Transcript of Abbot Clement
=s Talk on Wednesday, May 25, 2005In two weeks we will have retreat and I
=m always concerned that we make the best advantage of this great opportunity.Peter was on the lakeshore and the Lord told him to cast his net over the side and they hauled in quite a bit of fish. Peter threw himself at the feet of Jesus and said:
ADepart from me for I am a sinner.@ Catching a large catch of fish doesn=t seem to have a connection with his response. But it does because he saw at that moment his unworthiness and his state of affairs relative to the Lord, because he said I am a sinner. Which takes faith and an insight of grace to see. Then out of that he began to see what Jesus really wanted of him to become a fisher of men. As time goes on that deepens to the point that on another shore Jesus asks him, APeter, do you love me?@ And you know that story.In the life of Isaiah the prophet when the king dies he
=s in the temple and all of a sudden the temple is filled with the presence of the Lord and he cries out, AWoe is me I am a person of sinful unclean lips among unclean people.@ Again an act of faith an insight that far exceeds what seems to be happening. Why didn=t he say, AWow God, you=re something!@ He could have.I think these two examples are the heart of the question of the meaning of a retreat. Retreat is the opportunity to encounter the Lord in such a way that we see not only that we are sinners but we hear more clearly what God wants of us. Not what we think things should be or are or how we feel things are going.
It
=s a very important question that needs to be reflected on because if you want another example that kind of focuses it to me even more strongly,Jesus came into the Passion totally at the disposal of the Father
=s arrangement of what was happening. He didn=t choose Pontius Pilot, he didn=t choose the Pharisees, they were there as part of the mystery of his life and it=s ending and the mystery of redemption. But the fact is those people had an obstinate darkness in them that was consented to and that was admitted into their soul out of which they made their choices, which were damnable.We have the danger as being religious that we have the opportunities that people who aren
=t religious don=t have. We hear the word of God frequently, daily. We have the opportunity to encounter the living Jesus in the Eucharist. We have the encounters of each other. We have so many blessings in terms of the truth of our faith. Pilot had a great chance. He was there before the Lord and the Lord was trying to reach him, trying to teach him of the truth. But the darkness in him was what? He couldn=t get over the pressure of people=s opinion about him. He knew Jesus was innocent but he condemned him anyway because he was afraid of people=s opinion. The Pharisees condemned Jesus with their pride. Their pride blocked them from seeing who Jesus was. I=m sure the Lord gave them tons of opportunities, little hints here and there, think twice about what you=re doing. He certainly did it with Pilot. Pilot=s own wife came up to him and told him don=t have anything to do with this guy. Pilot himself knew he was innocent. So he had hints of grace. But the darkness in him was obstinate and it was consented to, and it was admitted consciously.The deepest truth, truth deeper than our sinfulness, is that Jesus came to save us. That each person no matter how insignificant that person may seem to people around them or even to themselves, is the object of a tremendous infinite love. A pursuit, not just an object. A pursuit by God to save them. Which means God gives every person tons of opportunities to come, to know and give themselves to God and discover the great gift of salvation for themselves.
So I want to encourage you to think about the Lord is offering you in this retreat. The opportunity to taste the mercy and the infinite goodness of the Lord.