Our Holy Thursday retreat is up!

On my way to this morning’s session, I read one of my email messages from Robert Ritchie- America Needs Fatima. He shared a story about a cruel,arrogant king entitled ” Legend of a Little Barrel.” On the talk of Fr. J, love the sheep in wolves’ clothing, this story tackles that.

The lord of awesome renown , who does not observe the abstinence or fasting during Good Friday, does not go to mass and has done heinous crimes, was convinced by his royal knights to meet a hermit-priest for confession. He agreed to come only if he had something he can(hermit-priest) despoil him of.
The renown lord is still himself but the hermit-priest was un-dismayed. The lord refused to do the confession even when the priest plead with him until finally he agreed to confess but Repentance is out of the question.
The priest after giving his penance, the lord refused to do it. One final thing the priest asked of him is to do at least one kind deed. He was to take a little barrel to the nearby brook and fill it with water and to return to him. Everytime he dips the barrel in the clear water not a single drop went in. Angered by this, the lord went back to the hermit-priest with an empty barrel. Still proud and arrogant he went away with the barrel swearing he will go aroubd the workd and fikk this barrel to the brim.
After a year has passed and he wasted away and became unrecognizable, he came back to the priest still with an empty barrel. It was Good Friday when he came back still unrepentant though he has misadventures and hardship. The hermit-priest seeing the lamentable state of that hardened soul, he began to weep. Mystified, the lored stared at the weeping and praying hermit, and he thought: “there is norhing linking me to rhis manbut God. Yet he suffers and weeps at the sights of my sins. With this the lord repented and adked forgiveness to King of Mercy. The lord’s hardened heart was finally moved, and his contrition was so deep that his eyes began to well up with tears. A large teardrop spilled fron his eye, ran down his face, and fell right into the little barrel that still hung about his neck. The little tear was enough to fill the brim of the barrel. It was the sign God has forgiven his sins.
The hermit-priest has Love the wolves into sheep.

It’s been a good Holy Thursday retreat! The realization was unexpected. It was hard for me to think of people whom have really hurt me that I was unable to forgive, I think that was a blessing I just realized. Having been blessed by God’s grace of truly forgiving others. What surprised me was that it was myself that I haven’t been able to forgive. The truth behind my sadness is actually my irreconcilable guilt with all the wrong things I have done in the past. I have been really hard on myself all these years, and just after today’s retreat I realized that my rocks and stones are actually coming from me. And that it is the hardest for me to do – forgive myself. That is why my prayer to God is to help me find it within myself to forgive me. As I walk through this retreat until Saturday I hope and pray that God continues to walk with me and reveal His messages and blessing.

Thank you, Fr. J for such a wonderful yearly retreat! May God bless you even more!

I am actually on retreat right now but I thought I would still go through this year’s online retreat as a supplementary experience. i am just amazed at how your online retreat manages t speak to me every year … yet again, the retreat seems to speak to me about my own life and issues.

I was struck the most by the thought of Jesus still trying to save Judas by offering him bread. I never really thought about that act that way until now. I am also struck by the degree to which Jesus identified with us. I never really thought much about His desert experience when I was younger. Now that I have had (and still have) my own desert experiences and temptations, I realize that the Lord had it bad, too … and I think, He really can’t be apart from us for He knows the kind of life we lead.

The questions to ponder are so hard … no wonder the Lord was telling me beforehand, I might not like what I might hear. But I trust the Lord will guide me through the experience. I have quite a big batch of stones to let go of … I just have to surrender and see where tge experience leads me.

Thanks, Fr. J … I look forward to my days of rest and bonding with the Lord …