Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, May 11, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 9
Making an effective retreat today
By Dan Luby
Catholic News Service
Some retreats today are silent, oth
ers are filled with activities and con
versation. Some follow a sharply de
fined pattern, others are spontaneous
and fluid.
With all the possibilities, it’s hard
to know what to expect. Here are six
constants to bear in mind for making
an effective retreat:
—It’s about conversion. Whether
focused on private conferences with a
spiritual director, or group sharing
around Scripture, or preaching on top
ics of special interest, a retreat helps
us to leave behind whatever interferes
with our relationship with Jesus and
each other. Re
—Silence is golden. Whatever the
format of the retreat, if it is going to
help us toward spiritual growth it
must include silence. For all but the
most advanced souls, the interior
quiet necessary to attend to God’s call
requires at least a measure of external
quiet too. It is important to take the
opportunity to enter into some silent
waiting.
—Pay attention. People who sought
guidance from the early Christian
monks who fled to the desert in pur
suit of holiness often were urged to
“stay awake.” The idea was to culti
vate a keener sense of God’s presence.
It is easy to live on automatic pilot,
sleep-walking through life. A retreat
is a time to attend closely to things we
take for granted: the world around us,
treats help us get
back on course.
—It’s not busi
ness as usual. The
image of the
desert is helpful
here. In the
desert, away from
ordinary comforts
and daily stresses
that preoccupy us
and distract our
attention from
what is impor
tant, we can focus
on the things that
matter: friendship
with Jesus and
the community
life in the church,
which supports
that friendship.
To go on retreat is deliberately to
live differently, if only for a short
time, so that when we return to our
routine we can see it afresh.
In the desert, away from ordinary comforts
and daily stresseswe can focus on the things
that matter:
the patterns of our life’s story, God’s
generosity and mercv.
—Take something to read. The
Bible has pride of place on retreats as
a source of inspiration, enlighten
ment, comfort. Reading the Scrip
tures meditatively always enriches
us. Depending on circumstances it
may also be helpful to read stories of
holy people, reflections on the spiri
tual life, or poems and prayers that
speak to conversion.
—God is at work. The relative pas
sivity of a retreat makes many people
uncomfortable. It is important to give
time to leisurely walks, or admiring
the scenery, or just sitting in a quiet
place. Schedules for retreats may be
set by leaders, but the agenda — the
plan of what really happens to those
making the retreat — is always God’s.
(Luby is director of the Division of
Christian Formation for the Diocese
of Fort Worth, Texas.)
friendship
with Jesus
and the com
munity life in
the church,
which sup
ports that
friendship.”
In 0 Nutshell
How can we open our
eyes to what lies
beneath the surface of
our lives'?
Desert experiences”
are times when people
encounter both the best
and the worst in
themselves, when they
must make important
decisions about which
way to go. These
experiences are
common.
The difficulties of
“desert” times or
“wilderness” times can
make them turning
points. These
experiences can lead
to conversion.
CNS photo by Bill Wittman
How our “deserts”
redirect our gaze
All contents copyright ©2000 by CNS
By Patricia Kobielus Thompson
Catholic News Service
Could the spirituality of St. John of
the Cross, a 16th-century Carmelite
friar, possibly transform our modern
“desert” experiences? Can the reflec
tions of this Spanish mystical poet
touch our hearts where our deepest
aspirations dwell?
I found a surprising answer to
these questions in a recent journey
back in time where I met this saint
face to face through several of his
mystical treatises. What I encoun
tered profoundly changed my outlook
on the times in which we live.
Our frantic, pluralistic, 21st-cen
tury society creates new idols at every
turn. Hopes for more beautiful bodies,
more brilliant minds, faster trips up
corporate ladders and “feel-good” spiri
tualities abound in media presenta
tions.
Modern-day idols, our own golden
calves, promise fulfillment. We groom
our outer beings while skimming over
the surface of our deepest longings.
Hopes of professional advancement
frequently are dashed by the realities
of corporate mergers, takeovers in
which we are just one more cog in the
wheel.
Where do we turn for transforma
tion on the deepest level?
St. John of the Cross, though
firmly steeped in a historical milieu of
artistic and literary renaissance, nev
ertheless experienced tremendous dis
illusionment and personal persecu
tion. His times were fraught with sus
picion, extending even to the ranks of
his own beloved church, where those
who experienced personal spiritual
revelations were assiduously moni
tored. John’s attempts at reforming
what he saw to be abuses in religious
life were stifled by unscrupulous supe
riors. Yet, amid these trials he held
firm to his faith in God.
On the surface, John’s work might
appear morbid, for he counsels “let
ting go” to a strong degree, even of the
positive elements in life. But ground
ing his entire outlook was his com
plete trust in the God who constantly
beckoned him to relationship.
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
Tell of a retreat
you found beneficial.
What made it
“work” for you?
“I was amazed how enriching
a ‘silent retreat’ could be. I am
a gregarious, extroverted, high-
strung, busy woman, and it
was incredible to learn how
much easier it was to listen to
God and respond to him when I
couldn’t converse with others.”
— Susan Griggs, Ocean
Springs, Miss.
“A Cursillo retreat ... offered
several witness talks — people
opening themselves up to the
struggles they’ve had.... The
whole experience made me
better appreciate God in my life
every day.” — Catherine
Birdwell, Brentwood, Tenn.
An upcoming edition
asks: How do families
help children discover
the meaning of respect?
If you would like to
respond for possible publication, please
write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E.,
Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.
Modern society clings to surface ap
pearances in its efforts to find security
and wholeness. Yet beneath the sur
face there murmurs an incessant
yearning for an ultimate reality not-
so-easily captured.
A vivid example is our unwilling
ness to face the reality of death. We
attempt to destroy its reality with
youth-enhancing creams, potions and
pills. Yet, when we sit silently beside a
dying person’s bed we enter the word
less realm of personal presence —
where we meet each other without our
lives’ external trappings.
St. John understood this. His voice
echoes across five centuries, calling us
to open the eyes of our hearts to what
lies beneath the surface of our lives.
Our personal desert experiences,
our disillusionments, disappoint
ments, upheavals — these are areas
where soul-surrender of the type John
counsels will lead us along the path of
spiritual healing. Our choice to follow
this path is the first step on a long
spiritual journey, fraught at times
with awareness of our own human
powerlessness.
Our “unknowns” lose their terror.
Our disappointments lose their sting.
Our investments in surface consola
tions lose their tenacious hold over our
hearts.
Looking beneath the surface of our
lives, we intuitively perceive the di
vine in all we love. Yet we have the
courage not to cling to it. We joyfully
accept and willingly release all that
blesses us, finding its worth — now
and in our future — with God, who
provides us and those we love with
ultimate, unconditional security. We
step confidently into the embrace of
our Creator, who, lifting us above the
fray, calms the rough waters of daily
human life.
Such wisdom, understood over the
centuries, offers strength and peace in
all aspects of our lives.
(Thompson, a certified hospice
nurse, recently completed a doctorate
in theology with a focus on spiritual
ity and health care.)