Each year, during the first full week in January following New Year's Day, the bishops of Regions IV and XIV gather for a preached retreat at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center in North Palm Beach. The Passionist Congregation staffs this spiritual center. Region IV encompasses Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and West Virginia; Region XIV encompasses North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia.
This year, we were privileged to have as our retreat director a brother bishop, the Most Reverend Gordon D. Bennett, SJ. Bishop Bennett had been serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Baltimore until this past September when he was installed as the second bishop of Mandeville in Jamaica. Prior to being named a bishop at the end of 1997, the then-Father Bennett had served in a number of priestly ministries, including that of Novice Master for the Jesuits of the California Province. Bishop Bennett has given many retreats; in fact, he gave a retreat to some of our diocesan priests last year and after finishing our retreat on January 7, he preached a retreat to the seminarians at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg.
Taking his theme from our Holy Father's Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, Bishop Bennett urged us to go deeper in our union with Christ by starting afresh from Christ and contemplating His face. His opening conference on Monday night led us to reflect again on the fifth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, verses 1-11, where Jesus tells Peter to “put out into the deep” for a catch: “Duc in altum” (Lk 5:4). On each of the next three days, we were invited to contemplate the Face of Christ the Healer (Tuesday), the Teacher (Wednesday) and the Consoler (Thursday). The concluding reflection focused on Christ's commission to St. Peter — and to us — found in the 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel, verses 15-19. Three times, Jesus asked St. Peter: “Do you love Me?” and when St. Peter responded, “I do love You,” Jesus then replied by commissioning him to take care of His flock, the people God entrusts to our pastoral care.
The bishops found Bishop Bennett's conferences to be instructive, encouraging and uplifting. He opened up the Scriptures for us in ways that were rich with new insights and deeper levels of meaning. His presence was truly a blessing to us and we continue to thank the Lord for the gift of this grace-filled retreat and for our brother bishop who was an instrument of the Lord's grace to each of us.
I pray for all of you each day, but I was particularly mindful of you all during those days of retreat. I carried each of you to the Lord Jesus, asking Him to heal you, to teach you and to console you. I prayed too for the grace to become more transformed myself into the image of the Good Shepherd, so that I may serve you more faithfully and more generously in the future. Yes, indeed, you were very much with me on retreat.
A group of our own diocesan priests was on retreat from January 10-14 at the Priestfield Pastoral Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia. I visited them on Wednesday, January 12, remaining overnight in order to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with them on Thursday morning. Their retreat was led by Father Robert J. Braunreuther, a Jesuit priest presently serving at the Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, Maryland. It was yet an added blessing for me to be gathered with our priests as together we prayed that we would become ever more holy, so that we may be ardent but gentle servants of the Lord's Gospel and sacraments.
At every retreat and so often during each week, I find myself going back to the basic truths of the spiritual life and echoing over and over several prayers in which these basic truths are so beautifully expressed. For example, there is St. Alphonsus Liguori: “Grant that I may love Thee always, and then do with me what Thou wilt.” Or, there is St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Give me only Thy love and Thy grace, for this is enough for me.” Or, Venerable Catherine McAuley: “My God, I am Thine for time and eternity.”
Yes, times of retreat are so filled with God's grace. I thank Him for these recent retreat days, and I urge you to make a weekend retreat some time during this New Year. You will discover in new ways how much the Lord loves you and how deeply He desires to strengthen you in your individual vocations and to walk with you all the way home to heaven.
