The other day, I was sorting through some old papers and came across the “Fall in Love” prayer by Joseph Whelan, SJ. His thoughts are so simple yet so profound. I was glad to come across them again.
The first time I read these words, though, I was completely intimidated. It was my first Ignatian retreat, and Whelan’s words presented such a challenge that I had to fight the urge to hightail it out of the retreat center! I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be this honest with myself. And while I was indeed searching and wanting to know God, I wasn’t yet sure if I had found God at all. I wondered, How am I supposed to “fall in love and stay in love” with a God I am just getting to know?
There came no immediate answer from above and no immediate rising to the challenge on my part. I just kept sitting with God—and wondering.
It wasn’t until many years later that the answer to my question started to reveal itself as I was reading St. John of the Cross’s Ascent of Mount Carmel. St. John advised, “In the first place, it should be known that
