Today, closes our series, Healing Through Imaginative Prayer.  My hope is that this series invited you to try this method of prayer if you were new to it.  For those that were already familiar with this prayer method, I hope this series offered you a deeper dive into a piece of St. Ignatius’ legacy of prayer.  

This week’s guided reflection focuses on the healing of Bartimaeus the blind man that Jesus encounters on the road to Jericho.  As God unfolds the scene in your mind, what is God saying to you about your life right now?  How might you respond as Jesus poses the question to you that he asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  

Week 4 Guided Imaginative Prayer: Healing of Bartimaeus the Blind Man

Click here to listen!

Steps of Ignatian Contemplation or Imaginative Prayer (Adapted from Busy Lives & Restless Souls)  

1. Select a Scripture: Pick a passage from one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.  
2. Read:  Read the passage several times slowly so that you almost know the story well enough to share with another person.  
3. Imagine the Scene:  Close your eyes, and imagine the scene. Imagine what the scene looks like.   Who is in the scene? What are they doing? Where are they located? What do you notice about the environment?  What smells are there? What sounds? Let the Holy Spirit guide this unfolding in your mind for you.
4. Put yourself in the scene:  As the scene begins to take shape in your mind, put yourself in the scene.  Notice where you are.
5. Notice what happens:  Let the story unfold in your mind.  Stay with it until you feel nudged to move to reflection.  
6. Respond and Rest:Share with God what you noticed and experienced.  Then rest in God and let God speak to you.
7. Reflect: Reflect back on what you experienced in prayer.  What did you learn about Jesus? About God? About another character in the scripture?  About yourself?

Go Deeper?

• Scripture:
  • Mark 10:46-52// The Blind Bartimaeus 
• Books:
  • Imaginative Prayer
  • Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything

Cultivating Space for God Together:

Women’s Ignatian Silent Retreat: Joy of the Encounter

Join us for a Women’s Ignatian Silent Retreat from August 23-26, 2018 focused on the Ignatian Exercises. Stop and enjoy a weekend of reflection, rediscovery, and refreshment. The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God. Click here to learn more!

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.