Jump to Any Step (33 of 36 · Click to Expand All 36 Days & Exercises)
01. The Presupposition & How to Enter the Exercises02. Principle and Foundation03. The Daily & Particular Examen04. Meditation with the Three Powers on the First, Second & Third Sin05. Meditation on Personal Sins & The Exclamation of Wonder at God’s Mercy06. Repetitions of the First & Second Exercises with the Triple Colloquy07. Meditation with the Five Senses on Ultimate Separation08. The Call of the Temporal King & The Oblation to the Eternal King09. The First Contemplation: The Incarnation10. The Second Contemplation: The Nativity & Application of the Five Senses11. The Presentation in the Temple & The Flight into Egypt12. The Hidden Life at Nazareth & Finding the Boy Jesus in the Temple13. Meditation on the Two Standards & Second Week Rules for Discernment14. Meditation on the Three Pairs of Men15. Departure from Nazareth & Baptism in the River Jordan16. Christ Fasting & Tempted in the Desert17. The Call of the Apostles & The Wedding at Cana18. The Sermon on the Mount19. Calming the Storm & Walking on the Waters20. Sending the Apostles, The Sinful Woman Forgiven, Feeding the 5,000, The Transfiguration & Preaching in the Temple21. The Raising of Lazarus & The Supper at Bethany22. Palm Sunday: The Humble Entry into Jerusalem23. The Three Manners of Humility24. Making an Election25. The Last Supper, Washing the Feet & The Agony in Gethsemane26. Betrayal, Arrest & The Night at the Houses of Annas and Caiaphas27. Christ Before Pilate & Before Herod28. The Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns & ‘Ecce Homo’29. Carrying the Cross & The Crucifixion30. The Descent from the Cross, The Burial & The Silence of Holy Saturday31. The Resurrection: Christ Appears to His Mother & to Mary Magdalene32. The Road to Emmaus, The Appearance to St. Peter & The Upper Room33. St. Thomas’s Confession & Breakfast by the Sea of Galilee34. The Great Commission & The Ascension of Christ Our Lord35. Contemplation to Gain Love36. The Three Methods of Prayer
Movement IV · The Fourth Week (Unitive Way) · Step 33 · Week 4, Day 3
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 305–306

St. Thomas’s Confession & Breakfast by the Sea of Galilee (‘Feed My Sheep’)

Eight days later: Christ inviting doubting Thomas to touch His wounds (‘My Lord and my God!’), and waiting on the beach of Galilee at dawn around a charcoal fire with bread and roasted fish to ask Peter three times, ‘Lovest thou Me?’

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: John 20:24–29 · John 21:1–24

John 20:24–29 (NIV)
24Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 21:1–24 (NIV)
1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” 20Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” 24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read John 20:24–29 and John 21:1–19. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for an Our Father (Exx. 75), reverence the Risen Lord, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

Step 2 · Orienting the Heart & Imagination (5 Minutes)

The Preludes

First Prelude · The Narrative (Exx. 305–306)

Recall how Jesus returns to the Upper Room eight days later for the sake of doubting Thomas, and how He later stands at daybreak on the shore of the Sea of Galilee with a charcoal fire of roasted fish and bread, asking Simon Peter three times, “Lovest thou Me?”

Second Prelude · Composition of Place

See first the Upper Room where Thomas falls to his knees before the wounded hands and side of Christ; then see the misty beach of the Sea of Galilee at dawn, a small boat a hundred yards offshore, and a glowing charcoal fire on the pebbles smelling of fresh bread and broiled fish.

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 221)

Ask for grace to be glad and rejoice intensely at the great glory and joy of Christ our Lord.

Step 3 · The Body of the Exercise (30–40 Minutes)

How to Pray St. Thomas & The Galilee Shore (Five Points)

Notice the breathtaking tenderness with which the Risen Jesus exercises the Office of Consoler (Exx. 224) in these two scenes:

1. St. Thomas · From Honest Doubt to the Highest Confession in the Gospels (John 20:24–29, Exx. 305)

  • SEE, HEAR & WATCH: See Thomas, who refused to pretend he believed until he saw the wounds for himself. When Jesus appears eight days later, notice that He knows every word Thomas said in His absence—and instead of scolding him, He offers Thomas the exact wounds he asked for: “Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.”
  • Hear Thomas make the highest, clearest confession of Christ’s divinity anywhere in the four Gospels: “My Lord and my God!”
  • Hear Jesus’ blessing reaching down across the centuries to you: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

2. Dawn by the Sea of Galilee · ‘It Is the Lord!’ (John 21:1–14, Exx. 306)

  • SEE, HEAR & WATCH: See the seven fishermen back in Galilee after a long, fruitless night on the water (“that night they caught nothing”). As morning breaks, see a Figure standing on the beach calling across the water like a friend: “Children, have ye any meat?”
  • Watch them cast the net on the right side at His word and haul in 153 large fish. Hear John whisper to Peter the contemplative’s recognition: “It is the Lord!”—and watch impulsive Peter jump straight into the lake to swim ashore.
  • Look closely at what is waiting on the beach (John 21:9): the Risen Lord of the Universe has built a little charcoal fire with His own hands and is cooking breakfast (fish and warm bread) for His tired friends! “Come and dine,” He says (v. 12).

3. The Charcoal Fire · Three Questions to Heal Three Denials (John 21:15–19, Exx. 306)

  • Notice a detail in John’s Greek text: the word for ‘charcoal fire’ (anthrakia) occurs only twice in the entire New Testament—first in Caiaphas’s courtyard where Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:18), and here on the beach of Galilee (John 21:9)!
  • Jesus recreates the exact smell and sight of the charcoal fire, and after breakfast asks Peter three times: “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?” Notice that Jesus does not ask, “Simon, do you promise never to fail again?” He asks only: “Do you love Me?”
  • And three times, as Peter answers “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee,” Jesus entrusts His flock to him: “Feed My lambs... Tend My sheep... Feed My sheep.”

4. Points 4 & 5 · How Christ Consoles & Commissions Us (Exx. 223–224)

  • Sit beside that charcoal fire on the beach with Jesus. Eat the bread and fish He hands you (Application of the Senses!).
  • Hear Him ask you by name: “Do you love Me?” And hear how your love for Him is immediately directed outward to care for His people: “Feed My sheep.” To sit in His love, receive it on the beach at dawn, and then distribute it to His flock as a stable shepherd and pillar—that is the whole Christian life.
Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Kneel with Thomas saying “My Lord and my God!”, and sit with Peter by the charcoal fire answering “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee.” Close with an Our Father.

2. The Post-Prayer Examen of Prayer (15 Minutes · Exx. 77)

After finishing the Our Father, remain quiet for ten to fifteen minutes (sitting or walking slowly) to examine how your prayer went. Ask: Where did my heart feel warmed, expanded, drawn to trust, or moved to tears (consolation)? Where did I feel dry, distracted, defensive, or negotiating with God (desolation or resistance)? Write down two or three honest sentences in your notebook.

3. Repetitions & Carrying the Mystery Through the Day

In your evening Application of the Five Senses, smell the woodsmoke and roasted fish on the Galilee shore, hear the gentle lapping of the lake, and taste the bread from Christ’s hand.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 305–306)
[305] OF THE EIGHTH APPARITION (John xx, 24-29.) First Point. First: Jesus appears to them, the doors being closed, St. Thomas being present, and says to them: "Peace be to you." Second Point. Second: He says to St. Thomas: "Put in here thy finger and see the truth, and be not incredulous, but faithful." Third Point. Third: St. Thomas said: "My Lord and my God!" To whom Christ said: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." [306] OF THE NINTH APPARITION (John xxi, 1-24.) First Point. First: Jesus appears to seven of His Disciples, who were fishing... Second Point. Second: By this miracle St. John knew Him, and said to St. Peter: "It is the Lord!" Who cast himself into the sea and came to Christ. Third Point. Third: He gave them to eat part of a fish roasted and a honeycomb; and commended the sheep to St. Peter, having first examined him three times on charity, and says to him: "Feed My sheep!"
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