There's something about having to find time to be with the Lord. It is as if, by itself, delicious. Everything else comes as an add-on extra happy points.
Just last weekend, the grad students group had a retreat at Bengel Wildlife Center in Bath, MI. Although hardly even close to be earth-shaking, it was indeed a happy God-time. The theme was taken from Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and a future." Fr. Joe (animatedly) talked about the first half of the verse, while Rod Murphy (St. Thomas Aquinas Principal and a spartan grad student himself many years back) talked about the second half.
Fr. Joe's talk challenged me to be the person that God intended me to be. Some other points of interest in his talk:
's talk centered in two of his (and mine too!) favorite Saints, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Ignatius of Loyola. It reminded of dear St. Therese, and her gentle, simple faith that rocks. All is grace. He talked about chronos (a passive way of living where you just drift along with time) and chairos (the right time for something to happen, that kind which leaves prints). I also love what he said: "God created me from nothing, God created me with love, and God created me for a purpose." So true.
We so fittingly closed the day with a mass at St. Thomas. And I thought, over and above the experience, I enjoyed having had the chance to be in that kind of service again, working together to serve God and others :)
Just last weekend, the grad students group had a retreat at Bengel Wildlife Center in Bath, MI. Although hardly even close to be earth-shaking, it was indeed a happy God-time. The theme was taken from Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and a future." Fr. Joe (animatedly) talked about the first half of the verse, while Rod Murphy (St. Thomas Aquinas Principal and a spartan grad student himself many years back) talked about the second half.
Fr. Joe's talk challenged me to be the person that God intended me to be. Some other points of interest in his talk:
- He talked about prayer. To PRAY he said, is to Praise, Repent, Ask and Yiel
d. It was interesting for me to hear about the psalm verse "Enter your gates with thanksgiving, enter your courts with praise" was referring to the Temple where the Arch of Covenant was kept. This temple was apparently, divided into two parts, the first part can be entered by the commons through a gate, while the courts can only be accessed by the high priests (the area where the Arch was kept is prohibited to everyone else). And so he said, thanksgiving is a form of prayer on a 24/7 basis, while praise is a higher form of prayer as we enter into God's presence.
- To praise is to focus on who God is, to repent is to rethink (we repent because God loves us); to ask is to let God hear us (because although He knows what we want, he wants to hear us say so); and to yield is to let the spirit fill us, to let God be.
- Whatever happens in the future, God is there for me.
's talk centered in two of his (and mine too!) favorite Saints, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Ignatius of Loyola. It reminded of dear St. Therese, and her gentle, simple faith that rocks. All is grace. He talked about chronos (a passive way of living where you just drift along with time) and chairos (the right time for something to happen, that kind which leaves prints). I also love what he said: "God created me from nothing, God created me with love, and God created me for a purpose." So true.We so fittingly closed the day with a mass at St. Thomas. And I thought, over and above the experience, I enjoyed having had the chance to be in that kind of service again, working together to serve God and others :)
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