COME AWAY BY YOURSELVES

 

COME AWAY BY YOURSELVES

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught.  He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’  People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat (Mark 6:30-31).

Since they were human, Jesus and the apostles needed to get away from the crowds and rest.  The human need for rest was why God made sabbath for man, not man for the sabbath.  A professor who was a prominent rabbi brought this home to me in a course I took on Judaism.  He explained that humans have a natural need for a weekly sabbath rest.  It would have been necessary to establish it even if God had not commanded it!  I learned this by experience as a seminary student when I spent a summer working two jobs, seven days a week.  I needed the money to support myself during the academic year but by the end of summer I was completely frazzled.  I gained a new appreciation for the hardship of those who have to put in seven days to support their families.  This is not natural or just, for the human brain and spirit need a weekly rest. 

My second year in formation to the priesthood was called a Spiritual Year, which was spent away from the main campus to devote more time to prayer, spiritual reading, pilgrimages, and conferences on spiritual topics.  During this year my classmates and I lived at the former Vincentian seminary in Northampton, PA.  It was built on a high place overlooking a valley and provided beautiful vistas.  It also had an exquisite chapel.  The rector of Saint Charles Seminary, the late Monsignor Dan Murray, visited us in Northampton to inaugurate the Spiritual Year.  In a talk he quoted the Gospel passage above and applied the words of Christ to us: “Come away by yourselves.”  Some of my classmates had complained about a one-year extension to our seminary formation, but when they heard the dominical invitation – “Come away” – they were at peace.  I still benefit from what I experienced during the Spiritual Year.

Most people cannot take a year off to be away with the Lord.  The Sunday observance is, of course, the weekly habit that meets the needs of body and soul.  But sometimes God wants to give us more, and we need it.  In fact, Canon Law requires priests, religious and seminarians to regularly make retreats.  The Church encourages the lay faithful also to make retreats, as they are able.  Retreat places for laity in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia include St. Mary of Providence in Elverson; the Basilian Spirituality Center in Fox Chase, Philadelphia; Malvern Retreat House; Daylesford Abbey in Paoli; and the Ave Maria Retreat Center at the Shrine of Our lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, among others.  The cost for accommodations is typically low.  There is a place nearby for all of us to “come away” if only we have the availability and inclination.

This week we are celebrating a little retreat here in our church every evening!  Father Jewel Aytona of the Fathers of Mercy religious order will lead a holy hour which includes preaching and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Monday through Thursday at 7 pm.  The last night will include a solemn Mass for the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael.  Father will hear confessions every night for an hour before the service, and after the celebration of Benediction.  This is an opportunity for everyone to experience a little bit of “coming away” for a special time with Jesus. 

Wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, I invite you to join us in these evenings and see how the Lord might refresh your spirit.  I also encourage you to invite family members and friends, even those who are not Catholic or have been away from the Church.  May this be a time of renewal and refreshment for all of us as we “come away” to be with Jesus.