| The graces are to speak of God's work in my life with courage and conviction, to realize how deeply God has loved me all along, to feel the walls between us being broken down with very little effort on my part, to love others as God did. My marriage is better, my relationship to both my sons is better, and to all friends. When I read the suggestions on how to use 'background times' for the materials, I doubted that it was possible. Like most people, I find it difficult to find 'extra' time for anything beyond what I'm currently doing. But when I tried to follow the suggestions, I quickly found it that it really can be done. The graces are to speak of God's work in my life with courage and conviction, to realize how deeply God has loved me all along, to feel the walls between us being broken down with very little effort on my part, to love others as God did. My marriage is better, my relationship to both my sons is better, and to all friends. After 32 weeks I'm going to miss the retreat very, very much. Not only has my feeling of closeness to God and being part of God's plan increased, but I find myself wanting to share this information with all who will hear me, because I see the world rather differently now--so much suffering, much of it needless if we can truly trust God to provide what we need, truly absorb the miracle of Jesus' life and its meaning for our own lives. God bless you guys and all the holy women who helped put this program together. I had a personal relationship with God before - all my adult life and probably most of my childhood as well, outside of any organized church. I found this retreat to clarify feelings, and give words where there were not any before. I don't think I could list the graces. There are many. One thing that really stands out - I feel much more that my personal religion has a home within the church. It helped tremendously in remembering to thank God at the end of each day for the many gifts he's given me. I really feel like I've grown closer to our Risen Lord. By having this on-line retreat has forced me into taking time for Christ that I otherwise would not have done. This has been an absolutely wonderful grace-filled time. The readings and prayers have been very helpful in my everyday life. I hate to see the end of this. These reflections are especially helpful if I pray over them the night before. Then I am able to have them on my mind as I go through my daily routine as a 53 year-old stay -at-home mother and grandmother. I especially enjoy Father Gillick's reflections, and his occasional use of humour. I like to think that God laughs at the way I can mess things up so beautifully, and that it is all right to laugh at myself and my often misguided attempts at piety. For me, praying is easy. It is finding God in the marketplace (or in my kitchen!) , that is the struggle. These reflections, and the on-line retreat help me to keep my focus. The biggest grace received is hope. I often feel isolated from a faith community, and have no-one in my hometown with whom I can share the experience. Your on-line retreat has helped me feel connected to Ignatian-style prayer. I have been making in-person Ignatian retreats at a retreat house every year for the past 17 yrs., but I have found the online retreat has really drawn me to Ignatian spirituality even more. After 58 yrs of my life, I feel that I am growing in my familiarity with Jesus as a result of the intensive scripture reading and reflecting. This retreat has helped me refocus on my walk with Jesus, to fall in love with Him all over again, the graces are a deep peace and a knowing what is really real in life. Spiritually, I have come to encounter Jesus in a personal way as I never did before at all. My faith moved from intellectual, to the beginnings of being a friendship with Jesus. I struggled tremendously with doubt in the middle ( is this all wishful thinking and made up? Is the Risen and Present Jesus just a fantasy friend like the ones my eight year old has?!!) But I was blessed with the resources -- other than in the retreat -- insights and comments and parts of homilies -- to grow through that. I have the beginnings of truly wanting to invite Jesus into my work life as well as my spiritual life. I want to do God's work, and I want to discern how worldly success will support that, without needing it when the two are incompatible. The Retreat has been an integral part of letting go and letting God. It is only a fledgling attitude, because it is a daily choice and not easy. But I am more grateful for it than I can tell you. Thank you so much for being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in creating this Retreat. You have made a tremendous difference in my life at a time of crossroads I have found that Jesus has begun to occupy my thoughts without my needing to initiate thoughts toward him. This Easter has been uniquely joyful and glorious. I find myself praising the Lord almost without effort. I find him singing songs TO ME!!! There is no other way I would have ever been able to experience the Ignatian Exercises. I think this site is absolutely wonderful!!! I think everything is weaving together to help me maintain a center of gravity in the Lord rather than in the world. So many times the themes seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear that week. I have a deepening sense of the depth of God's love for me, and a growing awareness of Who God Is, which helps me have a better sense of what He wishes of me. The retreat has had a great impact on my life. It helped me deal with the mistakes I made in the past. It has helped me in cleaning my memory. Chased away the "ghost of the past." It has brought me closer to God. I am more sensitive to the movements of my conscience. The retreat experience has been enlightening. I lead a varied life as a mother of a young child, a mature age university student and a small business partner in my husband's small business. So this online retreat which took me 5 months has really been a marathon and wow, has it been worth it!! This daily life format really helps us integrate our spirituality in a real and authentic way with our daily joys and struggles. No room here for a rarified airy fairy spirituality. Here I found a robust and authentic faith and a certainty of God's presence throughout my life. It is difficult to express how much this retreat has touched me. To break a 30 year habit by reflecting on the goodness and love of the Lord daily is a powerful event for me. If that event can happen, other areas of my life can become better with trust in God and his promises. Looking forward to making it happen. I found this retreat to clarify feelings, and give words where there were not any before. I don't think I could list the graces. There are many, and I think more will enter my awareness as time goes on It provides me with a framework within which I place myself now to meet Jesus. I am more aware of myself as a "loved sinner". I have really desired to get to know Jesus better and to be with him. I am a little more able to surrender control to the one who loves me so much. I am more trusting - at least a little - and less fearful and anxious I have been amazed at how present one becomes in the stories. And how my prayer has become conversation with Jesus. The materials were used for prayer daily. They are a reminder that it is necessary for me to be converted DAILY and that each day I must make the choice to follow Jesus. The pictures were used as wallpaper and were very helpful, as each time I passed or used the computer they drew me back. This has been very life changing for me. I can say without reservation that this retreat is among the most helpful and useful spiritual exercises I have ever experienced. It has helped me be actively conscious of Christ's presence in others that I meet during the day. That has resulted in me taking more care in my responses to them. I also have become more aware of my role as one doing God's work on Earth. That is I am responsible in a concrete way to bring joy, comfort, kindness etc to friends, family and community. I have more of a sense of my connectedness in the Body of Christ and a desire to continue with a prayer life. What a marvelous use of background time! I hadn't realized how much clutter there was in the corners of my mind during the day. I learned a valuable technique and will continue using this in my prayer life. I will never again be able to say that I am not worthy - the text that accompanied that week's retreat spelled it out beautifully - my arguments faded and my doubts about my own worthiness were rendered absurd. I will never forget that lesson in the course of my life. Christ's death is so very real to me now and the resurrection is much more joyful! Watching the scenes of Christ walking to the crucifixion and seeing the blood flowing to the ground seared my soul. How could I turn my eyes away again? My life is forever changed by participating in this retreat. The grace to hand myself over to the care of God, to acknowledge the anger and pride in my heart and to realize that everything is gift and part of the path that will bring me closer to Jesus. In the same way that Jesus had to fulfill the Scriptures, I am called to fulfill that for which I have been sent. My English is not perfect but I feel quite at ease on your website. I was very fortunate to have found this place in cyberspace. My wife had asked me continuously me to attend an 8 day retreat at a Jesuit center in Mexico, but I never "had found the time". After the first 5 or 6 weeks of doing the online retreat, I decided to sign up to an Ignatian retreat. The graces received there, in silence, getting closer and loving Jesus more and more, saying yes to him to perform his 'project', have given me so much peace, that now I want to share. I have been able to see God's hand in a disappointment I have experienced with my local parish. In fact I now see this disappointment as a necessary "pruning back" of what was a growing spiritual arrogance. My retreat experience has been great, and gratefully accepted by my heart and soul. Some weeks took a long time to finish ,because I would be jolted into deep thought on the miracles of God in my life, even when I did not know that he was there. How sad I was to discover that much of the past went by without a simple "thank you, my lord". So much of the time I thought that it was "I," when in reality it was "him." At this moment I feel I do not have to search, as God is here with me at all times. A very comforting feeling. I expect to see Jesus at any time at any turn at any rustle in the leaves. That is grace! Jesus is someone for me. It's a kind of personal relationship. Now I feel that I'm following Him because of love and not as a "moral law". The pictures were a great enhancement. I would remember that image all week as I prayed my daily prayers. This retreat has brought me back to meditation and enriched my life. I feel a greater awareness of God's love for me and that in itself is an enormous gift. I can more easily discern what it is that God is calling me to. I would do this again, it truly enriched my life and I have encouraged many people to your site, of all the sites on the internet yours is definitely the best, no insult to anyone else intended. I hope you continue, it is a great comfort in my life that you are here. Somedays I come home for lunch from work just to be fed by your words, they can comfort me for the remainder of the day. It has helped catapult my spirituality to a new dimension in Christ Jesus and has helped me to discern my vocation to religious life! Thank you for this ministry and may God bless you with the graces of his Son always. I am so glad this was available for me to do. I needed this. My faith journey has accelerated as a result of this retreat. I love God. The retreat made me see the person of Jesus in a new light. The personable way you would say, “Well Mary’s making soup” and “Jesus was working,” this humanized them, made me see that I am just like them, and it is possible for me to be as faithful as them if I just keep working at it. The retreat has helped me most by causing me to focus more on what God wants and less of what I want. The graces received were many: better understanding of God's will in my life; temperment in my dealings with family members and staff; thanksgiving; and most of all opening His word through the scripture readings. It was unbelievably wonderful. These reflections have brought me closer to Jesus than I have ever experienced. My entire outlook has changed but I still need lots of work. I thank you for placing this Retreat on line. It has made a big difference in my life. I'm pushing 74 and this experience has rekindled my spiritual fire. Count me as one of your biggest fans. I looked forward to getting up each morning to do the daily readings and prayers. I've grown spiritually. Also, I feel I've become more patient, and more aware of Love. Finding this retreat in the first place was a grace, too. I just "stumbled" across it. I have had to "experiment" and have found that driving and waiting
for children (after school, sports, etc) are good times as are when
I'm walking to class, to the library, etc.
I am more aware of who I am. I am more aware of the depth of God's love for me and for others. I have grown more patient, understanding, and loving of myself and others. I received many graces during this retreat but the one I am thinking of at the moment is the grace of acceptance in many areas and the grace of standing free before the many its in my life. I have also received the grace of knowing, loving, and serving God on a more intimate level. I think it has made me more conscious of what
Jesus has done and is doing for me. I felt the love and acceptance of the Lord to a greater degree and his call to follow Him by serving others, which I try to do in my life. Helped me know I am on the reght track. Felt a closeness to the Lord by putting myself in different situations, some of which surprised me. They have been a powerful centering for my prayer
life most especially through Lent Easter and the Easter season. It
opened up a new world with an amazing look at my shadow and healing
of anger of 25 years duration I feel much closer to Jesus and have often experienced striking synchronicities where things happened in my life that seemed linked to the theme for the week. This retreat has been a wonderful expereince; I don't want it to end. When is the next one? There were so many graces for me; the one I think about most often is simply feeling closer to God. It has given me a new perspective ..with respect to myself and also my feelings/actions toward others. It gave me patience, being aware of those I do not want to love, kindness, wisdom. A major grace was for my wife and I being able to accompany one another during the retreat. Another special grace was to recognise in a new way a sense of being called to be with Christ in his mission. I found this extremely profound, and this has stayed with me through the retreat. The retreat has been a graced time since, in the middle of it, my wife was diagnosed with oral cancer and has undergone major surgery and radiotherapy. I feel more at peace. I now have the certainty that Jesus loves me! and his love is so great that it is also transmitted through the love of my family and friends. I also know that no matter how far I have been from Him, he will be there by my side! This helped me to accept myself with my defects and virtues. I used to feel that I was not worthy or good enough for Him to notice me, how wrong I was! I know he loves me just the way I am and it helped to accept myself and to be sure that no matter what dificulties the life would bring He will be there with me. It also makes me feel more willing to follow him and do what He wants me to. I really experienced greater joy in daily life and in my marriage. I am humbled by the unit on patterns of sin. I really undertstand holy scripture at a deeper level. This process has deepened by wobbly faith and opened my heart to a greater love of the Lord. It made me more aware of the impact sin made in my life and
what Jesus suffered to save me. It was the best experience I have
ever had. I liked that it took so long so that each week could be
absorbed. I especially liked the prayers to Jesus. It made it all
so personal. Knowledge that I am a child of God and a sister to Christ moved from my head to my inner being. With this knowledge I am much quicker to forgive myself and others. I am more patient with my progress in personal and spiritual development. I find my response to the poor, the sick, and the annoying becoming more out of love for God than from a feeling of personal responsibility. I find myself just speaking to God durring the day - praising, loving, thanking, and seeking guidance. This retreat was just the right fit for my current life situation. I did have some time off from work to reflect more than usual, but remained busy with husband, child, extended family, and other commitments. This allowed me to integrate my prayer into everday life. Now that I'm back to work part time, I am able to practice everday spritiuality in the business at work too. I am thankful to have the daily reflections for a resource now. The retreat has made a huge difference to my life. My concept of God, of myself in relationship to God and my confidence in His mission for me, have all changed a great deal. I have two folders - weeks 1-16 in one and 17-34 in another and these are a wonderful record of my spiritual journey over this last year and I plan to go back and re-read the material and what I have written in response, on a regular basis. The graces were many, especially when shared with others in prayer meeting. The biggest grace from this retreat was the awakening of
my consciousness to my need for gratitude to God. I found gratitude
a great disposition to have especially when struggling with faith.
When I am grateful, I inherently acknowledge the presence of God,
and enumerate to myself all the things that would not have happened
without the Grace of God. And any faith struggles disappear.This retreat
has definitely stretched my mind and my faith. It was indeed difficult
at times; but I was aware that these difficult times were the growth
opportunities for myself. I was surprised at how deeply this retreat has affected me
- I didn't expect much because it was online, but it has touched me.
I feel that I have gotten to know Jesus better through contemplation
of his life as given through the Ignatian Exercies. The graces were
that I could feel Jesus' presence at times. I shall never forget since they led me to understand how Jesus often led a life so much like that which confronts me. It showed me that perseverence was more importan than success in the spiritual life. I became more conscious of God working in my life, His desire
to have a relationship with me and His purpose for creating me. Beautiful! It has helped me grow spiritually and also has allowed me to try to live up to Christian ideals. It has helped me balance my life between work and church. Whenever I rest during the day or wake up in the thoughts of what I read from the retreat guide come to my mind and I thank Jesus and ask him to help me in my search for increased awareness of his presence. It all carries over into my other devotions, such as meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and the daily reflections on the scripture of the day. I feel that the retrear has helped me to come a long way toward that intimacy. Firstly, this retreat re-introduced me to the wonderful scripture readings as well as deepened my spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. I am more sensitive and compassionate to the poor, the hungry and the oppressed.Most of all I am blessed that I have faith and have had an opportunity to have made this retreat. The grace of being "attentive and available " granted me during this retreat, coming to fore in my reflections on Mary and the empty tomb on Easter morning, has left me in grateful, astounded joy. God's generosity is relentless. The grace of tears, of a comforted heart and a renewed spirit cannot be described in words; I only pray that humbly I can live out their fruits. The guides and helps brought me a general sense of awareness every week, but the practice of connecting a daily routine (such as brushing my teeth) in the morning and evening or during the day, to focus on the day's reflections, petition for grace and give thanks is what I pray I continue to do with diligence, for I feel that it is in this constancy that I shall find deeper intimacy with the Lord, 'sharpening' all my senses for His presence, His love, and for service in His mission. I feel a closeness to Jesus and a desire to follow His way that I have never felt before in my life It confirmed to me the love Jesus/God has for me. I always seem to fall short of what I think God wants for me and it was encouraging to be constantly told that God accepts me as I am, despite all my weaknesses that he already knows about. And He STILL loves me. I also became more aware of Mary's (mother of Jesus) story through this retreat. I became acquainted with Jesus in His temptations. I found it comforting to realize that He understands my own temptations because He went through similar ones. I was especially drawn to Jesus as an adolescent, since adolescence is a difficult time. I also became better acquainted with Saint Joseph. It gave me hope when times were tough. Several times I copied sections out to take home to continue to think about away from the computer. It has given me the discipline to create a time for prayer every day and in everyday life. I have found immense joy by knowing that I have taken a small step on a path which I hope to follow all my life. Experiencing the Ignatian Exercises has made a profund difference in trying to love self correctly and to love others more profundly It has deepened my relationship with Jesus Christ. Working with my life story and finding God there. Going through the passion and realizing Jesus' humanity and suffering. These studies helped me to know God's great love for me. Most definately has made a great difference in deepening my relationship with Jesus. I received great peace in my acceptance of the love given by Jesus. This retreat has made a diffence in my life. I really wish that it would never end and it really doesn't have to end, I just need to continue working with it. I think that the greatest grace that i have received from this retreat is that i have become more focused on the presence of god in my life. The grace is more freedom in my relationship with Jesus. I came to realize that my very structured prayer life wasn't allowing much opportunity for spontaneous interaction with God and his working in my life. I am trying to be more conversational but staying with the habit of having certain times of the day that trigger me into prayer, being aware that I need to be careful to not approach this as a task to complete, but for it to be more like a phone call to keep in touch with Jesus. There seems such a parallel to the events that are unfolding in my life. God seems to be showing me the way and my receptivity seems particularly acute. God's Graces! You are exactly right, my intimacy and trust in God seems all the stronger because of background times. Sometimes I feel I got more out of the retreat than I put into it. Life seems to too easily get in the way. Despite this, our Lord takes the opportunity to reach us. All seasons took on greater meaning. Advent, especially, was impacted very powerfully, thanks be to the Lord. With his blessings, I feel very enthusiastic about the mission that seems to be unfolding in my life. I have become so much more aware of Jesus in my life, I converse with Him during the day, I am more aware of BVM and the angels. I feel so much at peace with myself since I have confessed the sins of my past life, and am more active in my parish. I hope I will eventually realize that because of this retreat I am more spiritual I have become evermore mindful of God's presence in everyday life. I also sense that I consciously perceive Jesus in the persons who cross my path. I feel a deep inner joy flooding my being since Easter. I pause now as I fit my feet into my slippers! The retreat guided me to be very faithful to morning meditation and to mini-contacts with God throughout my day. The prayer time gave renewed life to my intimacy with God and spurred me to seek out spiritual direction -- a practice I had put aside for several years. It allowed the flow of hidden emotions through actual grace It has helped me to take time each week to spend with God. It helped me through a dry time spiritually. God has given me the grace to accept me for who I am. He loves me unconditionally. He has given me the grace to accept others as they are. He has also given me the grace to be at peace with being where I'm at, even if I don't like it or understand it. |