I am grateful that I will be going on a retreat starting tomorrow for 4 days. It is focused on St. Francis and the mystery of the Cross. Im blessed that Alyce has encouraged me to go and our daughter is able to cover my caregiver duties. I will keep you all and this beautiful forum in my prayers. If you have a moment, please pray for me too. Asking Jesus to recharge me and heal my spiritual wounds. I look forward to meeting the Lord in silence so I can recognize more than ever His love for me in my sins and wounds. I pray i can surrender and rest in Him and to really know that I do not have to earn His love because I am already His beloved son. I have the Christian Hope that when I leave this retreat I will be marked not only by what I have suffered, but by His mercy and love. Peace. God is Good!
@miker Enjoy your hiding place brother. I will search in the silence for your hiding place. In the quiet, Lord, I seek your face. I will search in the silence for your hiding place. In the quiet, Lord, I seek your face Where can I discover the wellsprings of your love? Is my search and seeking in vain? How can I recover the beauty of your word? In the silence I call out your name. I will search in the silence for your hiding place. In the quiet, Lord, I seek your face Where can I find shelter to shield me from the storm? To find comfort, though dark be the night? For I know that my welfare is ever in your sight. In the shadows I long for your light. I will search in the silence for your hiding place. In the quiet, Lord, I seek your face Lead me in your footsteps along your ancient way. Let me walk in the love of the Lord. Your wisdom is my heart’s wealth, a blessing all our days. In the silence I long for Your world. I will search in the silence for your hiding place. In the quiet, Lord, I seek your face
May it be a great and wonderful adventure! Thanks you so much for your prayers there. May it be a source of many miracles. Still praying for you both.
Retreats! I pray you will come back refreshed and energized. I was able to spend a Holy Hour and prayer time at the Relic Chapel last week in Maria Stein. Then on to our OCDS community meeting. At the Monastery where we meet there was a huge conference going on with the Order of the Precious Blood. Priests were in attendance from all over the world. The only country not represented there was Tunisia! I met a Priest from Viet Nam. It took him 24 hours of travelling to get to the Monastery. The Relic Shrine is so heavenly . . .filled with relics of Holy Saints! The essence lasted for days, it is such a Blessing to be able to go to a place so Peaceful in such a world filled with drama. I will pray for you, Miker. am grateful that I will be going on a retreat starting tomorrow for 4 days. It is focused on St. Francis and the mystery of the Cross. Im blessed that Alyce has encouraged me to go and our daughter is able to cover my caregiver duties. I will keep you all and this beautiful forum in my prayers. If you have a moment, please pray for me too. Asking Jesus to recharge me and heal my spiritual wounds. I look forward to meeting the Lord in silence so I can recognize more than ever His love for me in my sins and wounds. I pray i can surrender and rest in Him and to really know that I do not have to earn His love because I am already His beloved son. I have the Christian Hope that when I leave this retreat I will be marked not only by what I have suffered, but by His mercy and love. Peace. God is Good![/QUOTE]
Hi all. Thank you for your prayers. I know they were heard as my retreat was incredibly beautiful. Please know I took each of you and your intentions to La Verna with me. I shared a reflection of my time there with Alyce and fwiw thought I would include it here: The accident left me with obvious physical and emotional wounds, but these retreats ( I've also been on a 8 week on line retreat) helped reveal deeper wounds that existed long before it: fear of rejection, self-reliance, judgment, and my need to control and fix people and situations. Beneath those patterns is a belief that I must be good enough, useful enough, or perfect enough to be safe and loved. I know intellectually that God loves me, but that truth has not always reached my heart. Part of me still tries to earn what the Father has already given me. At the Franciscan retreat, I heard Christ’s words to Saint Francis: “Go, repair my house.” I realized how easily I could turn even that into another project to manage. But perhaps the first house Christ wants to repair is my own heart. Each morning I rose and found a beautiful place to watch sun rise. And was moved each day to randomly open my Bible to a gospel. Three Scripture passages I received during the retreat formed a perfect message for me: John 15: “Remain in me.” I cannot produce good fruit through my own effort; I must first receive His love. I must remain fixed to the vine. And as any good gardener does, He prunes , which can be painful, but it leads to fruits. Mark 16: The women wondered who would roll away the stone, but it had already been moved. I do not have to move every stone myself. Matthew 28: Jesus sent the disciples even though some still hesitated, promising, “I am with you always.” I do not need to be perfectly healed before God can use me. I do not even really need to know where I go... God will lead. I sum up the message I heard as: Remain in Me. Rise, leave the empty tomb. And now Go, but not alone, not with burden of self-reliance but with Me. I also learned that love does not deny wounds. Through the Love of Christ I can face the truth and the choose mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Christ is not asking me to hide my wounds or repair myself before coming to Him. He has come to me first. He is asking me to allow his love enter into my wounds and my heart to transform me. My desire now is to know Christ more intimately. I don't want to know Him only intellectually, but in my heart and soul. And then I will truly know my identity is His brother a beloved son of His Father and my Father. I return home still wounded and unfinished, but hopefully a little less controlling, a little more open, and more deeply marked by Christ’s love. God is Good. Peace. Thank you again for accompanying me
PS... this photo is of St. Francis ... one of only 2 copies of his death mask. So its an accurate appearance of his face. Father said while it make look "sad" he was very sick and emaciated at end. He asked to die stripped and lying on cold floor.
Thank you for thinking of us and praying for our needs. Your pictures are stunning. I will be praying for you and your family and I know God will take care of you and yours.
