Magdi found great inspiration in Jesuit spirituality. She preferred silent contemplation over spoken prayers, often in the quiet of a church or nature. For her, prayer was always an encounter with the Creator Father or with Christ present in the Eucharist. A meaningful encounter deserves preparation, so we suggest the following steps:
✢ Find a place conducive to meeting with God.
✢ Then, settle into silence, bringing yourself into God’s presence. Take a few moments to bring your whole being into this time of prayer. Focusing on your breath can help; without controlling it, simply let the air flow in and out naturally. Your inhalation can express your desire for God, while your exhalation conveys your surrender to Him.
✢ Acknowledge that God is here, now, and looking upon you with love. Ask to focus fully on Him: “Lord, let me give this prayer time to You, with all that I am and have. May it be for Your glory, honor, and service.”
✢ Then simply be present before Jesus (this is contemplation) or share with Him what you are grateful for and what you ask of Him.
One of Magdi’s favorite prayers was the loving attentiveness prayer rooted in Jesuit spirituality. In the evening, we quiet ourselves and review our day with the following steps:
✢ Arrive with your whole self, letting God’s loving presence find you. Ask to view yourself and your day through His loving gaze.
✢ Invite the Holy Spirit to be your living memory. Allow God’s Spirit to bring the day’s events and encounters to life within you, focusing less on remembering everything and more on allowing God to direct your inner awareness toward what He wants you to see—experiences, encounters, feelings.
✢ Give thanks for everything that brought life and love today. For moments that connected you with God, others, yourself, and the created world. Linger where the Lord touched you, paying attention to what He reveals through events and encounters.
✢ Bring to the Lord all that was difficult or painful, anything that weighs on you. Ask for His loving, healing touch for whatever in you needs healing or reconciliation. Seek forgiveness for what you may have done wrong.
✢ Allow the Lord to reveal how He desires to be with you tomorrow, how He hopes to be present with you. Ask to live with Him and in Him. To conclude, offer all your gratitude, requests, and praises in union with Jesus’ prayer, ending with the Our Father.