PAUL ON THE DYNAMIC OF GRACE,

AND THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

Jean-Marc Laporte S.J.
October 31, 2013

This article stems from 5 presentations made in September 2013 in St. John NB at the annual
gathering of the Atlantic Association for the Spiritual Exercises Apostolate. This meeting brought
together over 40 persons, mostly lay, but also religious and clerical, from the Maritime
provinces of Canada. I have often taught Paul on grace during my years at Regis College in
Toronto from 1971 to 2002. This meeting was an opportunity for me to relate Paul and Ignatius
on a topic pertinent to my present ministry in the area of spirituality.

There are five units to this article. The first and second are on Paul’s experience of grace,
communal and personal. The third and fourth are more systematic in nature, dealing with the
stages of grace in Paul, and the conflict to the death between grace and sin. The feedback from
the participants led me to develop the fifth presentation on grace and tribulation.

Grace permeates every part of the New Testament, and in it we find different approaches
which are complementary to each other. These approaches are reflected in the world-wide
Church of today. Grace in John’s writings is highlighted in the Eastern Churches, and stresses
the mysteries of Christ’s incarnation and our divinization; grace in Paul’s writings is reflected in
the Churches of the West, and stresses the mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection, and
our deliverance from the power of sin; grace in the newly emerging Churches of the Southern
world refers us to the mysteries of Christ’s earthly life and pushes us in the direction of
outreach and counter-cultural mission. We have chosen to focus on Paul’s approach, well
matched with that of Ignatius, knowing that the other two New Testament approaches are
essential for a fully balanced perspective on how God is gracious to us.

1 PAUL’S EXPERIENCE OF GRACE IN THE COMMUNITY

Paul’s teachings on grace are rooted in his own experience of grace transforming both
communities and individuals. How does his teaching connect with the spirituality of St. Ignatius
Loyola, and, in particular, with the dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises? And what insights will
that give you in how to work with your directees?

Let us begin with his experience and go back to the very beginnings. Grace at work in the
community is reflected in the very first text written by Paul, around 52 AD. He begins with
thanksgiving to God for this life of grace as he perceives it. The word grace in Latin (gratia) and
in Greek (kharis) means both the gift that is given freely and the ensuing thanksgiving which
the recipient gives to the donor. Thanksgiving is the proper context for grace. Here is the text:

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I Thessalonians 1:1-10:

2 We give thanks to God for all of you,

constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
3 remembering -your work of faith
-and labour of love
-and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father.

4 For we know the choice (he made) of you, brethren beloved by God.
5 for our Gospel did not come to you
in word alone
but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit
and in full conviction.

You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in much tribulation
with joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
8 For the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you,
not only in Macedonia and Achaia
but in every place
and your faith in God has gone forth, so that we need not say anything.

9 For they themselves report concerning us

what a welcome we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols,
to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Essential points made in the text:

What we get in this text here is a snapshot of the dynamism of grace at work in these
Christians.

A) As human beings we live in the present, but we are spiritual creatures that can also
remember the past in which we are rooted and anticipate the future towards which we are
moving. God’s grace touches us in all three dimensions: past, present, and future. Already we
see this in our text, under the familiar heading of faith, love, and hope, and we see how the
theme recurs at the end of this thanksgiving passage:

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 past work of faith how you turned to God from idols
present toil of love to serve a living and true God
future steadfastness of hope to wait for his Son from heaven

- Faith: an attitude which is rooted in a past event (Christ’s paschal mystery; our own entry in
that mystery through our turning to God). We move from putting our trust in idols which will
never satisfy us to putting our trust in the living God. This sets the foundation for our
subsequent lives. While we may have already received this grace of conversion, it can always
be deepened and its impact in our lives broadened.
- Love: the gift of faith enables us to live in the present coping with the tribulations that come
our way. Transformed by love we forget ourselves in service, struggle, and toil. In serving our
neighbour we serve the living and true God.
- Hope: this attitude enables us to keep a firm focus on the future when Christ will return in
glory and save us from this present age (the wrath to come). No matter what comes our way,
what might lead us to despair and impasse, with this gift of hope we can continue forward
without deviation.

B) Grace is dynamic; it spreads by imitation (Paul imitates the Lord; the Thessalonians are
invited to imitate Paul; and others hear about the Thessalonians, who in turn become
examples for others to imitate. This outpouring of example and imitation is the outer
dimension of grace; there is an inner dimension as well which enables the example to be
recognized as such and to become operative in the life of both individuals and communities.

C) The inner/outer dynamic is already present in Paul’s experience at this stage. The word
might be preached outwardly, but what draws Paul to thanksgiving is that it is received
inwardly through the power of the Spirit. (E.G. Parable of the Sower and the Seed). For
conversion to take place, there has to be the concurrence of a) God’s outward action through
events, challenges, other persons and what they say and do, and b) God’s inward action
through the transforming power of the Spirit. Because of this inward action the word is
preached not in the void, but it is received in fertile ground, with the conviction that brings
results, and that conviction permeates the one who hears it as well.

D) Grace coexists with tribulation. Without grace we cannot endure in the midst of the
obstacles and struggles we have to face. With grace, rather than discourage us tribulation
tempers us and brings us to perfection.

Exercises of St. Ignatius:

A) Faith, hope, love are central to the exercises. Ultimately the Exercises are there to favour
the life of grace within us and to enable the flourishing of the grace of conversion. Let us hear
Ignatius on consolation: “Finally, I call consolation every increase of faith,hope, and love, and

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all internal joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one;s soul by
filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.” Faith, hope, and love are not just
something we believe because it has been revealed to us, but also something which we are
able to experience in some measure. Paul corroborates Ignatius on this point.

B) For Paul the Gospel comes not just in word but in power, the Holy Spirit, and in full
conviction. That is the whole point of prayer in the Ignatian mode, especially contemplation.
The point is to invite the exercitant to create a space within for the Spirit to act in a way that is
tangible and transforming. Thus the words of scripture are allowed to be powerful,
impregnated with the Spirit, and leading to full conviction.

C) Responding to Christ’s invitation to join him in the struggle to establish his kingdom is to be
involved in the great dynamic of grace spreading outwards which Paul describes in this text.
We respond as best we can, imitating Jesus in his attitudes, sharing in his ministry, becoming
examples that others will want to follow. As directors our task is to enter into this great
dynamic, inviting people not to sit on the sidelines but to participate in whatever way they can.
Just as Paul did, we preach the word, in our case by bringing it to our exercitants, and we count
on the Spirit to do the rest.

D) The initial conversion is from idolatry. That is a wide-ranging term. We will not encounter
too many people who literally worship idols in their homes, but there are the pervasive idols of
self-satisfaction, of addictive behaviour, of power, of prestige, of wealth, whatever stands in
the way of entrusting our lives to God in Christ.

2 PAUL’S EXPERIENCE OF GRACE IN HIS OWN PERSON

In addition to describing grace at work in a community, Paul describes it at work in the

individual person, using himself as an example:

Philippians 3:3-14:

4 Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

If any man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh,
I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews;
as to the law a Pharisee,
6 as to zeal a persecutor of the Church,
as to righteousness under the law blameless.

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

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 For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as refuse,
in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own, based on law
but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith;
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
and may share in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death,
11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already attained this, or am already perfect

but I press on to make it my own,
because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own;
but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind,
and straining forward to what lies ahead:
14 I press on towards the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In this text Paul tells us about two key moments of transition:

A) First, before his conversion on the road to Damascus, he was quite satisfied with himself,
with his achievements, with the status before God in which he falsely boasted. But then he had
an earthshaking encounter with Jesus in which everything fell into a totally different
perspective. The things he counted on for his status before God were garbage, useless, and the
only thing that henceforth counts for him is Christ and his forgiveness. His self-justification
through his own actions and resources is a sham; the only justification that counts is through
faith in Christ.

This faith is far more than believing in certain propositional truths: it is a total surrender of
ourselves to Jesus Christ as the one who saves us. (It also includes love and hope, but generally
faith – as in the Thessalonian text above – is highlighted in the initial experience of conversion)

B) Having had this kind of conversion, the danger is of thinking that we have achieved our final
fulfillment. We may bask in a religious honeymoon for a while, but at some point we have to
wake up. Yes, everything is different because of our conversion, but everything remains the
same. We have to continue living our lives, with a new purpose, a new energy, of course, but
our weaknesses and flaws continue. We have not achieved the prize but must struggle towards
it. We struggle with the same demons, but we have a renewed energy and confidence. God has
made us his own; now we must make God our own. God has acted; we must react. Paul very
soon realized this fact. He might have basked in a religious honeymoon for a short time, but
together with his conversion came a mission to be a preacher of the Gospel, a life in which he

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experienced much conflict from outside and a thorn in the flesh within. Thus conversion is not
a momentary experience but has major implications for the rest of our lives. It entails a life of
discipleship.

Exercises of St. Ignatius

What this passage presents to us is the reality behind the progression in Ignatius’ Exercises in
the first and into the second week. The first week is devoted to conversion, the second to the
discipleship to which are invited those who in the first week have recognized themselves as
forgiven sinners. This transition between the weeks is brought to light in the first week, when
the exercitant is invited to pray before Christ crucified and ask: “What have I done for Christ,
what am I doing for Christ, what will I do for Christ?”

The graces of the two weeks are quite distinct. A story will tell the difference. Once when I was
involved in the leadership of our Jesuit province we were looking at a promising candidate for
our novitiate. He seemed to have received the graces of the first week in a profound way, and
we thought that he would be a suitable candidate. But when presented with the fact that
following Christ in the Society of Jesus meant that he would have to let go of his attachment to
his family, his diocese, and that the call to re-shape his life was a radical one, he turned away.
He thought he could be a Jesuit in his home diocese and was not willing to go further afield. He
had received the grace of the first week, but was not ready for the grace of the second week.
Like the rich young man he walked away.

First week: we recognize the idols in our lives that are not God, we smash our pretensions to
self-justification, often lurking in a hidden way within our psyches. God graces us with a deeper
knowledge of our own disorder, a realization that we are hanging by a thread over the abyss,
but a solid one which is God’s unfailing mercy. We entrust ourselves to God’s mercy, letting go
of all else.

Second week: The grace of repentance and our gratitude for it urges us on into service. As the
Eternal King Christ has a project of universal salvation, of overcoming once and for all the
power of sin in the world, and he seeks the collaboration of human beings – and that includes
me – to achieve it. This means a life of struggle against many enemies, and is described by Paul
in the life he leads after his conversion, of disciplined effort towards the goal of final salvation.
The second week begins by inviting us to the grace of resolving to follow Jesus but it sharpens
the focus of this resolve by discerning the ways and means for me, the unique path I am to
follow.

3 GRACE HAS STAGES: already now and not yet

We have opened ourselves to Paul’s experience of grace as it works in the Christian community
(of Thessalonika) and in himself. Paul also dealt with the same issues in a more theological

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perspective, in response to the challenging problems that occurred within the communities he
evangelized. As he struggled with the apostolic challenges they presented to him, he drew on
his own experience of grace, and he put it together with his knowledge of God’s action on
behalf of his people as described in the Hebrew scriptures which he knew intimately. Our
remaining three units will be based on his theological perspective: grace and its stages; grace
and sin; grace and tribulation.

We have seen in the first text that grace respects the fact that as human beings (unlike
animals) because of our spiritual selves we are simultaneously plunged into the past (faith), the
present (love), and the future (hope). In the second text we focused on the tension in Paul,
touched by grace, between what has already happened in his life – on the road to Damascus –
and what still needed to happen on his journey towards final salvation. Already Paul is
experiencing in his own life and ministry the tension between the already now and the not yet
– terms used by Pauline scholars today. He has had (already now) a major conversion
experience, and all is different for him. But just as before he lives in a struggle to achieve what
is not yet at hand.

Paul develops this tension in a more systematic way in his main letters, in response to the
similar tensions experienced by the members of his communities. These tensions led to
numerous conflicts. He tried to develop a balanced theology to help these community
members live with one another peacefully in spite of their different religious perspectives.
Roughly speaking, here are the two groups he had to manage:

gMany Jewish converts failed to recognize that something radically different had happened
with the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They felt that observing the law of Moses
with all its regulations was still necessary. Before you can become a Christian, you must be a
Jew. They were still caught up in a not yet approach, still waiting with their Jewish co-
religionists for the final fulfillment which had not yet come, bound by the many legal demands
which Jesus had already abrogated. For Paul and for Christians, this fulfillment was already
here in Jesus. Let go of the old order and enter into the new. We are not justified by God
through fulfilling all the precepts of the Jewish law, but we are justified by faith. Justification is
available to all, Jews as well as Gentiles. This point he stresses in his letter to the Galatians
above all.

gMany Pagan converts in their brand new experience of Jesus and his Spirit felt that in their
conversion the fulfillment of God’s plan was totally given to them already now. Those who
came from a more sophisticated background thought that they had special knowledge (Paul
refers to this as “wisdom” in I Corinthians), special spiritual experiences of a charismatic
nature, and they looked down at their brothers and sisters still caught up in superstitions and
struggling with old taboos deeply rooted in their psyches. Paul reminded them that while Jesus
had already entered into the world and set the age to come in motion, the hoped for
fulfillment would only take place when Jesus returned in the second coming. This present time
is still a time of struggle, and this means tolerance of the messy plurality of their communities

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with people elsewhere on the religious spectrum. Yes, our spirits have been transformed, but
the body of Christ has many members, some strong, some weak, all to be treasured for their
contribution. The greatest gift of all is tolerant and compassionate love.This point he deals with
especially in Corinthians.

The illusion of the first group was that they were justified before God by the works of the law;
the illusion of the second was justification would come through self-validating religious
experience or by a shallow pretend-wisdom.

How to bring those two groups together to live peacefully as followers of Jesus? In sum Paul
tells his communities that already now they have been redeemed and the life of grace is within
them, but the final fulfillment ushered in by grace is not yet. Neither of the two groups wanted
to embrace the tension of living in both the already now and the not yet. His mature teaching
is found especially in Romans where both sides are presented. The salvation history
background of this teaching can be diagrammed in the following way:

The standard view of salvation history for the Jews is presented in (1), and in (2) Paul’s
modification of it to account for the entry of Jesus Christ upon the scene. Both Jews and
Christians have a linear view of history: history has a beginning, a progression, and an end.
(Other groups in the time of Jesus and today have a cyclical view of history: there is no goal, no
end, no fulfillment, only repeated cycles of nature, and for some reincarnation.)

The early history is the same for both Jews and Christians: creation and Adam, the onset of sin,
the promise and Abraham, the law and Moses. Both expect a final denouement of history. Both
see the conflict between this present age which is full of sinful pride, greed, injustice, conflict,

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and the age to come to be ushered in when the Lord comes in power to bring all to fulfillment.
Jewish believers in God still await the age to come, to be ushered in by God’s final intervention
and the coming of the Messiah.

But there is a significant difference. For Christian believers this age to come is already upon us
with the coming of Jesus who is the long-expected Messiah. In principle the victory has been
won through his passion, death, and resurrection. But he has not yet returned in glory. We still
live and struggle in this present age, but the age to come has already established its dynamic in
our midst. Not so for Jewish believers.

Thus in the diagram, the two ages do not overlap in the Jewish perspective, but they do for
Paul and they do for us. The Jews of Christ’s time are exasperated with their suffering, and
their fantasies are of a God that is going to come very soon and deal with their enemies and
usher in a period of permanent peace. Christians are dealing with the mystery of a Messiah
who has already come and ushered in the final age through his own resurrection from the
dead, and left his followers in a state of expectation as to when they would share in that
resurrection with him. There is some conflict among Christians, some thinking the return was
imminent, others more settled into this present life. Jesus wanted them to not concentrate on
precise times and dates: the second coming is a mystery in the bosom of the Father.

Thus, to say the least, we Christians live in a complex situation: the final age is upon us with the
resurrection of Christ, but we still await his second coming in glory. We live in both. We are
pulled backwards towards the present age; and pulled forward towards the age to come.

This way of thinking translates into Paul’s classical language of justification, sanctification, and
salvation. We are already justified by faith; in the midst of tribulations we now live the life of
sanctification in love, and we are not yet saved and live in hope:

Romans 5: 1-11

1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
2 through whom we have access to this grace in which we stand
and we REJOICE IN THE HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.

3 Not only so, but we REJOICE in our tribulations

knowing that tribulations produce endurance
4 endurance produces character
character produces hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint

because God's love has been poured into our hearts
by the Spirit which has been given to us.

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6 For in effect it is when we were still weak at the right time
that Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man

though perhaps for a good one one will dare to die.

8 But God shows his love for us

in that when we were still sinners Christ died for us.

9 Much more, since we are justified by his blood

will we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God

by the death of his Son,

much more, now that we are reconciled,

shall we be saved by his live.

11 Not only so,

but we REJOICE IN GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ
through whom we have received our reconciliation.

You will recognize in the following diagram the same pattern as in the first diagram we
presented in this section. The first one presented salvation history as a whole. This one shows
how each person re-lives the whole pattern of salvation history in his/her own life, moving
through individual conversion (justification) into the new age; struggling to act lovingly in the
between time with its tensions and tribulations (sanctification), waiting for total deliverance
from this present age and total incorporation into the age to come (salvation).

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You will note the contrast between this present age and the age to come: slavery as opposed
to freedom, grace as opposed to sin, death as opposed to life, flesh as opposed to spirit, law as
opposed to gospel. The Christian in this world experiences both ages, is caught between them.

Sin leads to eternal death; grace leads to eternal life. Elsewhere Paul will say that grace leads to
glory, which means the same thing.

Flesh and spirit are not to be taken as body and soul, as if the body is evil and the soul is good.
Rather flesh is the whole human being, spirit, soul, and body, under the realm of sin; and spirit
the whole human being as the temple of the Spirit.

The contrast between law and gospel is somewhat more complex, and we will refer to it in the
next section.

This teaching of Paul gives us a deeper insight into the distinction which Paul made in his own
life (unit two) between the grace of conversion and the ensuing struggle to reach out for the
final prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus:

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g The conversion corresponds to justification by faith, that letting go of all the ways in which
we seek to control our relationship to God and/or to find fulfillment in what is not God,
g The struggle corresponds to the life of sanctification in love which we live in the between-
time,
g The achievement of the final prize is the salvation we all hope for.

The first week of the Exercises is devoted to receiving and/or deepening the grace of
justification, which means totally letting go of all that stands in the way of our total entrusting
of ourselves to the living God. The second week is devoted to setting us firmly on the path of
sanctification, in which we seek to know Jesus more intimately, love him more dearly, and
follow him more closely.

The process of conversion is rooted in the first week of the Exercises, but continues in the
second. The exercitant may already be focused on following Jesus by the end of the first week,
but to do this reflectively will lead to a further deepening of one one’s awareness of how the
power of sin – often subtly and elusively – has taken root in one’s life. Thus the dynamic of
justification continues in the second week. Likewise the dynamic of sanctification begins in the
second week, but continues in the third, which brings the exercitant in touch with the toil and
struggle of Christ in his passion, and deepens one’s resolve to accept the toil and struggle of
one’s sanctification. (The article on the Jesuit Orientations website on the stages of the
spiritual life offers more details on this, and connects it with the three traditional ways of
spiritual development, purgation, illumination, and union. Click here.)

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4 GRACE TRIUMPHS OVER SIN

Already in the last section the theme

of sin as the counterpart of grace has
emerged. This present age in Paul’s
understanding is given over to sin,
death, the flesh, and the law. The
age to come is marked by the
opposite: grace, life, the Spirit, and
the gospel. A conflict is set up
between these two dynamics. The
one who has chosen to respond to
Christ’s invitation has opted for the
dynamic of grace, confident in its
ultimate triumph.

The diagram to the left presents the

two dynamics and their clash.
Initiating the dynamic of sin is the
disobedience of Adam; initiating the
dynamic of sin is the obedience of
Christ. Both dynamics come to a
climax in the terrible event of the
Cross, at one the worst sin that could
ever be committed, putting God to
death, and the greatest act of love
imaginable, giving up one’s life to
God.

The selection from Romans 5:15-

21 presents the gist of this dynamic:

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass.

For if the many died through the one man’s trespass,
much more surely have the grace of God
and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,
abounded for the many.

16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin.
For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation,

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 but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
17 If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one,
much more surely will those who receive
the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness
exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore
just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all,
so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,
so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

20 But law came in,

with the result that the trespass multiplied;
but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death,
so grace might also exercise dominion through justification
leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In this text the two dynamics are contrasted, but it is clear that no matter how powerful the
dynamic of sin is, the dynamic of grace overcomes it. Justification supersedes condemnation.
The dynamic started by Adam’s disobedience is countered by the dynamic started by the
obedience of Christ.

To get at the full meaning of this passage, one must go further afield in the Pauline epistles. A
key text is the kenotic hymn in Philippians 2. The obedience of Christ consisted in his readiness
to not avail himself of the privileges of his status as God’s equal but to take on the form of the
servant. It directly counters Adam’s sin which consists in his seeking to grasp equality with God
contrary to God’s precept to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Exercises of St. Ignatius

The dynamic of sin and grace and their conflict are present throughout the SpExx. A key
difference between Paul and Ignatius must be noted. When Ignatius presents the Two
Standards in the second week, the two adversaries in conflict are Christ and Lucifer/Satan
(SpExx 137 ff). Ignatius refers to the sin of Adam in the first week, but this is preceded by a
consideration of the sin of the angels (SpExx 50 and 51). Indeed, if we go back to Genesis,
Adam was prompted by Satan to commit his sin. Ignatius appears to go further back in
identifying the origin of sin. At the same time Satan was a part of Paul’s world of thought and
imagination, and the fall of the angels was evoked more explicitly in the later New Testament
writings of Peter and Jude. A general pattern may be apparent in all this, but the details are
somewhat sketchy and elusive.

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First Week: at first the focus of this week is on the dynamic of sin and how each individual is
engaged in it. Successive meditations on the sin of the Angels, the sin of Adam, our own sin,
the ultimate consequence of our sin which is hell, all of these invite us to realize the extent to
which we are touched by the dynamic of sin, and to seek the grace of ever deeper repentance.
But even more central in the first week is the realization that even while the dynamic of sin
touches our lives, we are enveloped and protected by God’s grace which is even more
powerful. We are still alive and able to do good; we are constantly being saved from the
consequences of our own sinning. In the words of Romans 8, absolutely nothing can separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Once we have received a measure of this grace and the
gratitude that flows from it we are ready to move to the next week of the Exercises.

Second Week: the dynamic of sin and the dynamic of grace are both featured in the second
week. The opening contemplation presents the kingdom which Christ came to inaugurate,
which is God’s enterprise to overcome the consequence of sin in the world. The other initial
contemplations present the unfolding of the dynamic of grace in conflict with the dynamic of
sin. The conflict between sin and grace comes to a head especially in the Two Standards
meditation. The desired outcome is that the exercitant not only chooses to ally him/herself
with the project of Jesus to overcome sin and establish the kingdom, but also aligns his/her
choice of work within that kingdom with God’s own desires for him/her.

Third and Fourth Week: we see the final clash between the two dynamics: the passion and
death presents the final culmination of this clash. In the same event we see the total defeat of
love in the eyes of the world, because Christ appears to be conquered, and the final victory of
love because Christ gave himself over to death out of love. The fourth week invites us to live in
the victory and to savour it.

A final note has to do with the role of law. In the earlier text of Paul we saw how law is
opposed to Gospel. If the Gospel which announces the age to come is good news, the law
which weighs us down in the present age must be bad news. But in this text and other texts in
chapters 6 and 7 the role of law is described more precisely. The law was given to Moses as
part of salvation history even though its effect was to enhance the impact of sin. The role of
law is akin to that of a hot compress to treat a sty. You bring the sty to its maturation, it erupts,
and the pus is gone. By exacerbating the power of sin and above all enhancing the unhappy
consciousness of the sinner who now knows that he/she is violating God’s law, it brings the
person to the point there is no other way out than to entrust entrusting himself/herself to
God in faith. In that sense the law is a pedagogue that leads to faith. (Gal 3:24)

In directing the Exercises or in spiritual direction generally, it may be good to be aware of the
role that legal observance or other similar patterns may have played in the life of exercitants,
to help them realize how though this may have been very painful it was a part of God’s
providence extended to them.

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5 GRACE AND TRIBULATION

(The topic of this fifth session of this work-shop was left open, and after two sessions it was
clear that the word “tribulation” used by Paul gathered a lot of interest among the participants,
and that grace and tribulation should be developed as a topic.)

Tribulation comes from the Greek thlipsis (which literally means a squeezing), and is frequently
used in the New Testament, with the meaning of a suffering which tests one’s commitment
and resolve. Can I live through the tribulation? That is the question that I have to answer time
and time again, and so did Jesus, for example in the desert. In a minor mode it denotes the
daily state of tension in which we usually live, the anxiety and struggle which often marks our
lives.

In many New Testament texts tribulation is connected with the end-times, e.g. the end of world
texts found in Matthew. This is not surprising Christians then lived their lives in that context, and
were invited to embrace their sufferings and testings, with a vivid sense – rarely found today – that
Christ would return soon. This should be our sense as well.

This end-time suffering is the hollowing out which creates space for grace, and is thus
productive, like child-birth. This will be our text:

Romans 8: 9-23

9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
.....
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory about to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God;
20 for the creation was subjected to futility,
not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it,
21 in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay
and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now;
23 and not only the creation,
but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

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The above passages make two points that are most important for us.

1) In verse 10 Paul is talking about persons redeemed by Christ, living in the spirit, and engaged
in the long and arduous process of sanctification. Their spirit, inhabited by the Spirit of God,
poured into our hearts (Rom 5:5), is life because of righteousness; but their body is death
because of sin. The grace of God makes an entry into the deepest, most central part of
ourselves, but in this life we live in a body which is destined to death, until is is raised by the
Spirit who raised the body of Jesus. Grace has established a beachhead in our being. The
conflict between that part of us which has been transformed by the grace of God and that part
of us which that grace has not yet transformed is painful and protracted, and is at the root of
what Paul calls tribulation.

2) In verses 22 and 23 Paul offers us the powerful image of childbirth. Our sufferings, our
tribulations are akin to the pains of childbirth. This is a pain which is productive of new life, and
we endure it with hope. The image of stretching, or dilation, used by the medieval spiritual
author Richard of St. Victor applies here. In our period of tribulation, of child-birth, we are
being stretched out, the part of us where we are receptive of God’s grace is being expanded.
But this is a painful process akin to that of childbirth. Hence the groanings Paul refers to and
which we all experience in different ways.

All this fits in with Paul’s basic anthropology:

Paul expresses this anthropology in the final greeting of the

first letter to the Thessalonians. He prays that our spirits,
souls, and bodies be blameless at the coming at the Lord
Jesus Christ (I Thess 5:23). These three components are
presented here in concentric circles, with the spirit at the
very centre, and the world as the surrounding reality to which
we are linked.

Spirit is the same for Paul as heart (“the love of God poured into our hearts”: Rom 5:5). It is our
inmost self, the point at the centre where we are related to God (“you have created our hearts
restless until they rest in Thee: Augustine”).

Soul: (psyche) is the first concentric circle. It represents the inner world of feelings, thoughts,
emotions, images, judgements, decisions through which the human spirit awakens to itself and
takes a stance towards life and towards God. The soul is connected to the world (outside the
concentric circles) through the body (second concentric circle) which presents the objects,
images, situations, challenges, etc. which are the stuff of psychic activity. Some parts of the
psyche are accessible to us, others are sub-conscious and require therapeutic intervention to
come to the light.

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Body: (soma): this refers to our physical bodies, but they enable the powers of communication
and interaction through which we shape a whole realm of relationships: I-thou (personal),
we-they (social), humankind-world (ecological).

As we see from the first text, as we begin our journey towards salvation we receive the grace
of justification poured into our inner selves, our hearts. At the end of the process, which is
salvation, our bodies are glorified, permeated with the Spirit. Already now we have received
grace as the first-fruits, the promise of a harvest to come (Romans 8:9-11): but then we will
receive the full redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:23). They will be glorified, with immeasurably
enhanced powers of communication. But in addition to this individual transformation creation
will be set free from its bondage to decay, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Right now we live in the intermediate time of sanctification. The area of grace which
permeates our psyche is being stretched out, hollowed out. We allow, albeit reluctantly, the
grace poured into our inmost self to permeate all the nooks and crannies of our psyches. This
stretching out leads to pangs akin to those of childbirth. We begin the task of using our bodies
to transform the world, a task which will only be complete at the end. This means the
transformation of our personal relationships (and we might make some headway), the setting
right of the relationships of injustice which mark our world, and the protection of a sustainable
environment (and, it seems, make less headway).

In general grace works both outwards and inwards. It starts from the transformation of our
hearts, the innermost part of our selves, and works out towards the transformation of the vast
inner world of our psyches. We then reach out through our bodies to seek better relationships
with one another, with our society, and our cosmos. The actual transformation of our bodies
from earthly to glorified, from imperfect to perfect instruments of communication, is
something we cannot give ourselves but which we await as a final grace from God.

There are two possible deviations in this process. In both of them we refuse the life of
tribulation, in other words the life of carrying our cross together with Jesus.

Already now people have the illusion that they are already there because of the experience or
the superior wisdom which they think is theirs. They are trying to go from the heart to the final
vision of a renewed heaven and earth bypassing the struggle. They bypass tribulation, or at
least think they can do so.
Not yet people are stuck in their routine of self-satisfaction through legal observance or
whatever addiction gives them a false sense of security. They don’t move, don’t enter into the
world of tribulation which is marked by fragility and insecurity. They seek personal survival in a
manner that they can control rather than totally entrusting themselves to God.

Spiritual Exercises: The potential of these reflections on tribulation for giving the exercises is
immense. It opens up images that can be used, and questions that can be raised.

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Helping exercitants realize more deeply what is the role of tribulation in their lives will enable
them to live with tribulation with a greater sense of hope. The second week invites the
exercitant over and over again to enter into a life of struggle, marked by conflict, by
humiliations, by scarcity in the resources at our own disposal. That is the condition for joining
in with Jesus on his project of salvation. And in the second week we are engaged more
intentionally in the two-fold work of looking after ourselves, the disorders that continue to lurk
within our own psyches, and looking after the world, with the structures of injustice and
ecological depradation that reflect the inner disorders of our own souls. In the third week we
enter into solidarity with Jesus who drank the cup of tribulation to the full. For us this means
the grace of not ever shirking from the path we have undertaken. In the fourth week we take
time to look back and to recognize that in all of this the fulness of the resurrection, already
enjoyed by Christ, is making its way in our own selves and in the world.

© Jean-Marc Laporte

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