Retreat Conference No. 2 - THE WAY

Retreat Conference was done by Fr. Deacon Edward Kleinguetl.

 

RETREAT CONFERENCE NO. 2

The Way

 

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

(Luke 9:23)

“One of man’s greatest mistakes is that he runs from the Cross, he flees suffering. The Savior says, ‘Take up your Cross and follow me!’ He does not say, ‘Take up your walking stick!’” ^[1]

(Elder Arsenie Papacioc)

“The cross is not only the endurance of suffering but also a fight to overcome suffering, wickedness, lack of fulfillment, and infirmity in our life.” ^[2]

(Patriarch Daniel of Romania)

 

Reflection

            In a letter to her sister, Céline, St. Thérèse of Lisieux captured many of the ideas we discussed in this conference.

Céline! Let us make use of Jesus’s preference, which has taught us so many things in so few years, and let us neglect nothing that can please him. Let us be adorned with the Sun of his love! This sun is burning, let us be consumed by love. St. Francis de Sales says: “When the fire of love is in a heart, all the furniture flies out the windows: Oh, let us allow nothing, nothing in our heart except Jesus.

Let us not believe we can love without suffering, without suffering much. Our nature is our riches, our means of earning our bread. It is so precious that Jesus came on earth purposely to take possession of it. And still we would like to suffer grandly! Céline, what an illusion! We’d never want to fall? What does it matter, my Jesus, if I fall at each moment; I see my weakness through this, and this is a great gain for me. You can see through this what I can do and now you will be more tempted to carry me in your arms. Then I am not going to be disturbed but I shall always stretch out my arms suppliant and filled with love. I cannot believe that you would abandon me.

It was when the saints were at the feet of our Lord that they encountered their crosses. Sanctity does not consist in saying beautiful things, it does not even consist in thinking them, in feeling them. It consists in suffering and suffering everything. Sanctity! We must conquer it at the point of the sword; we must suffer. A day will come when the shadows will disappear, and there will remain only joy, inebriation. Let us profit from our one moment of suffering. Let us see only each moment. A moment is a treasure. One act of love will make us know Jesus better, it will bring us closer to him during the whole of eternity.[3]

            St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, a Carmelite nun, is known for her little way, doing small things with great love. She is an example of someone who embraced childlike simplicity. In her autobiography, she provided a wonderful explanation of this:

You know, Mother, I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed when I compare myself to the saints, there is between them and me the difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by passersby. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can … in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and I must bear with myself, such as I am with all my imperfections. But I wanted to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new …. I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: ‘Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me’ (Prov. 9:4). And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for. But wanting to know, O my God, what you would do to the very little one who answered your call, I continued my search, and this is what I discovered: ‘As one whom a mother caresses, so will I comfort you; you will be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you’ (Is. 66:13,12). Ah! Never did words more tender and melodious come to give joy to my soul. The elevator which must raise me to heaven is your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had not needed to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.[4]

In summary, St. Paisios the Athonite said, “Humility is the single most important virtue; but since this is not easily understood, then I would also add love. Yet, doesn’t one who has humility, also have love?”^[5]

Reflection Questions

Spend time with the following question:

1. How would I describe my spiritual life? Is it frantic? Do I “do” without much listening to Jesus? How can I slow down? How can I be more open to Jesus, making single, incremental steps with him instead of without?

 

[1]Sorin Alpetri, Eternity in the Moment: The Life and Wisdom of Elder Arsenie Papacioc, trans. Hieromonk Ieremia Berbec and Simona Irime (Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2018), 237.

[2]Patriarch Daniel of Romania, Reflection, Sunday of the Triumph of the Cross, Basilica News Agency (March 19, 2023).

[3]St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “The Sword that Brings Sanctity,” Magnificat 25(5) July (2023), 262-3.

[4]St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, 3rd ed., trans. John Clarke, OCD (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1996), 207-8.

[5]St. Paisios the Athonite, “Passions and Virtues,” Spiritual Counsels, vol. 5, trans. Fr. Peter Chamberas, ed. Anna Famellos and Eleftheria Kaimakliotis (Souroti, Thessaloniki, Greece: Holy Hesychasterion Evangelist John the Theologian, 2016), 169.