Return to Me with All Your Heart (From Ash Wednesday Mass; Joel 2:12) The Faith Journey of Parish Leaders: We must be the first to deepen our intimacy with Christ. Five Retreat Exercises leading to deeper communion with Christ and the Church This resource is meant to be used in addition to our daily prayer and liturgical life. Each exercise flows into the next, so begin with #1 and proceed. Conduct this Faith journey during whatever time you normally set aside for prayer and meditation, treating each as a mini-retreat, or work through them all in a one or twoday formal retreat. As we parish leaders call others to deeper intimacy with Christ, we ourselves become more powerful witnesses when we put aside the time to grow in our own faith. Thank you for following this journey of faith, and thank you for everything which you give to your parish. (You have permission to reprint this for use in your parish.) To begin Take these four simple steps to prepare Where will be your sacred space for thought and prayer? What chair, room or other place will you normally use? What obstacles do you foresee to having enough time to give to your own spiritual journey? Think about your schedule, the demands of the parish, and your own inner angst which may prevent you from allowing silence to well up around you. What will be your plan for sharing your journey with at least one other person? Be very specific. To whom will you give alms? List the specific people or organizations, beyond your normal giving.
Exercise One: Sharing Faith Begin with a quiet moment. Allow the silence to well up around you. Read the reflection. Parish life is busy. Whether you re a one man show as pastor of a small or rural parish, or part of the ordained, lay or religious staff in a medium or larger parish, there s always a lot to do. Part of the reason for that is that parish work looks forward. We re planning for Lent as Christmas winds down. Once we reach Lent, we re busy getting ready for Triduum. And so it goes. Alone. We re so busy in parish life that many times, parish staff priests, religious or lay work alone. And often that means also living alone.?with whom do you share your life? By share we mean persons whom you would call intimate friends, available to you on a daily basis. List them here by name. Pause to ask yourself When you are ready, read this reflection. The journey to the heart of the Lord is seldom traveled alone. And we who work in parish leadership or ministry full time, part time, or as a volunteer we must be careful not to become as the shoemaker s children that went barefoot. We speak about prayer, but are we taking the time to pray ourselves? We lead others to Christ, but is our own intimacy with him deep and profound? We call others to live in community while we ourselves have grown accustomed to being alone. Become conscious of what may prevent you from joining your heart to others on your journey of faith. What resistance to this idea do you sense? What seems most appealing about it to you? Here s a check list of possibilities: I m too busy No one really understands me This is all just foolish I don t like to share myself Others don t really care about me There isn t anyone near me whom I like enough to trust I m just not the kind of person who shares him or herself The parish is my community. It s all I need.
When you re ready, continue by moving toward prayer with the question of becoming part of a community in Christ. Pray the opening lines of the exercise below, then continue writing your own thoughts. Allow yourself to be deep, intimate, honest, and personal. No one ever needs to see this if you so choose. The important thing is honesty with God. My Lord and God, I turn my heart to you now, weary from my work. I hear you calling me to love and to share my life. Forgive me if I am not able to easily do this. There are so many things to do, people to see in your name. Is there really also time for this? And yet I know I will find you only in love only when I love others. \ Continue to pray From Scripture God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear We love because he first loved us. Those who say, I love God, and hate their brothers or sisters are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. (1John 4:16b, 18a, 19-20) When you re ready, continue by setting a realistic strategy for yourself. Take two or three steps toward sharing your faith with others in community often throughout the season. 1. How will you make the time to be with others and share faith? Set aside the time in your calendar. Do it now! 2. With whom will you do this? Make a phone call or two and invite others to join you for faith sharing on a regular basis, forming community as you go. 3. Commit yourself to a weekly time for this sharing, if not more often. Let yourself grow into greater intimacy with Christ in the process.
Exercise Two: Your Hunger for God Begin with a quiet moment. Allow the silence to well up around you. Read the reflection. Our inborn hunger. Sometimes we parish staff people work so hard at our ministry that we fail to be in touch with our own inborn hunger for God. The human heart is filled with hunger. No matter what role we play from pastor to janitor, from liturgist to educator, that hunger is real. We must find a way to allow Christ to nourish us. Our own communion with Christ must be rich. In touch. Implanted within every human heart is a hunger to be with God. What is your own experience of this? How do you feed that hunger?? We feed our hunger in many ways work, food, sex, TV, the internet, prayer, sharing, works of mercy and compassion. Any of these can be positive or negative. List here the ways you are fed. Be ruthlessly honest. Pause to ask yourself When you are ready, read this reflection. Don t avoid your inner sense of emptiness and hunger. Instead, dwell with it here during this time and become aware of all that it may give you. No one likes to feel the ache of need and loneliness. We look for satisfaction anywhere we can find it, even in ways that are not good for us. This is a time to refresh your heart and restock the spiritual cupboard from which we are being fed. Use the inventory of myths below to focus this for yourself, and stay with this exercise for a day or two. Become conscious of what needs you have on your journey of faith. What resistance to this do you sense? What seems most appealing about it to you? Here s a check list of possibilities: For parish ministers, it s all right to suppress and ignore our hunger for the sake of the parish! The parish is my community. It s all I need. I m fed by my ministry. I don t have any personal needs. I m really too busy to take care of myself. I ll just let God take care of me. I don t have any hungers at all.
When you re ready, continue by moving toward prayer with the question of your inborn hungers. Pray the opening lines of the exercise below, then continue writing your own thoughts. Allow yourself to be deep, intimate, honest, and personal. No one ever needs to see this if you so choose. The important thing is honesty with God. \ My Lord and God, Help me to open my heart to you now in prayer to be truly honest with myself. You have created within me a restless soul, searching for comfort, for satisfaction, for companionship. I have given my life to you and your church. Now I come to you with my whole self, asking you to teach me how to take care of myself so I may take care of others well. Continue to pray From Scripture Oh God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night. (Psalm 63: 1,5-6) When you re ready, continue by setting a realistic strategy for yourself. Take two or three steps toward creating a plan by which your own spiritual needs will be met. Share this with others. 1. Name the two or three ways in which you are fed. Be specific with these. 2. Based on what you wrote in item #1, think about ways you can carve out the time and energy to allow yourself to be fed. Again, be specific here. 3. And just to hedge your bets, name the obstacles to this for yourself. Is it busyness, a lack of consciousness, or what?
Exercise Three: Your Need for Healing Begin with a quiet moment. Allow the silence to well up around you. Read the reflection. We are the healers. We parish staff people can sometimes see ourselves as the ones who minister to others. We heal them, offer them solace, give them comfort. But we ourselves are also weak, sinful, hurt, and in need of healing. No one can live without this experience. It s part of being human. If we are to help others, then we must allow ourselves to be healed by Jesus. Be healed. We re so busy in parish life that many times, parish staff priests, religious or lay ignore our own need to turn to Christ and the church for healing.?use this as a time to be in touch with your own need for healing. Beyond sinfulness, how else have you been hurt or wounded this year? List those here by name. Be very honest with yourself. Pause to ask yourself When you are ready, read this reflection. Pause this week to allow your own need for healing to be in your consciousness. Take the time to look into your own heart and invite Christ to be there with you. Using the list you just made, consider ways to seek healing. Use the list below, and keep this with you for several days, until you feel you have truly let Jesus into your heart. Become conscious of the ways in which you may be healed. What resistance to these ideas do you sense? What seems most appealing about it to you? Here s a check list of possibilities: The Sacrament of Penance when you have sinned. Shared meals with others filled with laughter. Giving alms give away what you treasure most of the world s goods. Call that person from whom you feel alienated. Ask forgiveness or offer it. Carry in your pocket a list of those who might be your enemies. Let the Spirit guide you on this list. Take your pain to prayer.
When you re ready, continue by moving toward prayer with the question of how you will seek healing during this period of your life. Pray the opening lines of the exercise below, then continue writing your own thoughts. Allow yourself to be deep, intimate, honest, and personal. No one ever needs to see this if you so choose. The important thing is honesty with God. \ My Lord and God, You are the one who can truly heal me from my sorrow, my wounds, my pain, and my sins. I come to you now, ready to be healed. Guide me to take the steps I need, to have the courage to ask forgiveness, to be honest about how I hurt myself and others Continue to pray From Scripture As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, Jesus is passing by. Then he shouted, Jesus have mercy on me! [Jesus] asked him, What do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord let me see again. Jesus said to him, Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you. (Luke 18:35-43, parts) When you re ready, continue by setting a realistic strategy for yourself. Take two or three steps toward sharing your faith with others in community & seeking the healing you need. 1. Based on this exercise, name the top three ways you hope to be healed during this retreat. 2. How will you do this? Choose at least one step you can take in each of these three areas of need. 3. Commit yourself to a time for sharing this with others. Let yourself grow into greater intimacy with Christ in the process of sharing your journey of faith.
Exercise Four: Dying in Christ Begin with a quiet moment. Allow the silence to well up around you. Read the reflection. Baptism. Our faith flows from baptism, but in the rush of parish life, it s easy to forget that. We talk more about God than with God some weeks. It s time now to prepare yourself to enter into the death of the Lord, dying to yourself in love and emptying yourself for Christ. Death. This isn t a death at the end of life, but a series of ways in which we offer ourselves to God and others in love.?the spiritual life is made rich when we are conscious of ways in which we embrace the teachings of Christ, and in doing so, die to our selfishness and unilateral behavior. How will you live with forgiveness, generosity, mercy, a supple sense of yourself, patience, hospitality, community life, and other ways to love? List them here by name. When you are ready, read this reflection. Dying to self is serious business. It s the way we embrace the Easter mystery, and entire message of Triduum. Anyone can say that he or she believes in Jesus. But to actually live by his teachings is a much more difficult thing to do. As parish staff, pastors, deacons, or leaders, we must all be the first to do this. Become conscious of what may prevent you from dying to yourself on the journey of faith. What resistance to this idea do you sense? What seems most appealing about it to you? Here s a check list of possibilities: This is all meant for the rest of the parish. As a staff person, I don t have to die to myself. I m just not the kind of person who shares him or herself. My dying is working for the church. I die every day. I don t believe I have to practice what I preach. My vocation is to lead others to Christ. I don t like the word dying. It all sounds so negative to me. I honestly don t have time for all this. If I spend time doing this myself, how will I have time to do my ministry?
Pause to ask yourself From Scripture When you re ready, continue by moving toward prayer with the question of dying in Christ. Pray the opening lines of the exercise below, then continue writing your own thoughts. Allow yourself to be deep, intimate, honest, and personal. No one ever needs to see this if you so choose. The important thing is honesty with God. \ My Lord and God, I fear death and hate the idea of having to die. But I do also know that the way to happiness is this way. I know that only when I embrace my calling to give myself up will I have any chance of living a full life. Help me now, help me to Continue to pray Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant also be. (John 12: 24-26a) When you re ready, continue by setting a realistic strategy for yourself. Take two or three steps toward dying to yourself. Commit yourself a deeper life in Christ throughout this season of your life. 1. Take each of the following, and choose one way to deepen your commitment to living by it during this retreat: Forgiveness of others Generosity with your money Letting go of a grudge Affirming someone you don t like Setting aside time to pray Fasting from a favorite food Sharing meals with others 2. Share this journey with others. Find those with whom you can be honest and forthright about your success and your struggle. Remember, the journey to the heart of the Lord is seldom traveled alone. With whom will you share?
Exercise Five: Contemplating Christ Begin with a quiet moment. Allow the silence to well up around you. Read the reflection. Asking for Grace. The grace we ask of God today is for the silence of our hearts and the quiet in our lives which allows us to see God in all the divine beauty and gracefulness. We invite you to simply pause wherever you can and allow the Spirit of God to fill you. Sense the peace, power, and awesome beauty of God. Christ. We adore Christ who gives us insight, wisdom, and direction through his Spirit. He is the light of the world, but also the light of our lives.?we must pause from time to time to name the ways God touches our lives. When we awaken in the night, God is there. When we call on him for the right words, or ideas, or sense of direction, God is there. List below the ways in which God is present in your life. Pause to ask yourself When you are ready, read this reflection. God touches us in ways we often don t see. During this time, become more aware of those ways, and then let them drive your devotion to Christ, to the Spirit, to Mary & the Saints, and to God the Father of us all. We praise God because of all the great ways in which we are empowered and led. Become conscious of the ways God touches you in your life and ministry. What are they? What resistance do you sense? What seems most appealing about it to you? Here s a check list of possibilities: A strong sense of vocation to priesthood, religious life, friendship or marriage. And a strong sense of vocation to the particular ministry given to me. In nature In the voices of people who call for help In the words and actions of the liturgy of the church In my private, quiet prayer time In the voice of those whom I most love in life. In the night when I awaken, my heart turns to thoughts of Christ. Other ways:
When you re ready, continue by moving toward prayer with the question of contemplating the beauty and power of Christ. Pray the opening lines of the exercise below, then continue writing your own thoughts. Allow yourself to be deep, intimate, honest, and personal. No one ever needs to see this if you so choose. The important thing is honesty with God. \ My Lord and God, I give my heart to you now and become aware of all the many ways in which you touch and enter my life. I m not aware of them all, so I pray for the consciousness needed to really see you fully. In particular now, I pray Continue to pray From Scripture In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, Everyone is searching for you. He answered, Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I came out to do. And he went through Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues (Mark 1:35-39) When you re ready, continue by setting a realistic strategy for yourself to continue the journey begun during this retreat. 1. What have been your most significant spiritual gains during this retreat? What new spiritual idea arose in your heart? 2. With whom will you share your journey going forward? Make a phone call or two and invite others to join you for faith sharing on a regular basis, forming community as you go. 3. Commit yourself to a weekly time for this sharing, if not more often. Let yourself grow into greater intimacy with Christ in the process.
Credits Bill Huebsch (text) & Mark Hakomaki (art), 2009. All rights reserved. We re sorry, but due to copyright restrictions, permission cannot be automatically granted for you to reproduce this Retreat. A fee of 99 per copy or $20 for unlimited use is requested. To make arrangements, write to Resources@OurParishRenewed.com. Or simply send payment to PastoralPlanning.com, 9980 Wildflower Rd, Pine City, MN 55063. Thank you.