RETREAT

Luke 5:16

…he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

In a war, to retreat does not necessarily mean to surrender. It could mean reorganizing the troop, reevaluating the strategy, taking a rest, finding some time to nurse the wounded and burying the dead. In our lives, we always try to find some times to rest – our mind, our body and our spirit. We look for a peaceful place to relax and renew our strength and regenerate our body.

Spiritually, however, I would say that to retreat is surrendering ourselves to our Lord God. We surrender ourselves totally to God as we renew our relationship with Him. We surrender all our successes and all our failures; all our angers and all our loves; all our sadness and all our joys; our friends and our enemies; all that we gave and all that we received. We unload everything that we are carrying at that moment and we let God take over.

Having relinquished our time, our thoughts, our feelings – we then start talking to God, giving our total selves to Him, in total silence and prayers. We retreat from this selfish world and enters His loving and heavenly presence.

Let us pray +

Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Your sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech that You would impress upon my heart lively sentiments of Faith, Hope and Charity, true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment.

Almighty Father, You are lavish in bestowing all Your gifts, and we give You thanks for the favors You have given to us. In Your goodness You have favored us and kept us safe in the past. We ask that You continue to protect us and to shelter us in the shadow of Your wings. We ask all of these through Christ our Lord.

Amen +

“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances;
to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement”. - St. Augustine