Listen....And Share
Sometimes the insights of a retreat become more real when we have a
chance to share them. We hope to
create a “virtual community” of people who are taking this retreat and have
been touched by the Rule of Benedict and the way of Benedictine spirituality.
You may want to share how you are integrating the insights of Benedictine
spirituality in your own life or encourage others as they explore this way of
seeking God. This is your
page.
If you would like to have your sharings posted on this page, just send
your reflections in an e-mail to: outreachretreats@hotmail.com and include
“sharing” in the subject line We
will then post the new sharings each week.
We will not use your name unless you specifically give us
permission to do so. We reserve the
right to edit all submissions.
Thank you, may this retreat be an experience of blessing for you.
Sharings:
I am only on part 4 but finishing part 3 softened me. I wanted to read
what others wrote and saw that there weren't very many posts.
I hope that you continue to produce these on-line retreats. I am sure
that there are others who are journeying as I am and need this - as I do.
When I finish, I will write again. Please pray for a continuing softening
of my heart.
Thank you.
Mishelle
Hi,
I took your first online retreat and really
enjoyed it. In a little bit, I plan to take the second one. I would like
to contribute some money as my thank you.
I have visited the convent several times.
Very nice.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the retreat. It
was helpful. I think it is just wonderful that you have online retreats.
And, I hope my contribution will help to making more.
Sincerely,
Michele
PAX
Personally, I welcome the opportunity to follow this retreat as a
preparation for the coming season of Advent. Having gotten
"off-track" with busy-ness, it will provide me with the time I
need to center and get in touch with deeper things once again.
Dan ~Tampa FL
Dear Sisters,
I am from Australia. I was sent info about your
on-line retreats from a friend in Kentucky who is a Benedictine Oblate.
Thank you for putting these retreats on-line. I have enjoyed the
opportunity to pray and share with you. You may not wish to print any of
this. I am really just saying thank you. Some years ago I wrote to a
Benedictine convent near here about becoming a
Benedictine Oblate, but unfortunately
they have closed down, so I received no reply. There is one Cistercian
men's abbey at Tarawarra that I have had some written contact with, and I
have studied Benedictine spirituality in other ways. I am a bit remote
from any group that I could attend regularly, and in addition I am
disabled, but I am still interested, even if one of the sisters wanted to
correspond by email, that would be great.
I discovered what it is to be a mystic like
Gertrude of Helfta, whose works I have read, when I suffered a coma which
left me disabled three years ago. Initially blinded, my eyesight returned
for a few minutes a day after three months, and my husband got a computer
and the internet for me, because I could increase the font size and read
the screen OK. That is how I encountered my friend in Kentucky via a
prayer list. I also discovered a site where I could buy tapes of Thomas
Merton teaching his novices back in the 60's. I listened to these tapes
and discovered that the great spiritual writers and saints of the Catholic
tradition, going back to the desert mothers and fathers, through the
medieval period to the present day, are my friends and soul mates. So I
discovered St Benedict and the rule, and I have since read Joan Chittister
a lot. My eyesight has returned now and I can walk a little, but I can
pray even more. It seems to be a spiritual gift to be able to understand
the language of the mystics, and I am deeply grateful for this gift. Like
Gertrude, it liberated me.
Anyone interested in having a chat?
God bless,
Janet Hanning ~ Australia
|
Benedictine
Sisters, Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho
