Retreat Notes: 1

Photo: CP

If you're a regular reader then you know I was on retreat from November 27 through December 3.  I returned for the Second Sunday of Advent and my homily that day drew from my retreat experience.

I'd like to share some more of retreat experience with you and I plan to do that in short posts over the next couple of weeks.

The photo above shows the Blessed Sacrament chapel at Eastern Point Retreat House.  There are chairs and pillows around the perimeter of the room.  The simple tabernacle is on an octagonal pedestal in front of a bay window, overlooking the lawn that slopes to the ocean.  I'll use that photo as the graphic for this series of posts on my retreat.

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Retreat Notes: 1

It's been some time since I've made a retreat.  A retreat was something I wanted to do and needed to do but didn't get around to.  Some months ago I received the annual notice of retreat offerings from the archdiocese and as soon as I saw the opportunity at Eastern Point (where I'd been on retreat before) I marked it on my calendar and sent in the deposit.

Looking back I can see now that it was a very strong nudge from the Spirit that pushed me to act this time after putting this off for so long.  Once my retreat week was on my calendar, I began to look forward to it and to wonder what would come of it.  Although the Lord is always with me, I began to look forward to my retreat as a time to reunite with him.  I began to think of my retreat as going on vacation with an old friend to catch up on things.

The weeks leading up to my retreat were not easy ones.  I had a lot on my mind and on my daily schedule as well, even though Thanksgiving was on the horizon.  On Sunday afternoon when I drove away from the rectory I felt like I was carrying a lot more with me than just my suit case in the trunk.  I began to worry that my head and heart might not be clear enough to enter into the spirit of a retreat.

But by the time I got to Beverly on Route 128, I began to breathe more easily.  Although my car windows were up, it seemed as though the Lord was sitting in the back seat, slowly tossing to the wind the worries and headaches I was carrying.  Remembering that most of these things would be lined up to meet me on my return, I was grateful for the Lord to do a little housecleaning for me!

By the time I got to Gloucester, I was breathing easier and feeling lighter already.

I got my things from the car and moved into my small room which offered a bed, a chair, a shelf for a desk, a lamp, a sink and a wall rack behind the door for hanging clothes.  Room 105: my home for a week.

Having settled in, I went to the chapel. There began a prayer that threaded its way through my week - and beyond.

I'll pick up here in my next retreat post.



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