Online Retreat - Week 4

Abstract

A Picture of Harmony - Living in Balance|Guide: Models of Freedom|This week we move from giving thanks and praise to God - from the big picture of ordered, purposeful creation - to the concrete picture of living in that harmony of purpose, in balance.|Throughout this week, we desire to be inspired by women and men who seem to be in harmony with the end for which we are created and who seem to use all of creation with this freedom.|St. Ignatius put it so simply:| We should use God's gifts of creation however they help us in achieving the end for which we were created, and we ought to rid ourselves of whatever gets in the way of our purpose.|In order to do this we must make ourselves indifferent to all creation, to the extent that we do not desire health more than sickness, riches more than poverty, honor more than dishonor, a long life more than a short life, or anything at all in and of itself. We should desire and choose only what helps us attain the end for which we were created.|Readings:|1. Our Desire for God (from Finding God in All Things by William Barry, S.J.)|2. Alive and Changing (from Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner)|3. Ephesians 2|4. Romans 8|Prayers:|1. A Prayer to Begin Each Day|2. Jesus, Join My Life to Yours (Hearts on Fire, Jean Pierre Medaille, S.J.)|3. I Want So to Belong (Guerillas of Grace by Ted Loder)