God is directly at Work in the Life of the Creature

Grace: 

To pray for an awareness of the moments of grace, the little shoots of hope, as I review my personal history of the last year.

If we use the gift of our memories, we can be drawn into wonder at the possibility of a different interpretation of what has happened over the course of the last year in our personal lives. As we become more aware of the little shoots of hope that have emerged over the course of the past year, we can trace God’s abiding presence in the midst of a difficult year.

Scripture:

Psalm 139

“LORD, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. You sift through my travels and my rest; with all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all. Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, far too lofty for me to reach…” Read more…

Matthew 13:31

He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

Luke 24: 13-34

Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him….” Read more…

For more details please download the retreat materials

Questions for Group Reflection

You will be invited to join a group to reflect on your experience in this session using the Group Reflection guidelines. Think about any of the following questions and discuss them with your group.

• What might God be desiring for us through these glimpses of life?

Questions for Personal Reflection

• A particular examen of looking over your calendar from the past year and to mine it for shoots of life …Examen … go back over the calendar and look at what happened … and notice the little graces that have emerged

Shoots to Sustain: Unexpected Rituals to Carry into the Future

Grace: 

To name new elements that have been introduced into my personal life in the past year that I would like to maintain as I move forward out of the pandemic.

While the past year has brought so much disruption and hardship, there have been adaptations that have been fruitful and important for our lives. These practices, whether at home or work or in the variety of our relationships might be worthy of our holding onto and incorporating into the future.

These rituals, whether at home or work or in the variety of our relationships might be worthy of practicing in the future.

Scripture:

Luke 22:19

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

Luke 5: 36-39

“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.”

Rev 21:5-6

The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.” He said to me, “They are accomplished. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water”

Luke 9:59-62

And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

For more details please download the retreat materials

Questions for Group Reflection

You will be invited to join a group to reflect on your experience in this session using the Group Reflection guidelines. Think about any of the following questions and discuss them with your group.

• What practice or custom have I engaged during this past year that I have found to be a source of joy?

Questions for Personal Reflection

• What practice or custom have I engaged during this past year that I have found to be a source of joy?

Grace: 

To imagine possibilities for a transformed path forward.

• In the Christian tradition, after the disciples encounter the risen Jesus, they change. They witness hope and facilitate new possibilities, for they do not walk with Jesus now in the same way that they did before. How might we learn from those early companions of Jesus so that like them, we become bearers of light in the midst of a new reality because of the glory of the risen Lord?

Scripture:

Matthew 16: 18-19

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

John 21:15-17

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

John 14:2-6

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

Habakkuk 2:3-4

Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision; Make it plain upon tablets, so that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is a witness for the appointed time, a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.

For more details please download the retreat materials

Questions for Group Reflection

You will be invited to join a group to reflect on your experience in this session using the method of Spiritual Conversations. Think about any of the following questions and discuss them with your group.

• As Jesus must have imagined in the tomb the path forward in the resurrection, how might I look to him and imagine with him the transformed path forward that he models for me and invites me to consider for the future?