Reflections from a Retreat

Recently I made a private retreat and, as I always do on retreat, I reviewed my prayer journal, looking at the notes I made the previous year. These included quotes that I wrote down from some of the books I was reading. The statements below reflect this effort. As much as possible I have tried to name the author of the quote that is listed.  Frequently when I read something that strikes me I am not so much interested in who said it but what it means to me. For that reason, some of the quotations below are not attributed to an author. My hope is that you will find one or two of the quotes below useful for your personal prayer and refection. There is no particular order to the listing.

 

1. ”With God a little sincerity goes a long, long way.” Thomas Merton 

2. ”Why do I treat myself as someone I don’t want to spend time with? How can I befriend myself?” 

3. ”Prayer takes place in the heart, not the head.” Carlo Caretto 

4. ”Surrender to God and he will do everything for you.” 

5. ”For God hears our hearts, not our voices.” St. Cyprian 

6. ”God creates our hearts in such a way that only God will do.” “Infinite love creates our hearts in such a way that only infinite love will do.” James Finley 

7. ”Slow down long enough to catch up to yourself.” 

8. ”Lord. I am a sinner. Come with your mercy.” Daily prayer of Pope Francis 

9. ”The Latin word credo comes from two small words: cor and do. I give my heart.” 

10. ”The Divine Mercy is the grace and love of God alive in our lives. It’s God acting in us, upon us, and through us. It’s God taking control of our lives and teaching us how to think and how to act.” John Paul Thomas 

11. ”Prayer is the best weapon we have, a key that opens the heart of God.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina (a.k.a. Padre Pio) 

12. ”Receive. Don’t take.” 

13. ”Before God,  each of us is all of us.” 

14. ”God welcomes us like a parent welcomes a child who had a nightmare.” Pope Francis 

15. You are “someone God eternally treasures.” James Finley 

16. ”Feelings bind us to things, to beings and to being.” 

17. “The ebb and flow of your moods and feelings are full of spiritual meaning.”  

18. ”Does the one who formed the ear not hear?” Psalm 94 

19. “We find God in what we experience. God deals with us through our experiences. He communicates directly with us.”  

20. “God wants to take up residence in the center of our lives.” 

21. “God wants to possess our hearts completely. God must be in total control.” 

22. “You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.” 

23. “Look at all your relationships: ’how many people think of you as someone who is for them.’” Brian Groghan 

24. “Form the habit of continuing to talk to the Lord throughout the day.”   

Brother Lawrence 

25. “God is always present. Don’t ignore him. When I experience God helping me, that means God is present. When I give God credit, God is present.”   

26. “Look at the door of death from the other side of death, God’s side. God is waiting to welcome you.”  

27. “For Jesus, sin is clearly a lack of love, not disobedience. It is a lack of loving as God loves.” 

28. “Feelings reveal the true self. Share your feelings with God.” 

29. “A two-way conversation with God is very important at the beginning and end of prayer.”  

30. “God loves to be asked. God sometimes places in our hearts the things to ask for.” 

31. ”Suffering is to be explained not by denying the existence of a good God but by observing how God brings good out of evil.” Brian Groghan 

32. ”The resurrection of Jesus is ‘all about us forever.’ It reveals what God thinks of us.”  Brian Groghan 

33. ”A recent book on care of the dying is entitled, ‘May I Walk You Home?’” 

34. ”Jesus is our escort into an eternal life which is centered on loving relationships, human and divine.” 

35. ”If God is for us, who is against us.” Romans 8:31-35 
36. “Jesus is one of us. God is on our side.”  
37. Ask God for the gift of a grateful heart:
    • “Thank God for three things each day.”  
    • “Gratitude is an acknowledgement that I have received something of value.”
    • “Gratitude is a corrective for taking anything for granted.” 
    • “Gratitude completes the giving process.” 
    • “Ingratitude is the root of all sinfulness.” St. Ignatius of Loyola 
38. Giving control over to God:
    • “Silence before God helps us hand over control. We have no control over whether God speaks or not. We give the silence to the Lord, as it were, as his time to speak or not. It is a sign of our desire to let God be God, be in charge.”
    • “Centering Prayer is handing over control to God.” 
    • “Ask God to help you. Not asking God for help is a way of holding onto control.” 
    • “In prayer, as long as we are in our heads, we are in control.” 
    • “Our death, if given to God as a gift, is the final handing over of oneself, of control, to God.”