Last April 23-April 30, the group of sisters from the Philippine Delegation had our Annual Retreat at St. Brigettine Retreat House, in Tagaytay City. The chosen theme for this Retreat was on Spiritual Ecology. The Retreat Master was a Capuchin brother by the name of Jose Raul Rico. He was before a Retreat director and currently in-charge of the Laudato Si’ program of the Capuchin Philippine province.
It was an experience filled with gratitude, awe and admiration for God and His creation. We were led back to our own spirituality, our identity as created in God’s own image and likeness, beloved and called to serve not only to other human beings but to the rest of creation.
The first day of our Retreat was a day of Gratitude and Admiration especially on God’s creation. We were reminded that everything is created to a circle of life- that we must respect and balance everything for we are all interconnected. He also challenged us with reality, especially with regards to young people of today -they are in a world that is lacking compassion, which he called the Anesthetic era. We were given two points to reflect on:
Do I really feel part of the earth and responsible for its care?
Do I have gratitude and admiration for the fruits of the earth?
During the second day of our Retreat, we were asked to go back to our own spirituality before we move on to Ecological Spirituality. It was for me a reminder of who really I am, as created by God, as religious and part of the earth. Brother Jojo reminded us of our primary call, our purpose as Catholic Christian, and the Catholic Spirituality. He emphasized what is our spirituality as being religious:
Are we still effective in our ministry?
Is there a clarity of our own identity? Of our vocation and call as religious?
He reiterated the basic and primary expression of our Catholic Faith- our beliefs, traditions and practices.
The third day of our Retreat was a day of savoring God’s unconditional love for us. The Retreat Master connected the gospel of the day that talks about the boldness of the disciple to witness the resurrection of Jesus and the role of the Holy Spirit- in our faith. A body without a soul is dead. The same in our ministry- without the Spirit, our ministry is dead. We are not effective in our ministry if we are not led by the Spirit. We should be aware of the initiatives of God in our life. We were asked to go back to our own vocation story, the initiatives of God in our life and why we are here today.
On the fourth day, we were led to reflect on the role of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual journey, especially on discerning the will of God. How can we be able to know God’s will? It is through our constant prayer, reading of the sacred scriptures, receiving the sacraments, discernment process, and service towards others. We are assured of God’s love and yet, we can ask ourselves, do I still love God?
After reflecting on our personal response to God’s love, it is time to reflect deeper on the call of God to love Him with all our hearts, minds and spirit by being good and responsible stewards of His manifold’s gifts, especially with regards to the Care of our Common Home. We were asked to go back again to our identity, who we are, created in God’s image and likeness.
We continue to dwell deeper on our spirituality, especially on our harmonious relationship with Ecology: the sacredness of Creation, our interconnectedness, stewardship, incarnational faith and spiritual renewal. We were reminded of the awe and wonder – our admiration and gratefulness to Creation and the caress of God, which calls and challenges us to be contemplative, compassionate and be converted as what Laudato Si’ presented to us. It moved us to a deeper realization of our own roots and interconnection with the rest of creation. It challenges us also to live and practice the attitudes and practices that promote a holistic and integral conversion of the heart and mind towards ecology. We were challenged on how to integrate the conversion of the heart in our daily lives; to truly feel like part of the planet and to feel connected to everything that exist.
Our Retreat was made more meaningful and fruitful because of the sharing of our Sisters and receiving daily the Holy Eucharist, which sustains our spirit and body by the Word and body of Jesus. We were transpired and moved by the different readings and homilies of the priest, that help us to experience the holy presence of the Holy Trinity.
To end this synthesis of our Retreat, a quote from the Laudato Si’:
“Ecological Spirituality is a spirituality that will provoke a change of mentality towards an ecological conversion of heart.”
It will not just end on a Retreat, but the greatest challenge is the change of heart and mind and the daily practice of ecological spirituality. I hope and pray that we may always be guided by the Spirit of the Lord to live it and to integrate it in our day to day life.
Sr. Brenda M. Grapinag, ccv
