Dear Friends,
On Wednesday of this week I will begin my annual retreat. I am doing it a bit earlier this year because COVID has made for limited options when it comes to retreats. Fr. Norm Hunke will be covering the Masses for me in my absence.
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of offering retreats to clergy, religious and lay members of the Church. Just as Jesus retreated in the desert for forty days before beginning his public ministry, we go on retreats to regain focus, jump-start our prayer life or seek comfort following a hardship. The Church requires it of her clergy; she worries that we will spend all of our time working and forget who we are working for.
Retreats help us focus on what is important. They give us time to review our priorities. When we talk about priorities, I’m reminded of the oft-quoted line: “Don’t let the urgent get in the way of the important.” With only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, sometimes spending time with God doesn’t make the cut. This is very sad.
When I encourage people to take time away for a retreat, they will often ask me, “What do you actually doon a retreat?” It’s hard to answer that question because every retreat is different. There are common elements like rest, prayer, worship, and periods of solitude and silence. Going on retreat is not really about what you do – a spiritual retreat is about what God does as we are present with God. The goal of a spiritual retreat is to be as fully present to God as we can be. Whatever happens beyond that is up to the Holy Spirit.
Each retreat is different, and each time I return home it’s different too. Sometimes I return back to the parish with greater power in ministry, either in preaching, discipleship or counseling. Other times, when I return, I experience a spiritual disruption or an attack on our ministry. In those cases, the retreat was just what I needed to be spiritually strong. Maybe that’s why the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism – he knew that intense spiritual work was coming. After fasting Jesus was physically weak but spiritually strong. A retreat can feel like that.
I will be praying for you while I am away, please pray for me. I also encourage you to take time with God every day and, if you can, to make your own personal retreat sometime in the future. I know it is difficult during COVID to do so but start planning now and maybe in the future you will be able to make a retreat.
I leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa’s No Greater Love.
Silence of our eyes.
Silence of our ears.
Silence of our mouths.
Silence of our minds.
…in the silence of the heart
God will speak.
Peace,
Fr. Damian