January 17 2024 - St. Anthony of the desert - Retreat in order to be filled

Last night, I attended an event hosted by the Young Adult Ministry of the diocese called, “Theology on Tap”. It meets monthly at a local bar, and a priest or lay person offers a presentation on some theological topic. Last night, Fr. Mike McCandless, former vocation director for the diocese and current administrator of Holy Family parish in Stowe, offered a powerful presentation on retreats: why we should make a regular retreat. 

Catholic priests are required by canon law to make an annual retreat. We took retreats once or twice a year during seminary, and a week long silent retreat leading up to our ordination to the diaconate and to the priesthood. It was on an 8 day silent retreat that I was confirmed in my decision to enter the seminary.

A retreat is exactly that, a withdrawal from the distraction of the world in order to encounter God. Our spiritual director in the seminary would often say that the retreat is closer to heaven than anything else we would experience in seminary. For on retreat, one rests and seeks to be refreshed and enlightened by God’s presence in an intentional and focused way. We become immersed in silence and adoration and meditation on the Word of God and contemplation of God’s presence. 

And even more than simply encountering God, we engage in retreat  to be filled with God’s very life. St Bernard said that we are to be not simply canals in which the Word of God goes in one ear and out the other, but reservoirs, to be filled with the very life of God.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony of the desert, who himself retreated from the world in order to encounter God. Anthony retreated to the desert because the desert is the place devoid of material attachments and earthly pleasures—those distractions which keep us from seeking God. And there in the desert, Anthony did encounter God.

And yet, like Christ, who himself made a 40 day silent retreat in the desert, Anthony also encountered the devil. The devil would send Anthony great temptations which took great effort and prayer to overcome. The devil would also physically assault Anthony, and beat him to the point of unconsciousness.  

But through that spiritual battle, learning to rely on the Word of God to be his armor, to be his light, Anthony grew in holiness to a tremendous degree. Many souls would seek out the advice of the Desert Abbot St. Anthony. St. Athanasius, Anthony’s biographer, even writes how the emperor Constantine, sought out Anthony’s advice on the administration of the Roman Empire.

Anthony wrote back to Constantine, advising him “not to think much of the present, but rather to remember the judgment that is coming, and to know that Christ alone was the true and Eternal King.”

Our seminary spiritual director would often tell us: each of us needs a regular retreat to encounter God—one hour per day, one day per week, one week per year. We ignore this advice to our own peril and the peril of those we are called to serve.

May we take the time we need to focus our minds and hearts on God, to seek that encounter with Christ in the desert, where he is waiting to meet us, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may preserve harmony among us.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may grant them relief and move Christians to come to the aid of the suffering.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, for all monastics and hermits, and that all Christians may seek the perfection for which they were made.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

5th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - Running to Christ with Urgency

 As we’ve considered before, there are a lot of reactions to Jesus in the Gospels. Some keep their distance, conspiring against him from the shadows. Some insult him or become riled at his words. 

This morning we hear how crowds run toward him. They don’t just saunter, they run. Not the first time or last time in this Gospel people run to him. Not many people I would run to see. 

People ran because they were powerfully drawn to the Lord. They saw that he was able to heal and to teach them, and it attracted them. They earnestly longed for what he offered: words of hope and comfort, revelation about the love of the Father, and the power of the humble, surrendered life. When news of his arrival hit their ears, there was an urgency to go and meet him. 

The Christian should experience a similar urgency on a daily basis. An urgency to spend time with the Lord in prayer and to bring to him the needs of our loved ones. An urgency to learn about our faith so that it can be shared and explained to others. An urgency to engage in works of charity when the opportunity arises. An urgency to repent if we’ve fallen into sin. Time is short and we should seek him while he may be found. As the old poem goes: “This earthly life is quickly past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

We can lose the sense of urgency when we begin to live for creature comforts. “I don’t want to do anything to upset me from being comfortable. I can pray tomorrow, do my spiritual reading tomorrow, go to confession next week.” But to quote playwriter Meredith Wilson, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.”

If we have lost the sense of urgency in our spiritual life, we do well to take the time and make the effort to rekindle that flame. Priests take a yearly spiritual retreat to keep that flame going. A spiritual retreat can never hurt. The upcoming season of Lent is like a retreat for the whole Church, to strip away the creature comforts, in order to rekindle the urgency for the spiritual life, the urgency to run to Christ.

May the Holy Spirit assist us in identifying all that keeps us from running to Christ with urgency every day, and to have the courage to divest ourselves to those obstacles in the spiritual life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. Let us pray to the Lord.

That government leaders around the world may carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for freedom and the dignity of human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way, especially by inclement winter weather, storms, and natural disasters.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. Let us pray to the Lord.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.