MAKE A CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR HEART

I made this contemplative retreat recently and found it to be life-changing and the most inspiring thoughts that I am still processing to assimilate into my personal spiritual worldview. I offer to share this with you, but be forewarned, it is not for the faint of heart, and you must go to a place where no one wants to look.

There is no cost to this retreat but making it will cost you everyTHING you have. There is no retreat director or spiritual director for this retreat. It is just you and Christ in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It does use a YouTube from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, and the subject is “His Last Words.” There are no discussion groups or comments to share from me or anyone else, just you and Jesus. There are four sessions to this retreat that you must complete. Turn on the closed caption for better viewing. I came up with this approach to Lay Cistercian spirituality to focus on silence, solitude, stillness in my heart, and just waiting patiently for Christ to speak through my overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. It works so well for me that I am still trying to assimilate all of this is who I am as an adopted son (daughter) of the Father. The joy that comes from this experience is something the world can never give.

LAST WORDS: A contemplative experience

PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD

As St. Benedict points out in Chapter 7 of his Rule, it is essential to remember that we should approach Christ (who then can approach the Father) with fear of the Lord in our hearts. This is the first of twelve steps of humility in the Rule of Benedict. Another way of saying it is, “Don’t forget it is God in whose presence you are asking to sit.”

I prepared my heart for nine days (your time is up to you) by reciting in entire Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict, after which I opened my heart in silence and solitude for fifteen minutes and just waited. https://christdesert.org/rule-of-st-benedict/chapter-4-the-tools-for-good-works/

LESSON ONE: Listen to the Word

1. In the YouTube below, I recommend that you find a time that is uninterrupted by the world, and you can view this video all the way through. Just click skip as soon as you see it on the screen. I apologize for the advertisements on the YouTube video.

2. Once you have completed this video, I ask you to sit in a chair somewhere for fifteen minutes and think about the three segments of Archbishop Sheen’s remarks.

LESSON TWO: Pray the Word

1. In the YouTube below, I recommend that you find a time that is uninterrupted by the world, and you can view this video all the way through.

2. Once you have completed this video, I ask you to sit in a chair somewhere for fifteen minutes and think about the three segments of Archbishop Sheen’s remarks.

LESSON THREE: Share the Word

LESSON FOUR: Be the Word in your heart.

1. In the YouTube below, I recommend that you find a time that is uninterrupted by the world, and you can view this video all the way through. Wait in the silence of your heart for the Holy Spirit.

2. Once you have completed this video, I ask you to sit in a chair somewhere for fifteen minutes and think about the three segments of Archbishop Sheen’s remarks. What three questions should you be asking?

LESSON FIVE: No Words are needed.

Praise be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The God who is, who was, and who is to come at the end of the age. –Cistercian doxology