Day 1/Week 1

Our culture is rarely content with the ordinary. It often seems that the only time we feel engaged in life is when we imagine danger lurking around every corner. Our best-selling novels, films, news reporting and the ceaseless striving to get ahead in modern life, all seem to heighten our sense of exhilaration – of being alive. But when the drama fails, when we grow weary of the intense pressure of life on the edge, we’re forced to reconsider the myths by which we live. War is not the principle metaphor of human existence. Death is not always an enemy. Life is more than a matter of breathless contention, triumphing over obstacles, denying the monsters of our own feelings. The ordinary invites us back to simplicity, a quiet acceptance of life’s rhythms and a reverence for the deeper longings and desires of our hearts.(See Lane, Belden, C. The Solace of Fierce Landscape)

Prayerfully read: Isaiah 55: 1-13
55:1 Let everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money; come, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.
6 Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills
shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Suggested Reflections:
♦ As I begin to pray and reflect, what desires and hopes do I notice surfacing within me? What do I hope for as a result of this retreat experience?

♦ What in my life now seems to carry an invitation or challenge to me to become more attentive to God and to the world around me?

Day 2/Week 1

Even before the birth of Jesus, God had been revealing God’s self as an unconditional lover (Deut 1:29-32; Psalm 103; Isaiah 49:14-16). The Hebrew word for this kind of love is “hesed” which can be translated as “covenantal love”, “faithful love”, or “one-sided love”. God’s love is more complete and more constant than ours. More often than not we love a person or an object because we find it attractive and pleasing or because it brings us some benefit. God’s love does not depend on its object, but originates within the communion of love that is the Trinity. God loves out of God’s very nature with a love that does not depend on our response. God loves us even in our sin (1 John 4: 10). We are dealing here with Mystery, and Mystery is not something that can be manipulated, controlled, or packaged. God is the Mystery at the heart of all reality, whose love cannot be bargained for by doing some things and avoiding other things. God’s love is pure gift. When one convinces oneself that God has been tapped, acquired, or otherwise subjected to one’s personal will, one is engaged in superstition. At its heart, superstition is rooted in a fear of facing the truth that the universe within which we live is beyond our control.

Prayerfully read: Isaiah 43: 1-4
43:1But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle on you.
3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you have been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved you; therefore will I give men in your place, and peoples instead of your life.

Suggested Reflections:
♦ What happens inside of me when I try to picture a God who is deeply in love
with me and passionate about me?

♦ All of our images of God (e.g.. judge, protector, father, savior, friend, etc.) are
partial and often drawn initially from our early life experiences. As we mature, God reveals different aspects of the Divinity to us, always intending that we hold them lightly so as to move beyond to an ever-deeper grasp of God’s Mystery. What is my picture of God today?

Day 3/Week 1

Scripture is a record of the slow evolution of human consciousness in understanding the nature of God’s love (Hesed) and the invitation to love God and each other in the same way. It is the story of how God prepared human beings to embrace the fullness of who God really is rather than some image of our own creation. Whether in the growing consciousness of a people or in our own individual hearts, this has always been a halting process of three steps forward and two steps back. In the passage that follows, the psalmist offers a reminder of God’s constant love and care, as well as the freedom God gives to each one of us in responding to that love.

Prayerfully Read: Psalm 139:1-19
139:1 Yahweh, you examine me and know me,
2 you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct.
4 A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Yahweh, know all about it.
5 You fence me in, behind and in front, you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such amazing knowledge is beyond me, a height to which I cannot attain.
7 Where shall I go to escape your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I scale the heavens you are there, if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.
9 If I speed away on the wings of the dawn, if I dwell beyond the ocean,
10 even there your hand will be guiding me, your right hand holding me fast.
11 I will say, *Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,*
12 even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day.
13 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother*s womb.
14 For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through,
15 my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the
depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there.
17 How hard for me to grasp your thoughts, how many, God, there are!
18 If I count them, they are more than the grains of sand; if I come to an end, I am still with you.
19 If only, God, you would kill the wicked!*Men of violence, keep away from me!*

Use “The Circle of God’s Love” below:

1. Be still and recollect yourself in the presence of God who loves you and is very near – is
present to you.

• Slowly read Psalm 139 or 23
• Let the images sink in.
• Be in no hurry: remain with this as long as there is any “taste” or until you become restless.
  

2. Relax and do not try to remember or rationalize. Quietly let people come up into your
consciousness: the 10 who have helped you most – through whom God loved you and
helped you grow.

• Relax, go slowly. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper.
• As they come to mind, put their initials in the circle.
• Draw a small circle around each.
• Now number them in chronological order (placing a number in each smallcircle).
• Spend a few minutes letting each person come to mind and thanking God for him/her.
  

3. Do the same for 10 events through which God loved you and helped you to grow. Draw
a small rectangle round each and number them chronologically.

4. Finally, spend some time in prayer; being thankful to God for each of the ways God has
manifested God’s love for you.

Adapted from Dennis. & Matthew Linn, Healing of Memories, New York, 1974.

Day 4/Week 1

All of us, at some point in our lives, have experienced “getting out of ourselves,” moments when we were able to lovingly embrace others with attentiveness, openness, interest, and
compassion. In such moments we push aside the natural urge to be busy about our own
concerns and experience joy, a lightness of heart, and liberation from the weight of self-preoccupation. In the scripture reading that follows, we get a look at Jesus as his heart goes out to a widow who has just lost her only son. Ponder the instances in your life when you looked inward to seek the truth about what was really going on in yourself, when you reached out with real concern for others in need, or when you were filled with tears of gratitude for something someone said or did for you. In such moments we experience the Spirit of the Risen Jesus.

Prayerfully Read: Luke 7: 11-17
7:11 It happened that soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people.
12 Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.
13 When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, “Young man, I tell you: get up.”
15 And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
16 Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people.”
17 And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.

Suggested Reflection:
♦ Have I ever had my heart moved in the same way Jesus’ heart is moved in
seeing the widow’s grief?

♦ I imagine myself as this widow. What are my thoughts and feelings as Jesus
gives life to my son?

Day 5/Week 1

God shows a high regard for and trust in humankind in placing the world in our care. Not only
are we to maintain God’s creation, we are to develop it as co-creators with God. We are to
receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with
others, and return them with increase to the Lord.”( U.S. Bishop’s pastoral letter Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response) Fundamental to such an attitude of stewardship however, will be the quality of our presence to the world around us. The scripture passage that follows is an appeal to stand in humble reverence before the natural world, attentive to the ways in which God is revealed in God’s creation.

Prayerfully Read: Psalm 8: 1-9
8:1 Yahweh our Lord,
how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,
2even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms,
you make him a fortress, firm against your foes,
to subdue the enemy and the rebel.
3I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,
at the moon and the stars you set firm.
4what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that you care for him?
5Yet you have made him little less than a god,
you have crowned him with glory and beauty,
6made him lord of the works of your hands,
put all things under his feet,
7sheep and cattle, all of them,
and even the wild beasts,
8birds in the sky, fish in the sea,
when he makes his way across the ocean.
9Yahweh our Lord,
how majestic your name throughout the world!

Suggested Reflections:
♦ What story in my life illustrates the beauty of human existence?

♦ God always meets us in the present moment. Am I present when God is present?

Day 6/Week 1

The Principle and Foundation
( St. Ignatius places this meditation at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises [23] as an expression of the basic stance the retreatant should have before God and all of created reality. Here we use an adaptation of the translation by Joseph Tetlow, Choosing Christ in the World: A Handbook:

Every person in the world is so put together that by praising, revering, and living according to
the will of God our Lord he or she will safely reach the Reign of God. This is the original
purpose of each human life. All things, big and small, on the face of the earth are to be considered gifts (not entitlements) to help each person come to the original purpose God has put in each of us. The only thing that makes sense then, is that we make use of those things that help us realize our original God given purpose, and turn away from anything that would alienate us from that purpose. We can push this a little further. When we are under no obligations in conscience, we ought to keep ourselves at balance before all things. What does this entail? It means that before we ever make a decision we consider carefully whether it is congruent with the supreme value of our life. We would not, therefore, pursue health for its own sake, or wealth, success, or longevity, but in all things seek that which is in keeping with the purpose for which we were made.

Suggested Reflections:
♦ Are my daily decisions, big and small, aligned with the deeper desires of my
heart?

♦ Are there people, places, or things that need to be given a different priority if
God is to be the source and end of my life?

Day 7/Week 1

Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deeply.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes soft,
My voice tender,
My need for God absolutely clear.
Hafiz-e Shirazi

( Hafiz-e Shirazi was a 14th century Islamic poet mystic from South Central Iran. “Hafiz” is a title of honor given to one who has memorized the Koran.)