I will be on annual retreat this month (Tuesday the 16th through Saturday the 20th), a discipline I have kept for twenty-three years now on or around the anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood (March 20).  While not in my preferred monastic setting and its daily cycle of prayer, this year I will be at the Claggett Center in the Diocese of Maryland.

Scripture is replete with stories of Jesus going off by himself to pray, even such that the disciples couldn’t find him for a while.  As John Moses notes in The Desert, An Anthology for Lent (Morehouse Publishing, 1997), we, like Jesus and the third and fourth century desert Fathers and Mothers, find themes of “the desert ideal” on any retreat we undertake: solitude, testing, self-emptying, encounter….  Or said another way, “Abandoning everythingin favor of nothing, or more accurately the abandonment of everything in favor of God – and God Alone.”

I find it truly a blessing that I have always had a family and church that supports the practice of annual retreat.  It does entail rest, but it is not a glorified vacation.  It is rather the real, sometimes arduous, work of going deeper into the realm of the Holy Mysteries to be attentive to the stirrings of the Spirit.  Sometimes it is only affirming of direction, other times there are surprises, but it is essential for the work of anyone doing what I do for a living – and not a bad idea for anyone else!

As much as solitude and self-emptying and encounter with God are all aspects typical of retreat, one additional thing to note is that retreat is never for the sake of retreat alone.  Jesus always came back, renewed in spirit, ready to get back to work and that is why I would term retreat as something essential for anyone, not just clergy, interested in exploring the Holy Mysteries.  It is never solely for the person on retreat, but so the person is better prepared to return and serve the community from whence s/he cometh.  So this month, pray for me while I’m on retreat (actually, pray for me all the time!) and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to see if retreat is in your future – a time of abandonment of self in favor of God, and God Alone.

Marc+