The Priest at Prayer for August 11, The Priest's Spiritual Retreat

The Fourth Part - Some Means of Perseverence

The Priest's Spiritual Retreat

First Meditation - Motives for making it

I. Let us begin by the lowest rung of the ladder: the case of the poor priest who unhappily has trampled underfoot and profaned the Sacraments by receiving and administering them in mortal sin; has celebrated Mass unworthily, making himself "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord"; has broken the most sacred vows of the priesthood.

How will he rise up from such a state? How will he be spiritually regenerated? His ordi­nary exercises of piety, if any still remain, are ineffectual; his routine Confession, if he still confesses, makes little impression; nor is he impressed by the familiar sight and remembrance of the objects and things of our Religion which he handles so closely. Moreover, he knows from experience, perhaps over a number of years, that nothing serves to bring him back to the path of salvation and to amend his life. What is to be done? Will there be no remedy? Must he lose all hope? One hope remains, perhaps the one final remedy: a spiritual retreat well made.

A well-made retreat is the most efficacious means of awakening a slumbering soul; it stings the soul out of its drowsiness; it is a hot poultice for the soul frozen in sin.

For a priest in such a lamentable state, a retreat is God's great gift, God's command, the last echoes of His grace, after which only a miracle can bring about his conversion: a miracle like that which was wrought in St. Paul but is not a common occurrence, and will surely be denied to the disloyal priest.

It is obvious that in these circumstances a spiritual retreat may well mean a priest's eternal salvation. Should he deliberately refuse or despise it, the Son of God will agonisingly say to him what He once said amid tears over Jerusalem:

If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace. (Luke xix, 42.)

II. We shall suppose that you have not fallen so low; but at the same time, you are sinking into tepidity, your pious exercises are performed grudgingly, or quite ungrudgingly you omit them or rush through them for mere formality's sake, without relish, without sustained attention of the mind, your heart far away from the mechanical motions of your lips. . . . And, granting that you have not plunged headlong into grievous sin, you are nevertheless skirting the edge of the precipice, you view temptation without dread, almost regretting your lack of courage to go the whole way. . . . Or else, though mortal sin has not taken a firm hold on you, you at least consent to it frequently, rise up again half-heartedly, and just go limping along the path of harsh duty. In short, you live in the penumbra of lukewarmness, and God is repeating to you that mournful admonition:

"I would thou were either hot or cold; being what thou art, lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, thou wilt make me vomit thee out of my mouth." (Apoc. iii, 15-16.)

To wrench yourself out of this most perilous condi­tion, so near to total ruin, perhaps the only recourse left to you is a fervent retreat.

III. If yours is the happiness not only to preserve the state of grace but also to be firmly grounded in piety, there will be no need to persuade you of the necessity of a spiritual retreat: your own conscience demands it, as a haven of peace and calm away from the tumult of external occupations, as an invitation from the Good Shepherd to withdraw a while and rest with Him:

And the Apostles coming together unto Jesus, related to him all things that they had done and taught.

And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place and rest a little. (Mark vi, 30-31.)

You have learned from a constant reading of your conscience how many resistances there are on the part of your natural inclinations, how faults can add to faults and bring your spiritual warmth right down to the freezing-point of mortal sin, how nauseating to God is lukewarmness, how numerous the obstacles which Satan and his allies put in the way of your salvation, and how difficult it is to overcome or foresee them.

And you know, or at least you suspect, you have certain failings which are become part and parcel of your personality and character; and you realise that, although they con­stitute a hindrance in your dealings with others for the purpose of leading them to Christ or a handicap to your own spiritual advancement, you are nevertheless reluctant to face them squarely, and still more reluctant to correct them.

In this case, there is need of a thorough diagnosis and a strong antidote or a courageous amputation: drastic remedies which only a fervent retreat will provide.

IV. Your personal honour is at stake.

Both in their interior life and their exterior behaviour the clergy must be superior to the laity and excel them by the example of virtue and good works. (Canon 124.)

You must surpass, or at least be the equal of, any lay person in moral qualities, for you are leader and guide, and without these qualities you forfeit the essential element of your leadership.

Now, if statistics were compiled of all the lay people from every class and walk of life - workers, artisans, farmers, men of letters, doctors, magistrates, military men, business people, merchants, journalists, etc. - who out of devotion only and with no other stimulant than that of their personal piety and desire for spiritual advancement make an annual retreat with all fervour and thoroughness, perhaps a glance at these statistics might make you feel ashamed of your reluctance to withdraw for a week or so every twelve months or every two or three years in order to meditate on the one thing necess­ary. If only we priests, I do not say excelled, but vied with, and followed after, all those good Christians in the ­world who, after all, have not the same pressing duty as priests have of steeping their lives in the truths of our Faith!

O Lord, do not permit among Thy ministers - the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the shepherds and guardians of Thy flock - the ignominy of their despising this triumphant means of sanctification, which so many of Thy little ones, at the promptings of Thy love, seek and apply to themselves so eagerly.

And do not look round for vain excuses. However numerous and urgent your occupations - and I take it for granted that they are occupations that have the salvation of souls for their purpose - do not merit the reproach spoken by our Lord to Martha, and bear in mind that tremendous sentence:

What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?

Your works of zeal will gain considerably when you interrupt them, at the wish of the Church and of God Himself, in order to replenish your soul with the Spirit of Christ, dissipate discouragement, and purify your intentions. For Christ had you also in mind when He said: without me you can do nothing.

The fear of having to rough it during the retreat, because you won't get just the type of food and care you are used to, should be overcome if you take to heart our Lord's words:

But this kind (of evil spirit) is not cast out but by prayer and fasting. (Matt. xvii, 20.)

A retreat center is not expected to turn into a first-class hotel for plutocrats and tourists; so, if necessary, put up with a little discomfort, which for many millions of poor mortals would be luxury itself. And remember, the evil spirit spoken of by Christ is still at large in the world today.

Resolutions
1. For the sake of my salvation and to fulfil the express Will of God, I resolve to carry out faithfully, despite all difficulties, the instructions laid down by Canon Law and by my Ordinary concerning the spiritual retreat for the clergy.

2. If an annual retreat is not already commanded by my diocesan or religious regulations, I propose to make it voluntarily, unless I am impeded by some insurmount­able obstacle. Thus I shall not be outdone by so many good lay faithful.

O God, refuse me not the strength to adhere faith­fully to this resolution. May I find accomplished in me each year the words of the Prophet:

"It is but love's stratagem, thus to lead her out into the wilderness; once there, it shall be all words of comfort." (Osee ii, 14.)

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Adapted from The Priest at Prayer
by Fr. Eugenio Escribano, C.M. (© 1954)
Translated by B.T. Buckley, C.M.

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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood!