A
Andruschak
Guest
This was a Guided, Directed, Silent Retreat. Guided in the sense that every morning we had a one hour talk from one of the spiritual directers to the whole group. Guided in the sense that we each had a spiritual directer assigned to us, and we met them for about 45 minutes each day. Silent from after supper on Sunday night to before Saturday lunch.:getholy:
My own spiritual director and talked over my life to the present, and what I planned for the future, including BSP/CFP. I am most certainly The Prodigal Son, returning to God after a lifetime of alcoholism, sexual sins, and much else. The main theme of the retreat, over and over again, was about God’s UNCONDITIONAL Love and Mercy for people like me.
But a strange thing also happened at the retreat. One of the talk was about that portion of Proverbs where Wisdom plays…PLAYS…at the foot of God’s worktable. We were urged to balance our spiritual life between prayers, work, and play. Books of mandalas had been supplied, so a few of us began to color the things. At the end of the retreat I had about a dozen completed mandalas posted on the wall, with a note inviting the others to take them home with them. They did. My spiritual directer insisted that I consider time with manadalas as playful prayer time, counting towards the two hours of prayer suggested by BSP/CFP.
Friday night I volunteered to spend one hour at the Adoration Of The Eucherist. My spiritual directer had evaluated my situation, and, like my previous directer, felt this was a better way to spend an hour then the set prayers of the LOTH. Indeed, the quiet meditation and contemplation of this hour seems to calm and center me far better then rote recitation of set prayers. Something to think about when I enter my Novice first year of formation.
A learning experience I will treasure for the rest of my life:thumbsup:
My own spiritual director and talked over my life to the present, and what I planned for the future, including BSP/CFP. I am most certainly The Prodigal Son, returning to God after a lifetime of alcoholism, sexual sins, and much else. The main theme of the retreat, over and over again, was about God’s UNCONDITIONAL Love and Mercy for people like me.
But a strange thing also happened at the retreat. One of the talk was about that portion of Proverbs where Wisdom plays…PLAYS…at the foot of God’s worktable. We were urged to balance our spiritual life between prayers, work, and play. Books of mandalas had been supplied, so a few of us began to color the things. At the end of the retreat I had about a dozen completed mandalas posted on the wall, with a note inviting the others to take them home with them. They did. My spiritual directer insisted that I consider time with manadalas as playful prayer time, counting towards the two hours of prayer suggested by BSP/CFP.
Friday night I volunteered to spend one hour at the Adoration Of The Eucherist. My spiritual directer had evaluated my situation, and, like my previous directer, felt this was a better way to spend an hour then the set prayers of the LOTH. Indeed, the quiet meditation and contemplation of this hour seems to calm and center me far better then rote recitation of set prayers. Something to think about when I enter my Novice first year of formation.
A learning experience I will treasure for the rest of my life:thumbsup:
