Last month, I accompanied my business students in their retreat at Tagaytay City. The spiritual "recharging" we all need because there are lot of noises in our environment nowadays. The technology and the gadget can always "connect" us to everyone we know or even to strangers. The media and the social networks really made our life easier but our spiritual need is getting colder because of these.
The only chance to see our real selves and to connect to a higher calling is to have a silence for a few days. Without TV, cellphone, IPad, internet and even temporary disconnection to our family. This is the time to know who we really are and what is our purpose in this place called earth.
The three day retreat gave me these realizations:
1. Everyone of us on whatever beliefs we have are longing to connect to God.
2. We pray mainly in order for God to give us what we need but there are cases that what we asked can not be given for reasons we don't know..
3. There are two kinds of prayer: the prayer of God's suitor and the prayer of God's workers.
4. The God's suitors are Christians who only prays to ask but not helping in the propagation of His kingdom either by words or deeds.
5. The prayers of God's workers are the first to be answered because his prayers are like the prayers of the prophets, apostles and healers before and during Jesus time. You can check the bible and see how the prayers of Job, Jonah, Paul, Peter and the other were heard. Miracles do happened and it usually given to God's workers.
Retreat is truly beneficial to everybody and all of us are called to be God's workers in our own ways. The benefits: He will always take our prayer into account and give us what we "really" need.
Life is difficult according to Scott Peck but one way to cope was written centuries ago by St. Ignatius of Loyola: go on a 5 day retreat to discern spirits and to learn following the inspirations of God.
This Lenten Season, I encouraged you to try one.
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