Sunday Micro Retreat – March 5, 2023
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 God's Word transforming our lives.
Now read the Sunday's Gospel:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.
3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is my Son, the Beloved;[b] with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this,
they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
8 And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
(Matt 17:1-9)
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 reflecting on the following point:
1. Jesus came and touched them
Today's passage is full of light and brightness. Think for a moment about how you react when you are exposed to a lot of bright light. Do you tend to close your eyes?
Why?
Too much brightness coming from Jesus during the transfiguration could cause the disciples to close their eyes. They would not know when to open them so
Jesus had to come to them and touch them and tell them, "you will be fine, do not be afraid of the light, do not be afraid of becoming blind."
Notice how Jesus's touch allows them to put their fear behind them.
Meditate on this thought for a moment, and think about some situations from your life where you felt overwhelmed by what was going on. Do you think that Jesus was there,
touching you gently so you could get rid of your fears? If you felt alone at that moment, if you did not experience God's touch in that situation, try to think, why was
it like that? Maybe you were simply not aware of this touch? Now is a good time to bring it back to Jesus and talk with him about what happened and how you felt.
2. listen to him
Jesus is the Eternal Word which became flesh. Therefore, today we are invited once again to listen to Jesus, the Word of God.
We are invited to listen and to actually pay close attention to what we hear; otherwise, we may hear the words, but we may not get the
message. Jesus is touching our hearts and our minds each time we open the Bible.
Today, try to recall some moments from the past when the Word of God touched you in a profound way. Savour the moment, reflect
on the message once again, and thank Jesus for all the loving touches that you received from him during your time spent meditating on the Scriptures.
You may end this retreat by reading Psalm 100.
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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