Retreats 

'Come away and rest for a while...'   

Jesus said to the apostles: "You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while" (Mark 6:30)

As Mark tells the story, the apostles are just back from their first missionary and pastoral experience. Jesus had commissioned the Twelve to preach and had given them authority over unclean spirits. They had fulfilled their task, casting out many devils and anointing many sick people with oil and healing them.

We can imagine them coming back elated, but also drained. When they get back to Jesus, the crowds are so great and insistent ("so many coming and going") that they have no time even to eat. Jesus takes the initiative and "they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves". For Jesus and the apostles life is busy.

This is true of us too. The responsibilities of everyday life, of our work and family life, may include juggling everything from social and sporting commitments to after school piano lessons and homework needs. All these various activities keep our days full. Moreover, those of us committed to our faith may also have chosen to give our time generously to service, such as, being on the Parish Pastoral Council; with a social justice group; lending our talents to celebrate our parish liturgy well; and sharing our faith in many ways, be it by preparing children to receive the Sacraments or visiting those who may be sick.

What Jesus said to the apostles is very appropriate for us: "come away and rest for a while".

When we are tired there is an increasing risk that we lose our ability to focus on the present, and to be present to the people we are with, and to "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). We are too distracted with the things we have not done, and the things we still need to do, to be present to the real persons whom we are with at this moment.

So in all our activity and busyness there must be stillness and silence too. It's often the case that only when we stop do we realise how tired we are. We need to stop, to be still and to be silent so that we may pay attention to what is going on in our own lives, our own hearts, our own inner selves.

It is here that our need is realised to be nourished by God and so be refreshed in our spiritual lives. We need to listen deeply to God, to awaken the One who dwells within us, who touches us at our deepest centre and refreshes our hearts with his love.

Every follower of Christ should strive to "come away and rest for a while" to be alone with their Lord and God, so as to become closer to Christ: if not for a week each year; then for a weekend; or at least visit a holy, quiet place. There are Catholic retreat centres that provide such oases of silence.

Silence is so important for knowing God more intimately and it is precisely this need for silence that is so often forgotten today. It has been said that it takes a long time to grow and old friend, and "wasting time" with God, as with others whom we love, is a sure way of becoming a friend of God.

There are many ways to make a retreat, such as, the solitary hermit-type retreat, the guided retreat with daily contact with a spiritual mentor or guide, the communal "preached" retreat.

Even the classic thirty-day spiritual exercises of St Ignatius Loyola can be done at home over a period of thirty weeks. Different people will benefit from different styles of retreat and even the one person will profit from different styles of retreat at different points in their growing relationship with God.

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