DAY 5 of our Retreat

Day 5 . . . Some of us are smiling:  we have managed to “be faithful” for four full days now.  Some of us are frowning:  only the fifth day and already, we may be feeling we have “messed up.”  ABSOLUTELY GOOD NEWS:  this is where God comes in.  Yesterday’s reflection reminded us that “we are a forgetful people, constantly needing to be reminded of who we are.”  We forget; God remembers  .  . . always.

So a note to those of you who have managed to be faithful to the retreat for four whole days:  Hurray!  Carry on nobly!  A note to those of us who have not managed the same (e.g.:  I went to Bath, PA, on  Friday evening to work with a friend on a workshop we are going to give.  I left the Motherhouse in a rush and forgot to take my book . . . .  Day 2, and I blew it!  What did I do?  Came home that evening, read all of Day 2, forgave myself, and looked forward to continuing the journey. 

All of this fits well with both yesterday’s AND today’s mantras:  ALWAYS REMEMBER and TAKE ME BY THE HAND.  Bonaventure speaks today about our journey into God. We cannot do the spiritual journey alone.  We have a faithful God who loves us beyond our ability to comprehend and, during this retreat, we have “companions on the journey” who strengthen us by their faithfulness and their “stumblings.”   Count me among the latter, and let’s enjoy the trip . . .