Retreat Conference No. 1 - THE TRUTH

Retreat Conference was done by Fr. Deacon Edward Kleinguetl.

RETREAT CONFERENCE NO. 1

The Truth

 

“Jesus said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

(John 14:6)

“Sober up, while there is still time, and look for the heavenly blessings.” [1]

(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

“Faith is not a simple statement of words, a simple intellectual conviction. The right faith is a living relationship with the ever-living God.” [2]

(Patriarch Daniel of Romania)

 

 

Reflection

From St. John of Kronstadt: Learning to Live Wisely.

The usual methods that people of our time use to drive away their sorrows are parties, cards, dancing, and theaters. But these entertainments only increase the anguish and weariness of their hearts. If they fortuitously turn to God, then the heaviness falls away from their hearts, and only then do they clearly see the heaviest burden that was previously lying on their heart, though they did not feel it. O, how many people have ‘forsaken God, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no living water.’ There are many such broken cisterns—nearly everyone has his own. The broken cisterns are our hearts, our passions.^[3]

When the heart is occupied with worldly things, especially superfluous ones, it forsakes the Lord—the Source of life and peace—and is therefore deprived of life and tranquility, of light and strength. But when it repents of its care for vain things and wholly turns from corruptible things to the incorruptible God, then the fountain of living water again begins to flow into it, and peace, consolation, light, strength, and boldness before God and man once more dwell within it. We must live wisely.^[4]

Worldly cares obscure the mental horizon of our soul; like fog, they darken the eyes of our heart and bind our soul.^[5]

And from St. Paisios the Athonite:

The answer to our anxiety is not drugs, alcohol, tranquilizers, or psychiatric treatment. It will not be cured by yoga or some new age or Eastern meditation practice. The problem is that we have lost God at the center of our lives. Once we make our love of God the primary focus of our life and allow his grace to work through us, then no matter what circumstances we encounter in life, we will be comforted and embraced by his love. All anxiety disappears. This is the aim of the spiritual life—to put God first and seek the Holy Spirit. The anxieties of modern life are only symptoms of our separation from God.^[6]

Have we lost God at the center of our lives? Have those around us lost him? Jesus is the answer. The Holy Fathers are clear in their warnings about a life separated from God. We must choose which of the two ways we will follow: the well-traveled, wide road leading to destruction—the choice of self-sufficiency and separation from God, or the narrow road that few will find, leading to eternal life.^[7]

Reflection Question

Spend some time with the following question:

1. Who am I more afraid of offending: Jesus, who has proven his great love for us through his death and resurrection, or the voices in secular society who advocate political correctness and embrace immoral behavior?

 

[1]St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, A Gathering of Spiritual Riches, trans. Seraphim F. Englehardt (Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Publications, 2023), 69.

[2]Patriarch Daniel (Ciobotea) of Romania, Reflection, Fifth Sunday after Easter, Basilica News Agency (May 28, 2023).

[3]St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ, Part 1, 55-6. Reference to Jer. 2:13.

[4]Ibid., 143.

[5]Ibid., 248.

[6]See St. Paisios the Athonite, “With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man,” Spiritual Counsels, vol. 1, trans. Cornelia A. Tsakiridou and Maria Spanou, ed. Fr. Peter Chamberas and Eleftheria Kaimakliotis (Souroti, Thessaloniki, Greece: Holy Hesychasterion Evangelist John the Theologian, 2019), 174-75.

[7]See Matt. 7:13-14.