preferences.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences Day One The Society, as a global apostolic body working under the banner of the Cross in service of the Church and the Roman Pontiff, stands ready to seek “the most universal good as the ultimate goal of the numerous apostolic activities the Society carries out.” The UAPs serve to inspire and guide its communal apostolic discernment of that ultimate goal. Lord, gift the Society and each of its members with the interior freedom needed to respond generously and courageously to carrying out the more universal good inspired by the UAPs. Day Two The wisdom of the Holy Spirit leads us into the truth of our lives and our true selves that are often overwhelmed by the images and options proposed by our environment. Discernment opens us to where God speaks to us and calls us to that interior freedom and strength valued by Ignatius in making good decisions amid competing voices. Lord, send your Spirit to guide our spirits through the UAPs into walking the path that your Son and our Companion walked.

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences

Day Three The UAPs assist the Society in navigating the disproportion between human needs and the Society’s resources. The UAPs intend to aid the Society through the help of the Holy Spirit in good decisionmaking regarding the proper use of the resources the Society uses in carrying out its commitment to Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. Lord, keep us attentive to the counsel left us by Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises regarding making apostolic decisions that accord with your will for the Society in helping souls. Day Four The UAPs remind us of Ignatius’s counsel in the Constitutions: “For the preservation and growth not only of the body or exterior of the Society but also of its spirit, and for the attainment of the objective it seeks, which is to aid souls to reach their ultimate and supernatural end, the means which unite the human instrument with God and so dispose it that it may be wielded well by his divine hand are more effective than those which equip it in relation to human beings.”7 Lord, give us the grace to take to heart Pope Francis’s admonition that the first UAP is foundational for the apostolic effectiveness of all the UAPs.

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences

Day Five The UAPs challenge us to model individually and collectively the change we want to see in the world. “The universal apostolic preferences will help us to overcome every form of self-centeredness and corporatism, so that we may become authentic collaborators in the Lord’s mission.”8 Lord, Paul challenged the Philippians to put on the mind of Christ, and Fr. Arrupe called us to make Jesus’s way of proceeding our way of proceeding. Give us your grace to do so. Day Six The UAPs call us “to strive for a path that promotes social justice and reconciliation, for a culture of hospitality for all forcibly displaced, for the promotion of a culture of safeguard of all vulnerable persons.” Our commitment to engage in a mission of reconciliation and justice requires us to journey with “individuals and communities that are vulnerable, excluded, marginalized, and humanly impoverished . . . with all those whom the biblical tradition knows as the poor of the earth, to whose cry the Lord responds with his liberating incarnation.”9 Lord, empower us as you empowered your first companions to bring the hope of the Resurrection into the lives we are called to serve.

Octave of Prayer to Accompany the Four Preferences

Day Seven The Synod on Youth made clear that “to accompany young people demands of us authenticity of life, spiritual depth, and openness to sharing the life-mission that gives meaning to who we are and what we do. Having these, we can learn, along with the young, to find God in all things, and through our ministries and apostolates, we can help them live this stage of their lives more profoundly.”10 Lord, at Manresa, Ignatius experienced you instructing him as a teacher instructs a child. Give us the humility to learn from the young people, and to seek the God of hope in all things. Day Eight We Jesuits and those with whom we share Christ’s mission are challenged to conversion from a way of life of consumption to a way of life of companionship with all of God’s creatures in our common home. Lord, you walked the earth that was created through the Word and thereby made holy all of creation. Send your Spirit that hovered over the waters, as you created the world to hover over us, and guide us in caring for the common home that you share with us.11 Amen.

Showing the way to God Walking with the excluded Journeying with youth Caring for our common home

$14.99 U.S.

To Set the world on fire

Krettek • Cicciarelli

Religion/Prayer

Thomas Krettek, SJ and Joellyn Cicciarelli

To Set the world

on fire Praying with Jesuits