For my spiritual retreat I went to a Catholic abbey in
Oceanside, California called the Prince of Peace Abbey on Saturday August 30th.
I went there not really sure what to expect, but was immensely blessed by the
experience.
I got there about 10AM and, after being impressed quite
quickly with the quiet there, had an initial discussion with a receptionist who
gave me the lay of the land so to speak. It was a smaller abbey so there wasn’t
too much to see but that was good.
I started by going to a library they have there. Though
there was enough light there to read, it was dimly lit and quiet also. In my first visit there I just spent about a
half hour looking around and thinking about what I was seeing. Many of the books in the library were donated
and some of them were for sale. I bought a couple things there including a book
on the Didache, one of the earliest catechetical works of the Christian church.
I then went to a Catholic Mass, steering clear of things I
do not agree with. There were several interesting things that came out of that.
Common practices in Catholic churches include kneeling and bowing. This was the
first of several why moments of reflection I had there. If someone bows out of
habit that has the potential of being legalistically problematic, while genuine
reverence is of course a good thing. The Gospel reading there was the Talents
Parable in Matthew 25:14-30. The priest spoke of the depth of this parable and
how each time we read it we get a little more. Do we realize we are given things
by Him to be used for His glory? Looking at the way the three people handled
the talents, a question to ask is will we take risks for Him? Did the one
talent guy commit a sin of omission? He mentioned the song "It is better to have
lost at love than never to have loved at all." Let us think about that from a
Christian context. Do we love Him, really? He spoke of Jesus giving us the
church; I need to think about that one carefully. I believe we as members of
the body of believers in Jesus past, present, and future are the church, so a
question to ask is is the church for us or for God the Father? He spoke of come
share in your Master’s joy, implying Lordship. In a non-spiritual way, I was
amazed that with about sixty people there they actually distributed Communion wine
in a shared cup. I of course went up with my arms crossed.
I then walked the Stations of the Cross there; it was a
large circle outside that was about a half mile around. I have done this a few
times as a Protestant. The key reason I do this is because I am reminded of the
sacrifice given by Christ, for me, for us. My sin put Him there, and Christ, the
God-man, suffered immensely in a physical sense. The price was enormous. Do we
comprehend that? I was reminded of the carry your cross Bible reference and
could not help but ask myself rhetorically if I would be willing and able to do
that?
After walking that loop and praying some more after I was
done, I went to burial grounds there for monks who were buried there. While I am not Catholic, I gave thanks to God
for men of extraordinary faith. When I encounter past Catholics or other
Christians via history, I am always thankful for them.
By this time I had been there about three hours. I then went
back to the library for some more reading, prayer, and spiritual reflection. I
read a couple chapters of Eugene Peterson’s book Eat This Book. This book
starts out with a reference to the Hebrew word Hagah, which is what meditate in
Psalm 1 is the translation for. However, that word has other usage instances
that imply a much higher level of immersion and connectedness with that is
being “eaten.” Revelation, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah all have references to eating
a book, to better connect with it, so it can become part of us. He used an
example with a dog gnawing a bone slowly over some time as a way to demonstrate
it. If scripture is holy, it must be read that way as well. What can get in the
way of this sometimes is viewing ourselves as sovereign. We are not the
authority, God is.
When we speak or hear of being spiritual, the world’s view
of that can give it a negative connotation. I usually think of non-Christian
mystic types when the word spiritual is mentioned. The Bible should be the text
by which we live our lives. The world has an interest in souls but not in
scripture; shouldn’t there be both? Do we have both? The word Bible comes from
biblion, implying plot, meaning, and purpose. Do we really want to read the
Bible as only a historical work? Sadly many nonbelievers do that; do we as believers? Is it a
stretch to say that the entire book has a purpose of changing us, to make us
more like Him?
I then went to pray for about a half hour, focusing on how I
was being changed by this, and asking God for more of it.
They of course had a store there that I took a quick browse
through before leaving, looking at some Ignatius Press books and many different
Bibles.
In summary I spent about five hours there and would say that
quiet, solitude, peace, and retreat cannot be fully appreciated until they are
experienced. I intend to do this on a somewhat regular basis; I was tremendously
encouraged by the experience.
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