Friday after Epiphany
You need a retreat. Yes, you! Jesus finds Himself in the midst of full-time healing ministry—cleansing the leper and having great crowds assembled before Him to listen to His words and seek his healing power. He must have felt pressure and responsibility to minister to all of these people, but He also felt a responsibility to seek communion with His Father. Jesus “would withdraw to deserted places to pray.” To take a retreat is to imitate Jesus who drew strength from His life of prayer.
I’m providing you with three reasons you need a retreat, and I’m unashamedly promoting a retreat.
1) Put God first in your life—give God the space and time even in the midst of your busy and chaotic schedule. Jesus did so in the Gospel today!
2) Your action is secondary—we fall into the lie that ‘it all depends on me.’ It doesn’t depend entirely on us, and if more people in the Church believed and lived this truth, the Church would be setting the world on fire.
3) Listen to your heart—when was the last time you prayed, really prayed? Prayer is not going through motions or reciting words, it is a heart-to-heart conversation with God who loves us.
Invitation: I’m leading a weekend silent retreat here at Conception Abbey, January 21-23, 2022. You still have time to sign-up! (Link here)
Reflection Question: How is the Lord calling you to “withdraw to deserted places to pray?”
Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB
Posted in Articles for Christmas, Daily Reflections