Sunday Micro Retreat – October 16, 2022
As you begin your time of reflection, try to realize that you are standing on holy ground and in the presence of God who wants to talk to you and listen to you.
Make the Sign of the Cross. The Holy Spirit is opening your heart and mind so the Word of God that you are about to read can flourish in you for God's glory. Pray that you continue to work with his grace. Let the words or your prayer flow from your mind through your heart. Try to "feel" what you are saying.
Is there anything you would like to ask God now? What graces does your heart desire? Talk to God about it.
Today, we ask for the grace of perseverance in prayer.
Now read the Sunday's Gospel:
Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for any human being.
In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’
“For a while the judge refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for any human being,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them.
And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke_18_1-8.php)
The Word of God touches everyone differently. If there is anything that really stood out for you in this reading, meditate on it. Go to the depths of your heart and listen to what God is trying to say to you.
Next, let's spend some time with a couple of points that you may consider during this Sunday's Retreat:
1. there was a widow who kept coming to him (the judge)
Once again, Jesus says something that would not make sense to the people of his time, as at that point in history, widows were not allowed to speak to a judge.
If there was a situation that their
case required the attention of a judge, they would have to be represented by somebody else, such as a brother or another male relative. So, in this reading, Jesus talks about an extraordinary
situation because
he wants to bring our attention to the widow. This widow believes in the power of the judge, and she is not afraid to break the rules to get what she needs. In a similar way, there are a
lot of people
who believe that God is like a judge whose job is to listen to our cases and solve our problems. How do you feel about this statement? What is it that motivates your desire to pray?
Why do you pray? What is your image of God? What kind of feelings awaken in you as you try to reflect on your life of prayer?
There is also another side to this approach.
Jesus wants to tell us that even if we have a wrong understanding of prayer, or a skewed image of God, God's love for us will never stop; God will attend to our needs and grant
justice where justice is needed. How do you feel about that? Does this message bring you comfort? Peace of heart? Or maybe some anxiety?
2. will he find faith on earth?
In this statement, Jesus is not wondering if he finds Christians sitting in the pews of big and modern churches. There is no question about God's faithfulness to his people, but there is a question
if the followers will be faithful to God until the end.
Therefore, think again about your relationship with God: are you able to genuinely trust that God was with you, is with you and will be with you at all times? Can you persevere in your prayers in spite
of moments of dryness and darkness? What are your answers? What do you feel when you think about the difficult moments in your prayer time?
You may end this retreat by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
It is good to keep a personal journal in which reflections that stood out for you are recorded. The outcome of those Sunday Micro Retreats is good material that you can talk about in your spiritual direction.
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