The Second Week [of the Spiritual Exercises] is a school of discipleship. In discipleship you enter into a relationship that leads you deeply into the sentiments, thoughts, and values of another person. This school requires patience, fueled by a great desire to know the other person. Though discipleship provides many values in itself, it is usually preparation for something else. In the Exercises the discipleship of the Second, Third, and Fourth Weeks readies you for apostleship. An apostle is someone sent out in the name of the one sending. The danger for apostles is that they get distracted and preach as though sent in their own name. When this occurs, it always reveals a failure in discipleship. It takes time for love to pull you out of your own selfish ground and plant you in the attractive garden of another person. But, finally, the sign of genuine love is that you become whom you love.
—Excerpted from Stretched for Greater Glory by George A. Aschenbrenner, SJ
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