It is super easy to just run away, to take the easier path, to abandon the purpose you were created for. But then, remember, what we run away from comes back again, bigger and stronger–while we continue to be the midget all along.
When was the last time you hid behind a closed door? Ashamed, frightened, tear-eyed? Recall the last episode when you walked away from a difficulty or a failure. Walking away from failure never evolved into a success storyline. Running away from something in a moment of crisis, is no guarantee that you will conquer it. Victory is not a reward for a lone faint-hearted runaway. I remember reading a quote, ‘Running away from problems is a race you will never win.’ And yet, this is the story of many of us. We are more solitary runaways-from-life. Is there a healthier way to rescript the story of your life? Yes, there is! Take the time not to run ‘away from,’ but rather ‘run to’ the solutions that are always there before you! Decide it’s time to face yourself, to review your past and reorganize your future. We call this experience a Retreat–a privileged time to get back to move forward.
RETREAT: A SPIRITUAL TIME
Emile Durkheim, a twentieth century sociologist, called this moment as a ‘Spiritual Time.’ Every religion, I believe, proposes these opportune moments in one’s life to face the reality of where we are and how we are on the journey of life. We ask ourselves, “Why does my journey need to have a spiritual time?” Or still further, “Can I really do without this spiritual time?”
Richard Layard, a British economist, while making a study on ‘Happiness,’ concluded that our personal happiness is directly proportionate to our level of relationships. The deepest of all relationships is falling in love with the Divine. Jesus invites us time and time again, “Remain in my Love!” In the humdrum of everyday life, we are invited to slow down, to look and reflect on our spiritual lives and to restructure our future in the light of our connections with the divine. Offering yourself some Spiritual Time is the best gift you can give yourself.
RETREAT: A VACATION WITH THE LORD
In 1986, as a young student of theology, I remember reading a book, Retreat: A Vacation with the Lord by Thomas Green SJ. The title fascinated me. It said it all. In today’s language, it would be called Retreat: A Selfie with God, or Retreat: A Yatra with God, or Retreat: Spiritual Sight-seeing. Just as we take time out to relax ourselves physically and emotionally, we need to find time for such ‘Spiritual rest’ where we can refill our depleted reservoirs with spiritual grace to face the journey of life. For me, Jesus is the master retreatant! He constantly got back to move forward. He set aside each day–early in the morning, or late at night–personal moments to be with His Abba. He wasn’t running away from, rather, he was running to the One who could assure Him of being the Beloved of the Father. This prime Abba-time was a privileged moment to be loved and feel loved. Surely, it was a holiday with a difference. Every divine touch changes the earthly reality around it.
SILENCE: an ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
All of life grows in silence. Noise fragments and distracts. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI rightly said, “Our age does not, in fact, favour reflection and contemplation; quite the contrary. It seems that people are afraid to detach themselves, even for an instant, from the spate of words and images which mark and fill our days. We need to stop, to experience moments of intimacy with God, ‘detaching ourselves’ from the turmoil of daily life to listen, to return to the root which nourishes and sustains our existence.” Sadly, a few religious too fall into this trap! Without befriending silence, there is no real prayer or retreat. As religious, we feverishly minister for the Lord, and may forget the Lord of our ministry.
PRAYER: The Communion of Hearts
People accuse us religious of taking our annual retreats for granted. Is there some truth in this? What a privilege to be blessed with an entire week to be by ourselves and with the Lord who calls us! Any lay person would have loved to have an entire week for a retreat, but work schedules (and finances) often do not permit it. A Retreat is a time to reconnect with the divine, to be taken into the desert and to be lured by God. Hosea 2:14 puts is so well, “I the Lord, will lure you into the desert and I will win you back with words of love.” When our conversations with the Lord slowly blend into silent contemplation, we experience this ‘communion of hearts’. St. Augustine sums it up in his famous statement, “Our hearts were made for you, O Lord, and they will not rest, until they rest in you!” It is also true that retreats attract restlessness. We wrestle with ourselves: our past, our failures, our relationships, our vows, our community, our mission, our future. He who called us knows the ecology of our heart condition. No heart is too soiled not to be loved by the Lord! Allow God to sync your heart with His. Deep prayer moments get you there.
SCRIPTURE: FOOD for the JOURNEY
I don’t remember any retreat where Scripture didn’t have its rightful place. God is Word! Retreat is not a time to indulge in books of fiction or motivational recipes. I find two things that go side by side in my retreat: my Bible and my personal diary. The values of the Bible must flow into my diary. When I realise that my personal story is deviating from the gospel compass, then a retreat becomes an important moment to retrace my path back to gospel values. There is no better ‘soul food’ for the journey than the Word of God. Scripture was never given to us to be studied by heart, it was meant to be a guiding compass that navigates our life through the storms and struggles, as well as the serene and the peaceful landmarks on our journey. The Eucharist ought to be the central point of every day. What a privilege to sit at table around the Lord–to be nourished by His Word and Body!
RESOLUTION: A New Way of Being
If we were to take our retreats seriously, we would all come out with a Halo! We lack ‘spiritual will.’ The urgency for holiness seems to be out of our bucket list. We postpone being good for another year. Conversion is for our last days. We are complacent with our mediocre religious lifestyle; our moral compass continues to be broken and our quest for spiritual renewal is lacking right from the start. If we were to take an honest look at ourselves, we would make resolutions to become more Christlike. Without this honest introspection, we continue to become Christless. As religious in our country, we are a huge number to reckon with. It took a small band of apostles to change the world. Retreats offer us the opportunity to ‘return to our first love,’ to be spiritually charged once again with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to be passionate about being another Christ.
MARY: Mother and Model
Pope Francis was right when he said, “A religious who is not under the mantle of Mary, is an orphaned religious.” Gifted to us from the cross, Mary is the one we need to model our lives on. She is the ‘paradigm of all religious.’ “Be with us, Mary, along the way” is more than just a pious lyric in a hymn. It is an invitation, and a prayer!
Retreat is a Spiritual moment to run to the Divine, to contemplate in silence, to sync our heart with the Divine, to be nourished with Soul Food at the Eucharist and from Scripture, to become more Christlike and to be sheltered under the loving mantle of Mary. What more would you expect from this retreat package–a vacation with the Divine? The result, we come out as Spiritual Giants to face the world.
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