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2012 Retreat Theme Darkness and Light are But One: Embracing Our Seasons of Faith
Jo Parenti 1925-2012 Friend and supporter of Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center
6th Week of Easter 2012 Daily Homilies, May 13 - 19, 2012
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Welcome to Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center
Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center is a spiritual oasis for people of all faiths who are seeking a deeper relationship with the Almighty. Our lovely grounds, beautiful chapel and comfortable accommodations, along with the care and concern of the friars and staff provide a quiet and reflective environment for personal prayer and reflection. We are situated on 60 acres of land near the communities of Prior Lake and Savage, southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mn.
2012 Retreat Theme:
"Darkness and Light are But One: Embracing Our Seasons of Faith"
Life is filled with peaks and valleys, with direct routes and with many detours (on some of these detours the road can be quite rough or uneven). Each of these moments offers us an opportunity for grace. Popular culture would have us believe that grace is found most readily in the “warm-fuzzy” times of our lives. But it is often during moments of pain or crisis that we are invited to plumb the depths of our being; during moments like these, grace seems to be conspicuous by its perceived absence. Like Job, well-intentioned “comforters,” try to ply us with platitudes and sound-byte answers when we really need someone to respect our experience, to listen to us, and to walk with us, no matter how rocky or uncertain the path ahead.
Conferences:
1. Embracing Our Seasons of Faith
2. Forget Fairness; Find Forgiveness
3. The Mystery of Suffering
4. Staying Faith-Full
Our 2012 retreat theme will focus on honoring the various seasons of faith in our lives. How can we honor and embrace the totality of our faith life? Does our preoccupation with the apparent lack of fairness in life impede us from really living? Where is forgiveness in all of this? How does the paradox of the Cross speak to our hearts and form our responses to the demands of everyday life? What are the ways in which we nurture and support our Faith?
Excerpts from Fr. Howard Hansen's Homilies:
Today’s Gospel is the result of what was said in last Sunday’s Gospel
where we read the parable of the vine and the branches. There the
relationship between Jesus and his followers, those who believed in him,
who trusted him and had faith in him to the point of surrender, changed
radically. No longer are they servants or slaves, but friends. Nothing
is to be hidden one from the other; there is equality, in a sense. This
very special relationship, which is so important in the present paradigm
of the Church, is a very intimate relationship. It would do us well, I
believe, to reflect on this Sixth Sunday of Easter just what constitutes
an intimate relationship. We have commented on this before in these
homilies, but it is good to review this important part of our
spirituality from time to time.
I have listed four characteristics of an intimate relationship:
It is an essential or intrinsic relationship: This means we
are not able to be who we are supposed to be or do what we are supposed
to do without this relationship. I am totally out of sync without it.
Husband and wife, for example, are not what they are supposed to be
without their counterpart. They are essential one to the other. It is
the same with each of us and Jesus. Literally, without him we are
nothing.
It demands communication between the parties:
Can you imagine a husband and wife who do not talk to one another? I
guess it does happen every once in a while, but what a terrible marriage
that would be! The same is true with ourselves and Jesus. We must talk
to him, listen to him, and carry out his wishes. We must pray and
meditate daily.
An intimate relationship happens only over a period of time:
We cannot form an intimate relationship in five minutes! It takes years
and sometimes it never really happens. We must hang in there, persevere,
in a relationship even when the going gets tough. We never run away
from or give up on an intimate relationship.
We are willing to change for the one with whom we are intimate:
This is why, for example, a religious might be unable to change a
certain behavior in response to the wishes of his or her guardian if
there were no intimate relationship between them. If we are intimate
with Jesus, we will be able to change to his way, truth and life. He
will be in charge, not us.
It
is good to reflect on our relationship with my God and Lord. Where do I
find myself at the present time with the suggested criteria and perhaps a
few of my own that I have included? What is it that might need changing
or improving? 6th Week of Easter 2012
