The members of the “Delegação Mãe de Deus” gathered for their annual retreat on January 23-28, 2022, at the “Recanto Bom Pastor” Retreat House in Campo Magro-PR. The retreat was guided by the preacher Dom Luiz Soares Vieira, archbishop emeritus of Manaus, under the theme “The experience of God”.
As it is customary to meet every year in the last week of January for the annual retreat, we were all present on Sunday afternoon in an atmosphere of great joy, waiting for the beginning of another spiritual exercise. After dinner was served, the preacher invited us to the lecture room where he presented the general program of the retreat, establishing two lectures a day. When introducing the theme about the experience of God, he made a point of stressing that his reflections would be based on the Word of God experienced in his own life.
In the opening talks he focused on the need for rest. The human being is not a machine; we need rest to produce well. The retreat is a privileged moment to rest from physical and mental fatigue.
Reflecting on the experience of God, the preacher asked us a serious question: what is my idea or image of God? How can I experience the love manifested in Jesus Christ, if the image I have is of a punishing, authoritarian and absent God? The retreat is a time to purify oneself from false images.
The true image of God is built from a personal encounter with Christ. It is the encounter with Jesus of Nazareth that will motivate a person to take a leap in faith as Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus and many others did. Today we are called to experience God through his Word, which impels us to go forward in a sure and certain way; it is the light on our path. The experience of God through his Word brings forth in our hearts a feeling of communion, of belonging and collaboration. Through an authentic dialogue with the Lord, personal prayer, which is neither escape nor intimacy, transforms us into true witnesses of his love.
The strength that the first Christians found to witness to Jesus Christ came from the Eucharist. The book of the Acts of the Apostles recounts this experience that the Church had in the first centuries. As we have the same experience through the Eucharist, we feel graced and strengthened by the presence of the Risen One who walks with us. This grace helps us to discern wisely what is good and bad for our lives; whether something is from God or not.
Mary’s experience of God at the Annunciation has much to teach us. Aware of being the mother of the Son of God and fully inhabited by the Holy Spirit, she did not keep the fruit of her fiat to herself, but, rather, went in haste to share it, serving her cousin Elizabeth in her needs. In sharing her experience, Elizabeth is touched with the power of the same Spirit and the child leaps in her womb. In sharing our experience of God, people are enriched and graced with the same gift.
They were days of great spiritual richness and fraternity for all of us. The Eucharist celebrated with devotion and love by Dom Luiz, touched us deeply. We are immensely grateful to Monsignor Luiz for being God’s instrument and for having led us spiritually in these spiritual exercises. Imbued with the graces of the Most High, we returned more willing and strengthened to our pastoral activities.
Padre Marciano Scapini S.d.P.
