This week I'm at White House, the Jesuit Retreat House in the St. Louis area, and I'm giving a retreat to 42 priests of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We began on Sunday night and will conclude tomorrow. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson (who is a new member of the Apostleship of Prayer's board of directors) will come to celebrate Mass and then we will have the final talk of the retreat. Here is the schedule of talks:
Theme: "Living the Eucharist in Union with the Heart of Jesus"
Sunday evening: "Come away...." A self-intoduction and an introduction to the retreat. The "Come away" reference is from Mark 6: 31.
Monday morning: "Duc in Altum" These are words of Jesus from Luke 5: 4 that Pope John Paul used in his letter "At the Start of the New Millennium." All of us must go deeper in our prayer lives and you can't go any deeper than to enter the Heart of Jesus.
Monday afternoon: "The True Love Story, Part 1" From creation to redemption we have the story of God's love affair with humanity.
Monday evening: "The True Love Story, Part 2" The story reaches its climax on a cross where Jesus reveals to us the depths of God's love.
Tuesday morning: "The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus" Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father but remains with us in the Blessed Sacrament. His Heart beats eternally with love for humanity and from time to time Jesus has appeared to show the world His Heart. We are called to believe in His presence and to celebrate His love in the Eucharist allowing ourselves to be united to Him and transformed.
Tuesday afternoon: "Entering the Heart of Jesus through the Gospels" Jesus is the Word who is alive in the Scriptures. Our prayerful reading of the Gospels leads us to enter more deeply into the Heart of Jesus and to share His thoughts, feelings, and desires.
Tuesday evening: "The Merciful Heart of Jesus" The greatest joy Jesus had when He walked this earth was to heal people spiritually, to forgive their sins. Jesus continues to have this joy in the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Wednesday morning: "Our Call to be Priests, Prophets, and Kings" At Baptism we were anointed with sacred chrism to share in Jesus identity as a Priest, Prophet, and King. How do we do this?
Wednesday afternoon: "The Poor and Chaste Heart of Jesus" The evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience are not just for consecrated religious who make these vows. They are for every Christian who has been joined to the Body of Christ in Baptism and is called to become more and more like Christ. How can we be poor and chaste as Jesus was?
Wednesday evening: "The Obedient Heart of Jesus" Of the three evangelical counsels, obedience is the one that is most often used to describe Jesus in the Gospels. Obedience requires humility. How do we live with an obedient and humble heart like Jesus' Heart?
Thursday morning: "Living the Eucharist with the Apostleship of Prayer".
Dear Father; I read with interest this entry on St. Louis and especially on White House Retreat. My wonderful late uncle, Rev. Lawrence Chiuminatto S.J. was retreat director there for over 40 years. He entered eternal life in the early 1990's. One of his great dedications was the canonization of (then) Bl. Claude de la Colombiere - who WAS canonized within a couple years of the death of my holy uncle. I just wanted to leave this comment; your entry about St. Louis brought back many wonderful family memories for me. God bless you - Marge Chiuminatto
ReplyDelete