Reflections from St Beuno's: Entering Into Retreat

Here is some guidance I was given when I started my retreat at St Beuno's.  The suggestions given seem to be good advice about life in general, and something we can all try to build into our daily, hectic schedules.

Healthy Lifestyle:
Give yourself plenty of time for sleep.  Eat in moderation and avoid alcohol.  Exercise the body - walking and fresh air are ideal.  

Slow Down
Deliberately slow down, spend more time on everything you do.  Relax, quite consciously, take longer breaths, walk more slowly, do things more gently, for you are waiting for God, and you will meet God in the stillness and stillness takes a little time.  Simply wait, meanwhile...

Become aware of everything around you:

• the sounds
• the patterns of light
• the feel of things, their roughness and smoothness
• the scents and aromas carried through the air - warmth and coolness
• take trouble to notice even the taste and texture of your food
• feel and smell the flowers the leaves and the countryside
• through this creation God speaks to you, sings to you

Ask the Lord to open your senses, open them wide, that you may learn to listen to his voice.  

Silence

Although silence in daily life may be difficult to achieve, we can build moments of silence into our days.  On the topic of silence St Beuno's say: silence is not intended as an ascetic penance but to enable you to get in touch with what is deepest within.  For a few days in teh year it is good not to seek escape from yourself or God by filling our time with TV, computers, radio, mobile phones, chatter or the many other distractions of daily life.  Don't rush to fill the space, doing nothing can be creative.  

Reflections from St Beuno's: Paths

The route to the top of Snowdon

At St Beuno's I normally meet with my retreat director at 10.15am, but on the Sunday this meeting was rescheduled to 5pm.  The forecast was for beautiful weather, so I decided to take the opportunity to walk up Snowdon.  I planned my route, and set off in good time to walk up the mountain.  But on arriving at Snowdon I discovered that the car park I intended to use was already full, despite still being early in the morning.  I had to drive a couple of miles down the valley before I found somewhere to park.

From where I was parked, it was a long walk up the valley to reach the path that would take me up Snowdon.  So instead I decided to take another path, which I hoped would lead me to the summit.  Half way up the mountain I lost the path, and searched for what I believed would be a safe route to the summit.  However the higher I climbed, the more difficult and dangerous the route I had chosen became.  Eventually I realised that the only sensible and safe decision was to turn back, and retrace my steps, because the path I was on was clearly unsafe.  

Heading down the mountain, I did eventually manage to find the correct path, which led me safely to the summit of Snowdon.  

The summit of Snowdon

As I was reflecting on this walk, it made me wonder whether we recognise when we've taken the wrong path in life, and if so what do we do about it?  Do we keep on following this path, or do we try to find our way back unto the correct track?  On a mountain the dangers of taking the wrong path can be all too evident, but in life it may not be so obvious.  

May God be our guide as we journey through life.

Reflections From St Beuno's: First Encounters

At the start of a three month sabbatical I am spending eight days on retreat at the Ignatian Spirituality Centre of St Beuno's in North Wales.  Here are some reflections from my time at St Beuno's.

I arrived at St Beuno's on Friday afternoon, and after dropping off my case in my room I made my way to the Chapel for the evening Mass, which is held every day at 5.45pm.  

The Catholic church has recently revised its Mass, and the responses which were very similar to the Anglican Communion Service have now changed, so it is easy to be caught out.  For example in response to the words 'The Lord be with you', the response in the Anglican liturgy and old Catholic liturgy was 'And also with you.'  But now in the Catholic Mass it is 'And with your spirit.'  This is just one of many little changes to the Mass.  

Although I have attended Mass on many occasions in the past with my wife, I am not very familiar with the new Mass, and on this first evening at St Beuno's was very conscious of the fact that it may be obvious to others that I wasn't used to the new liturgy.  That first evening, I felt as though everyone in the chapel new the responses by heart, and I was the only person present who needed an order of service at hand to follow the responses.  I felt very conscious about standing out from the crowd.

That first service at St Beuno's made me aware of how unnerving it must be for people going into church for the very first time.  For those unfamiliar with going to church, everything can seem unfamiliar and strange, including the words and music we use, sharing the peace, even the building we gather in.  It made me realise what a big thing it is for people to come to church for the first time.  No wonder at services which attract a lot of visitors, such as weddings, baptisms or funerals, you often see people standing outside the church looking so nervous. People are anxious about standing out, doing the wrong thing.  People worry that if they do something wrong they will get disapproving stares from other people.  

We want to encourage people to come to church, but I think we often forget what it is like to go somewhere new for the first time.  How terrifying it can be for some people to step into a church building, because they don't know what to expect, or maybe because they've had bad experiences in the past.  It is important to place ourselves in their position, to realise how hard it is to go somewhere new for the first time, and to go out of our way to welcome people, and put them at ease. 

As for my experience at St Beuno's, I needn't have worried, because at the meal after the service I found myself sitting next to a retired Anglican Bishop, an Anglican Vicar and a Quaker, I quickly realised that St Beuno's is a place that welcomes Christian's from all backgrounds, and that I wasn't the only person who would occasionally struggle with the new responses.