Vacation With The Lord

Sundays December 5 and December 12, 2004 ■ CatholicNews

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SPECIAL REPORT

A vacation with the Lord By Sister Wendy Ooi, fsp

ALL OF US are on a journey. It is a journey towards wholeness, a fuller life and union with God. Amidst our hectic schedules and mundane activities, it is beneficial to stop at certain points along the way to reflect over God’s action in our lives and to see how far we have progressed on life’s journey. A retreat gives us the opportunity to do that. It can also be a time when we stand back and view things from a different perspective, especially when an important decision is to be made, like a career change or when we need to discern over God’s will and our vocation. A retreat is basically a grace-filled time to deepen our relationship with God. Today, there are different types of retreats – from group retreats (one director to a group of retreatants), to fully directed retreats (one director to one retreatant), to semi-directed retreats (one director to a small group with opportunities for individual meetings), and even private retreats (without any director).

relationship with God (which would have been guided by the director in a one-to-one retreat). The retreat director thus became more of a lecturer and less of a codiscerner, and the retreatant would be left to face the Lord alone. Today, although group retreats remain popular, more and more individuals – both religious and lay – feel the need to return to the original reason for a retreat and for the one-to-one directed type. Nevertheless, there have also been great conversion experiences for those who have gone through group retreats (“Sabah retreat changed their lives” on page 11), proving that the Spirit works wherever we are, in whatever situation we find ourselves in, as long as we are open to it.

A vacation with the Lord Whether a retreat is an individual or a group type, it should not be just a collection of talks and reflections or an extended examination of conscience. Rather, as Father Thomas Green, SJ, coined it, a retreat is a vacation

with the Lord. It should be a joyous time which we look forward to. As in any normal vacation, we ought to be free from other concerns, only that on this vacation we are to be free for the Lord. Thus a necessary disposition to have in a retreat is to unburden and surrender ourselves to the Spirit. We do that best by leaving our “baggage” and the mentality of “business as usual” behind us. Only when we allow ourselves that freedom to surrender, with humility and honesty, will we allow the Spirit to transform us. We also need solitude and silence to listen to the Lord who speaks loudest in the stillness of our hearts (1 Kings 19). To remove tensions, the rule in any retreat is E-S-P – Eat well, Sleep well, and Pray the rest of the time. God is the host on this vacation and we are not sure of his plans so there will be some uncertainty in any retreat. But it is important for us to relax and trust our host. Important tools of a retreat (our “vacation gear”) include the Word of God (the Bible, a good spiritual book or, in the case of a group

retreat, the reflection given by the speaker); a personal journal (to record our prayer experience or simply to write to the Lord); and a retreat director (who acts as a codiscerner in our prayer experiences in a one-to-one retreat). But, as Blessed James Alberione (founder of the Pauline Family) would say, the most essential element in a retreat is being “interiorly active to bring about an integral renewal in the practice of faith and to sanctify the whole person, mind, will and heart.” He adds that we can make a retreat “without sermons, and even without readings, but we cannot make a retreat without this work of ours which is the interior recollection, and focusing our spiritual and physical strength toward the purpose of the retreat – to direct ourselves to God in order to live a holier life and attain the joy of heaven.” ■ (Sources: A Vacation With the Lord by Father Thomas Green, SJ and class notes from Father Green’s course on Retreat Giving, Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University)

How retreats began About 500 years ago, most religious lived in monastic or semi-monastic communities. Life for them, and for those who opted to be hermits, was a total “retreat” from the distractions of the world. They opted to “retreat” from the secular life to be one with God. Soon, however, apostolic (i.e. non-monastic) communities sprouted as pastoral activities required them to be among people and in the world. The need to heed the call of Jesus to “come aside and rest awhile,” so as to take a break and to be recharged and renewed in his Spirit, was soon recognised. St. Ignatius of Loyola (14911556), the founder of the Jesuits, was inspired to introduce the Spiritual Exercises (a series of meditations). These catered to active apostles who took time away from their apostolic activities to intentionally “retreat” for a period of time. The original retreat movement based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises began as a one-to-one experience, one director guiding one retreatant. However as the movement became more popular and with the making of church laws requiring religious and priests to make annual retreats, it became impractical for everyone to make a one-to-one retreat. This led to the development of group retreats with one director directing a group of retreatants. Over time, the input or conferences of the director became the focus of a retreat rather than the interpretation of one’s prayer experience and

“Come aside and rest awhile”

Try this 34-week retreat YOU can make a 34-week retreat at times, places and circumstances of your choosing – with the help of your computer and Jesuit-run Creighton University. Go to www.creighton.edu and click “Jesuits/Ministry” then “Online Ministry Home Page”and “Online Retreat.” There you will find materials for each week, complete with introduction, Scripture readings, suggested prayers and a commentary on the week’s theme. We used to think of “retreats” only in terms of going away to a monastery or retreat centre for a weekend or longer. Today, retreats have evolved to fit into demanding schedules. How wonderful to be able to choose our own time online. Although it is best to join in September (and end with the Easter season), you may join Creighton’s retreat at any time. You can also join a sharing group facilitated by Creighton and enjoy the rewarding experience of faith sharing with people from different parts of the world, via email. Try it. It’s free. Who knows, it might change your life. ■ A man praying on the shore is one of several photos accompanying the spiritual exercises in the online Ignatian retreat available through the Creighton University website. CNS photo

RETREAT HOUSES If you are ready to take a vacation with the Lord, you will most likely find something that suits you at one of these retreat houses. Costs of food, lodging and spiritual direction are mostly nominal. SINGAPORE Cenacle 47 Jurong West, St 42 Tel: 65652895 Email: [email protected] Sr Hazel Suarez, r.c., Sr Francisca Tan, r.c. Centre For Ignatian Spirituality and Counselling 8 Victoria Park Road Tel: 64676072 Email: [email protected] Sharon Ng CHOICE Retreat House 47 Jurong West Street 42 Tel: 65679771 Terence & Stephanie Ho Victor & Annabelle Ong Infant Jesus Retreat and Youth Centre 4A, Chestnut Drive Tel: 67602461 Sr Irene Pang Life Direction Team c/o Good Shepherd Oasis 790 Thomson Road Tel: 63534809 LifeSprings Canossian Spirituality Centre 100 Jalan Merbok Tel: 64662178 Email: [email protected] Sr Priscilla Montfort Centre (wheelchair friendly) 622 Upper Bukit Timah Road Tel: 98470763, Br Jean-Dennis Tel: 91915046, Br Roger SFX Retreat Centre (St Francis Xavier Minor Seminary) 1261 Upper Serangoon Road Tel: 62887901 Email: [email protected] Website: http:// www.catholic.org.sg/SFX The Sojourners’ Companions Tel: 98273875 Email: [email protected] SABAH Catholic Pastoral Centre Lorong Hiburan 3 Taman Hiburan Jalan Penampang P.O. Box 10225, 88802 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Tel: 088-712297, 088-715017 THAILAND Seven Fountains, Chiang Mai, Thailand 97 Huay Kaew Road, Chiang Mai, Thailand Tel: 053 – 211 076 or 892 545 E-mail: [email protected]

Brigid Chan had this to say of her retreat in Chiang Mai: “On the last day of the retreat... I wept uncontrollably because the retreat had come to an end. I so enjoyed the incessant communication with the Lord that I didn’t seem to want to leave this “holiday”. It’s like I wasn’t willing to leave Mt Tabor and get back to the world.”