“After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” Matthew 14:23
This verse from Matthew leads into one of my favorite stories in Scripture – Peter walking into the water. Today, though, I am looking at this story in a different context, this verse alone.
I am currently on a silent retreat as this reflection comes out (no I am not talking or breaking retreat, this was written just before leaving for retreat).
Jesus saw it extremely important that He spend time alone with the Father, so much so that He sent His disciples off without Him, into a storm at that, and dismissed a crowd that came to hear Him speak. Jesus is often seen going off by Himself to pray and commune with His Father.
When an army retreats, it gives up its ground in a battle in hopes of regrouping to fight again. When a person retreats, it is for the soul to take a deliberate break from daily routines or stress to regroup spiritually, physically, or mentally. Sometimes the ordinary routine of the day feels like a battle. Some people may surely have gone on retreat feeling at least temporarily defeated.
I believe it is critical for a person to make a retreat at least annually or not more often. The type of retreat doesn’t matter, the key is to get away from the distractions and stresses the world offers and spend time with just you and God. I’ve found such peace and hit the soul reset button for many years through my twice a year men’s Emmaus retreat. When my kids were in school, I would chaperone for the annual high school retreat. I’ve done other retreats outside these as well. They all varied greatly in presentation and messages. But, for me the one constant was that I spent time focused on God alone. We will see what’s silent retreat brings.
A soul can make ‘mini-retreats’ daily though. Simply by shutting off the TV and radio, avoiding the news and other irritants, shutting of the email, especially the work email. It is good to imitate Jesus by starting and finishing each day in a mini-retreat, in prayer. You can spend the time alone as Jesus often did or you may pray with friends, or with your spouse. The key is to make the time Jesus’. These mini-retreats can recharge your spiritual battery, refocus your life and settle peace into your soul. For me, the best thing I’ve done was to not bring along cable TV when we moved and then in the past month to shit off the news apps on my phone. I’ve been able to commune and hear God much more clearly and I’ve found a new peace within my soul. My wife and I often find ourselves sitting quietly together while we read our Bibles or the Diary of St Faustina (among other spiritual reading).
We start every morning on retreat with Jesus in Holy Mass and end in prayerful ‘quiet’ and God draws ever closer to us.
So go on a retreat! Starting tonight, do a mini-retreat, turn off the news and hockey game, sit and quietly spend time with God. Retreat in community with your spouse or friends. Just cut the world away for a few hours and give them to God.
‘be still and know that I am God’ Psalm 46:10
This can be a good practice for this Lent, give up what you like to do and give the time solely to God. That is the really purpose of Lenten sacrifices, to replace what you’ve given up with God. Who knows, maybe by Easter, you won’t want to give up your special time ‘on retreat’.