“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a
while.” This bible verse is used often
for those who go on retreats, whether they are silent retreats or directed
retreats. The difference being is that
on silent retreats, be they 3, 5, 7 or 30 days long one remains silent for a
great majority of time during that retreat were as directed retreats would
involve more interaction. Can you
imagine me on a 30 day silent retreat, oh boy!
Anyway, this verse about being alone and quiet is not
just about retreats, though I strongly recommend them. It is also about making a daily retreat. Think of where we are in society and
culture. The things that press on us the
most are “busyness,” “constant contact,” and “the latest trend.” All of these take us away from quite moments.
Busyness comes from all the things we need to do or get
done. Today 15 year old's have full
schedules and calendars to deal with.
They are up at 6:30am getting ready for school, at 3:00pm practice or
club event, 4:30pm dance class or karate practice, 6:00pm dinner, 7:00pm
graduation practice, etc. The same goes
for adults, the days, the hours, minutes and seconds are all accounted for and
taken up. No time - not even for 60
seconds of quiet. Sometimes in this
busyness we do not even talk to one another and the days just go by and
eventually become a blur.
Constant contact, oh yes, that’s the world we live in
now, always on the phone – twitter, chats, facebook, text messages, rarely is a
cell phone used for phone calls. This
constant contact is always on and running.
It doesn’t matter the time, be it 9am, noon, 6pm or even 3 in the
morning. I remember being out with Fr.
Sanjai and Deacon Joe and Deacon Jerry and we observed a family sitting next to
us, a family of four and each of them was doing their own thing on their cell
phones, they were like zombies, entrenched in the virtual world while missing
out on the most beautiful thing they had, each other.
The latest trend, this one just as big as the other
two. I love my Iphone 4, oh, here comes
the Iphone 5, got to get it, wait, wait a minute, here comes the Iphone 5c and
s, no, no, hold on, here is the latest Iphone 6 and soon and very soon the
Iphone 6c and s. It never ends, but more
importantly where does it end for you?
In the midst of all this madness Jesus says to us, “Come
away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” This resting is for our mental, emotional,
physical and spiritual well being. We
must enter into it, to enter into those moments alone with our God in the peace
and quiet. It is there that we hear his
voice clearly but it is also there were two friends simple are in one another’s
presence. Constant contact, busyness,
and the latest trends take us away from the moments we all need with God.
I pray you put the phones down, get off the pads and
computers, leave the schedule open, and don’t worry about the next big thing,
“rather go into your room and pray to your heavenly Father,” it is there or any
quiet place that you will find rest. In
that rest we will find that what is truly important is God, neighbor, and happiness,
everything else is just fleeting and here one minute and gone the next, just
like the latest iphone.
God Bless You, Fr. John
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