Reflection

Why Should I Make a Retreat?

Any good friendship requires quality time together if it is going to survive and thrive. It needs time to listen, time to speak, and time to simply be together. Many years ago I had an opportuinity to participat in a thirty day retereat for Benedictine Sisters in Yankton, South Dakota. During that retreat I had a very profound experience of God’s love for me. It was wonderful! I can remember saying to God, “I’m sure you have loved me this deeply all my life. Why am I only realizing that now?” God’s response to that question was, “Well, honey, if you had only shut up long enough I could have told you that a whole lot sooner.” I realized that most of my prayer time consisted of me doing all the talking…….either praising or thanking God or asking for specific blessings. God was now inviting me to just be quiet, to be still and listen. A retreat is a rich opportunity to be present to God in an atmosphere of solitude. That deep silence allows us to hear the voice of God inviting us into a deeper friendship. A blessing that can flow from a good retreat is the ablility to become a better listener.

The first and most powerful word in the Rule of St. Benedict is “Listen”. The importance of listening is sprinkled throughout the Holy Rule. St. Benedict talks about the importance of listening to the young as well as the elders because they both have a wisdom that needs to be heard. Poet Henry Reed speaks of the treasure of listening in his poem, “The Gift”: “When you give me the gift of listening it calms me and my feelings begin to unravel. My self reappears and my knowing returns. What began as a mere listening becomes a gateway to my own wisdom and a journey through hope and change into healing. When you listen to me I begin to listen to myself.” So why should I make a retreat? It is the gift that strengthens our friendship with God, ourselves, and others.

Sr. Jean Maher