Dear Participants,

Welcome to day twenty-eight of our retreat!

Sometimes, we are tempted by discouragement and doubt. It is as if we were a caterpillar weaving a cocoon and getting trapped in it. We are tangled in our own lives, and we wonder where the butterfly is. The trap is closed shut on us, and we are locked within the pains of the present time. 

In those moments, we are to seek the Father's merciful gaze and the Spirit of praise, to meet with Him again. 

This is how the we-caterpillar will transform into a butterfly, by the power of God's mercy. In our relationship to the Lord, we are morphed into His Children. Remember Isaiah's reading - how much love did the Lord display to his people!

What does it mean to be a child of God? It is to be an heir - bearer of this heritage of mercy, guardian of this heritage, grantor, manager... 

You are undoubtedly familiar with Moses character. Moses was transformed in the Desert - he resisted for three entire chapters! But eventually, looking deep into his heart, he became the bearer of his people, whom he guided, despite his people's infidelity and stubbornness. He incarnated the merciful gaze of God, and this is what is asked of us. 

Mary also allowed God to shape her. Pope John Paul II insisted on this fact: from the presentation of Jesus in the Temple up until the Crucifixion, Mary was formed by his words, by their separations; she was modeled by Jesus' mission, to eventually stand at the Cross and become Mother of Men and Mother of the Church, to exercise her motherhood to the fullest and fit into God's love plan as a bearer of grace. She didn't undergo or sustain, with a sense of coercion, but was a willing participant and active in her heart. 

This is God's call for us: He doesn't need us as mere recipients, but as actors of His Kingdom. 

We are to become His Kingdom, His love, His body. He relies on us. 

When in doubt, Father Lamy will always go back to this grace of courage he received from Mary in the poplars. Mary, whom he used to call "Our Lady of the Woods", came to him, met him where he was, and showed him how much the Lord needed him. She reminded him of the urgency of the Kingdom.

Let us pray:

For the Community Prayer, click on the "Pray" button below. 

Artwork: Our Lady of the Barren Tree, by Petrus Christus.