May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
Saint Paul writes to
Timothy, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. On Sunday evening I will be going on
retreat. This is an annual event for the
priests of the Diocese of Charlotte and it is held every year during the first
full week of October. We gather in
Maggie Valley, in the mountains, and with the Bishop, and a retreat director, we
spend the week on retreat. I am often
asked at this time of year, “What do priests do on retreat?” Honestly, dear brothers and sisters, the
answer is not very exciting.
We pray. We gather for communal prayer each day in the
morning and in the evening. We offer
Mass together each day. On Wednesday we
pray in a particular way for our brother priests who are sick or
suffering. Throughout the week we pray
for our brother priests who are absent from the retreat, and we pray for our
brother priests who have abandoned the priestly ministry. On Friday, we pray for our brother priests
who have died in the past year.
We listen on
retreat. Priests preach; we do not often
hear preaching. During the retreat the
retreat master preaches to us. We hear
again and we receive again the Word spoken to us and the promises that the
Eternal Word has made to us. We recall
that we are first disciples of the Lord Jesus who join him on the mountainside,
before we are apostles sent to proclaim the good news. We listen to the counsel of a brother priest
and we receive the grace of absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Yes, priests go to confession too. We who proclaim mercy stand in need of the
same mercy.
We rest on
retreat. Days in ministry are very long
and weeks pass very quickly. We need to
rest so that we can be renewed. We need
to rest in the presence of the Lord so that we can reflect the presence of the
Lord. We rest so that the flame of faith
can be fed by the light of the glory of Christ.
And we eat on
retreat. No retreat is complete without
the sharing of food and drink and time and company. We are nourished by the Word of God, by the
Bread of Life, and by the meals that we share in each other’s presence. We strengthen the bond of priestly
fraternity, and stir into flame the gift of God that is within us by the laying
on of hands.
And, my dear brothers
and sisters, what the annual retreat is for priests, the Sunday Mass is for
you. It is a time apart from the busy
events of every day. The hour of the
Sunday Mass is different from every other hour in your week. In the celebration of the Mass, the daily
sacrifices of your life of faith are united to the one sacrifice of Christ for
the redemption of the world. It is a
time set apart, by the invitation of God, to join in prayer for the sick and
the suffering. It is an invitation to
pray for those who should be here and are not.
It is an opportunity to pray for those who have abandoned the faith and
rejected the promises of their baptism.
And it is a time to pray for those whom the Lord has called unto
himself.
The Sunday Mass is a
time to listen. The Word of God is
spoken to you and is not the record of some past event. The living Word of God invites you to life,
and to a life of faith.
The Sunday Mass is a
time to rest. The days of work and
family life are long and the weeks pass very quickly. In the celebration of the Mass the Lord
invites you to rest in his presence and be refreshed and renewed.
And the Sunday Mass is
a time to be fed. We are fed by the
presence of the Lord in his Word, by his presence in the Eucharist, and by his
presence in each other. We are
strengthened by the Sacraments and by the bonds of Christian fellowship.
May we treasure, dear
brothers and sisters, this weekly retreat, and stir into flame the gift of
faith that is within us. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
