ignatian retreat based on the gospel of st. john

THE SEVENSIGNS OF

JESUS

SEVEN-DAY RETREAT

BASED ON

THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN

(By Martin Suhartono, S.J.,Cambodia, 1-8 August 2005)

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DAY ZERO

IGNATIAN DYNAMIC: PRINCIPIUM ET FUNDAMENTUM (S.E. 23)

JOHANNINE DYNAMIC: DESCENT AND ASCENT

First of all, entering the Retreat, we should reflect on the Principle and Foundation

(PF) of St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises (No. 23) by using the Prologue of the Gospel of

John (1:1-18)

There is a circular descending and ascending movement of the Logos in the Prologue,

later on expressed by Jesus in the narrative (16:28): coming down from the Father into the

world and going up again to the Father.

An application of the PF would be the same movement of the Logos described in the

Prologue: everything/one has been created in/through the Logos and is invited to make the

same circular movement, described as "empowered to become children of God" (1:12). In a

way, one is "logos" participating in the unique "Logos" of God (cf. Isaiah 55: not going back

unless having done its purpose).

Everyone is then called to lead a life like John the Baptist ("sent from God" 1:6)),

giving testimony to the True Light, so that people may come to belief, come to Light, come to

Life (1:4; 20:30-31); just as does Logos leading all to return to God (1:18; "the serpent statue

lifted up in the desert" 3:14-15; 12:32 "Jesus lifted up and draw all to him").

The name of Jesus is mentioned only after 1:17; in 1:1-5 the name is not yet

mentioned, and rightly so because the individual Jesus came into existence only after the Logos

is incarnated, taking real flesh and blood. Jesus, the Logos Incarnated is the way through which

every logos returns to its Origins. In the story, the Logos Incarnated is again metaphorized into

Seven Metaphors (in the Johannine terminology: Seven Signs) used as basic points of

anchorage for the life orientation of the readers.

The seven-day retreat will follow the scheme of Seven Signs in the Gospel of John.

We will follow each Sign as it appears chronologically in the story and reflect on it related to

its achronological counterpart to the relative "EGO EIMI- I AM ...." sayings of Jesus.



DAY ONE

VISION: WHO AM I?

THE 1ST SIGN (2:1-11) - "I AM THE TRUE VINE" (15:1)

The first narrative part of John forms the "Beginning" of the reader's experience. John follows

the same pattern of the Genesis (seven-day creation), by giving hints of the process of

becoming followers of the Logos Incarnated. Look at the structure of mediation: each one

comes to Jesus through another person, except perhaps "Philip".

The marriage in Cana is the peak of the experience of following Jesus. The disciples

are invited to experience, recognize, and have faith in the manifestation of the Glory of God.

The mystical union between God and the human soul is usually expressed through images of

marriage (Canticle of Canticles, Hosea etc.).

The theme of "union with God" related to this sign is the expression "I am the true

vine". Each of the disciples is a branch of the vine. Again here we have the image of an

intimate union between Jesus and his disciples. Each one is reminded that he/she is a branch; if

he/she remains united to the true vine, than he/she can produce fruits, otherwise ......

It is perhaps good to reflect deeply on this reality, we are only branches, we are not

the vine itself. St. Ignatius used the term instrumentum conniunctum cum Deo, an instrument

deeply united to God. However, in our life as apostles we may have the tendency to consider

ourselves as masters and not disciples, as vine and not as branches, as God and not as creatures.

Hence, the anxieties, fear, anger, impatience and so on, which reign in our life.

The retreatants may take each pericope in itself as points for prayers, from the

Baptist's testimony, the first disciples and so on (Jn 1:19-51), leading each participant to the

pericope of Wedding at Cana.



DAY TWO

OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES

THE 2ND SIGN (4:43-54) - "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE" (14:6)

The First Sign has given us the idea of who we are. Now, the Second Sign gives us the

opportunity to explore the opportunities and challenges that we have to confront in our life if

we agree on the point of who we are.

Many of us are in the same state as the son of the royal official from Capernaum. We

are not living to the full, and yet we are not totally dead either. We are living in the middle,

between a total "yes" and a total "no". It is perhaps good to reflect on the letter addressed to the

Church in Sardis "I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead ...."

(Rev 3:1), or to Laodicea, "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot ...." (Rev 3:15).

Compare this with the Ignatian ideal of magis, or Deus semper maior, AMDG.

However, our Ignatian upbringing with all those principles has its own drawbacks too.

It made us live in a culture similar to the one adopted by the modern people: a culture of

success, of entepreneurship, of protagonism, of messianism complex. We forget that we are

only instruments. God is the owner, the subject, of all the apostolic enterprise we are struggling

to perform.

Jesus is then presented to us as the trusted way to lead us to life. The three words can

also be understood, not separately as three "things" (way, truth, life), but rather as forming a

single thing: Jesus is the true way towards life. Chapter 14 of John opens up various

opportunities for life in the Spirit.

The retreatants may take each pericope in itself as points for prayers, starting from the

Cleansing of the Temple, the dialogue with Nicodemus, the Baptist and his disciples, the

Samaritan Woman, and finally the Second Sign. Observe the parallelism between the First and

Second Sign: mother's role//father's role; power of words-faith//power of words-faith; gift of

abundant life//gift of abundant life. The three elements "truth" (related to words and faith),

"way" (related to mediation), and "life" (related to the abundant gift) are all present.



DAY THREE

MISSION: WHAT AM I FOR?

THE 3RD SIGN (5:1-18) - "I AM THE DOOR" (10:9)

Now the Third Sign will enlighten us on the Mission. The question we should always ask

ourselves is: What am I for? Where are we going? Quo Vadis?

The Third Sign gives us an idea of someone who doesn't know where to go. He is

paralyzed. He couldn't even move. Even when he is healed already, he seemed not able to go

anywhere, just wandering around the place until he met Jesus again for the second time. Later

on we are told that it might have been caused by his own personal sins, because at the end, after

the healing, Jesus told him, "Sin no more, otherwise .....!" What his exact sins are, we do not

know.

One particular detail unites the Third Sign and its counterpart, the Saying of Jesus

(10:9): The Sheep Gate. The Third Sign happens by the Sheep Gate; Jesus is the Door for sheep.

Two images with the same symbolical meaning appear: pool of living water and pasture of

abundant life. This is where we are all supposed to go. And it is suggested in both sections, that

we cannot go there alone. The paralyzed man would have needed someone else. Many sick

people are gathering around the pool, each with his/her attendants. Sheep never goes alone to

the pasture; it goes in groups. Hence the need of companionship.

Do we have this goal clear in mind, soul, heart, and in our whole personality, and in

our whole apostolic endeavors? In both instances, it is shown that we need not worry, because

Jesus Himself is the Gate. We are reminded elsewhere, lest we forget to choose the right gate:

the gate towards life is narrow and difficult to get in, whereas the gate towards perdition is

wide and easy to enter (Mt 7:13-14).


Third Sign itself, the debate on Jesus' authority (5:19-29), and the witnesses to Jesus (5:30-46).

The recurring theme of Jesus' Mission is "My Father is still working, and I also am working"

(5:17). Does it remind us as Ignatian motto expressed by Nadal, Contemplativus in Actione, or

in Ignatius' own words, Finding God in all things? A strong reminder to those who value

something more than Jesus himself are expressed in 5:39-40 "You search the scriptures .... Yet

you refuse to come to me to have life!" The word "scriptures" can be substituted with many

other things/activities.



DAY FOUR

MISSION SPECIFIED

THE 4TH SIGN (6:1-15) - "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE" (6:35)

The Fourth Sign brings us to further specification of our Mission. Connected to its counterpart,

the Saying "I am the Bread of Life", the Fourth Sign has been accepted as indicating the

Eucharist. Our Mission is centered around the Eucharist, as its starting point and its point of

arrival too. It is here that we are reminded of the specific gesture at the Last Supper, mentioned

only in John 13, that Jesus performed and commanded us all to do the same: a life of service to

others. Elsewhere, Jesus says, that he comes not to be served, but to serve and give his life as

ransom for us all (Mk 10:45).

That is the way of the Master, and that should also be the way of the Disciples. We

are living and acting in our Mission as "bread that is broken" and "divided among and

consumed by all". A point of reflection for us all, does our apostolate activity express this

dimension of service to all people? The things we do might lead us to a different path too, path

of power and not of service. It is significant that Jesus withdraws himself to the mountain to

avoid people who want to make him king! (6:15).


Fourth Sign, followed by the discussion on Bread from Heaven with its consequences, many

people left Jesus. Added to this is Jn 7: further debates, further divisions. The background is the

Festival of Water at the Feast of Tabernacle. We can hear Jesus saying loudly at the end of the

8-day festival, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me" (7:37). Again the promise of the Spirit

is present.



DAY FIVE

MISSION TESTED

THE 5TH SIGN (9:1-41) - "I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD" (8:12)

The Fifth Sign presents us with the consequences of being on a Mission. Just as the blind man,

we were all blind, but now we see; we were lost but found again. We are all plunged into the

struggle of faith against incredulity, seeing eyes against blind eyes, open heart against closed

heart, recognition against refusal to recognize, knowledge against ignorance, in sum, the

conflict of light against darkness. True, if we walk with him, the Light of the World, we will

not stumble in darkness. And yet, the power of darkness will always try to fight us and win us

over to itself.

It is nice just to relax and follow in contemplation how the blind man gradually comes

to light, recognition, faith and knowledge. And all of this happens in an atmosphere of

resistance, of contestation, of persecutions. The situation depicted in Jn 9 most probably

reflects the situation suffered by the Johannine community. Jn 9:22 the excommunication from

the synagogues for confessing Jesus as the Messiah might have come from a real situation

around the year 90 AD.

The retreatants may take each pericope in itself as points for prayers, starting from Jn

8:12 the Saying "I am the Light of the World", through the debates and contestations, towards

Jn 9 the Fifth Sign. Jn 10 is best kept for other occasion. We may all reflect on our own life, on

Mission in its very concrete expressions in daily life. The struggles we experience, the

contestations, the animosities we have to face up to, failures and rejections, and so on, in short,

the forces of darkness we come to meet in our Mission. To confront these forces, where do we

get the strength from?



DAY SIX

MISSION CONFIRMED: PASSION

THE 6TH SIGN (11:1-44) - "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE" (11:25)

The Sixth Sign challenges us to follow our Master to confront the threat of death. With Thomas

Dydimus, we are invited to say, "Let us also go, that we may die with him!" (11:16). It is not a

coincidence that John's Gospel arranges Thomas to say precisely those words. Thomas here is

known as "Dydimus"; both the Aramaic "Toma" and the Greek "Dydimos", mean "The Twin".

According to an ancient tradition, he is called "Twin", because physically he looked like Jesus

himself. In other words, we are called also to be the Twins of Jesus, or in the traditional

expression, Alter Christus, other Christ. We are called to be just like Jesus himself, following

him to the ultimate destiny for which he comes. Here we are reminded of Ignatius' third type of

humility. Are we ready to carry on our Mission until the point of death? Until our last drop of

blood?

Jesus' words, "I am the resurrection and life" serves as an assurance, when everything

seems a great failure and we are about to experience Death in all its manifestations. The culture

of Death stands in sharp contrast with the culture of Life. However, the fight against the culture

of Death is not achieved by rejecting death, but through death itself, or in the words of the

Master, "Unless a grain of wheat does not fall and die, it remains alone. But if it falls to the

ground and dies, it produce plentiful fruits" (12:24).

The retreatants may take each pericope in itself as points for prayers, starting from

Lazarus' death, Jesus' anointment which prepared his burial, the threat of death to Lazarus, and

the anticipations of Jesus' own death, "Now my soul is troubled ...." (12:27), and through the

meaning of Jesus' death disclosed in the washing of the feet (13). Jn 14-15-16-17 are best kept

for later on. Instead, the retreatants may jump to the Passion and Death of Jesus in Jn 18-19,

actually the topics for the following day.



DAY SEVEN

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: THE CROSS & RESURRECTION

THE 7TH SIGN (19-20) - "I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD" (10:11)

The Seven Sign closes the series of Signs in the Gospel of John. It is however not the end of all,

but instead a Beginning. Our contemplation of the Passion (Jn 18-19) is to be accompanied by

the meditation on the Good Shepherd (Jn 10). Here Jesus' words in 10:17-18 come to light:

"For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again ....",

symbolized also by Jesus' act of taking off and putting on his robe (Jn 13). Without this

constant perspective of the Father's Love and the Son's Love, the suffering and death have no

meaning at all. The expression at Jesus' death, "Tetelestai", should be understood not as "It is

finished" (as we commonly do!), but "It is accomplished", "It is fulfilled" (19:30).

The First Sign (Cana) and the Seventh Sign (Golgotha) have their own parallelism:

the Hour not yet arrived // the Hour is finally arrived;

water and wine // water and blood;

the presence of Mary and disciples // presence of Mother and Disciple whom Jesus loved;

the manifestation of Jesus' Glory // Cross in Jn as exaltation, uplifting, glorification.

The Last Sign, so to speak, brings us back to the First Sign again and vice versa.

The retreatants may take each pericope in itself as points for prayers, starting from

Gethsemane, the trials, passion and death, to be continued with the appearances of the Rising

Christ. In Jn, Jesus' death is not presented as a humiliation, but instead as a Glorification. When

he is uplifted he will attract all to himself (3:14; 12:32). Therefore in practice, there should be

no clear division between yesterday (the Passion) and today (the Resurrection). The Cross for

John actualizes five Christological Moments simultaneously: Death, Resurrection, Pentecost,

Ascension, and Parousia (Second Coming).



DAY ZERO

MISSION CONTINUES: CONTEMPLATIO AD OBTINENDUM AMOREM

"DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN ANYONE?" (21)

Love is the Starting Point that moves everything; Love is also the Point of Arrival to which

everything is directed. In their feeling of loss and sadness the disciples return to their previous

job as fishermen. They are again reminded of the presence of the Lord; without the Lord, their

hard work amounts to nothing. John's Gospel closes itself with the persisting question to Peter,

"Do you love me more than anyone?" and with the lingering rumours on the fate of the Disciple

whom Jesus loved: that he is to remain until he comes again. St. Ignatius closes the Spiritual

Exercises with a contemplation to obtain love. We have received everything for free, for free

shall we also give to others.

Adapting the words of a mystical Sufi master, Rumi, "The Incarnation of Love can

only be understood and followed through Love"



ignatian retreat based on the gospel of st. john

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