<<< 01/30/2023 Being before the Blessed Sacrament is being before the source of everything. The retreat has allowed me to drink, once again, from that source of life. When in the book of Genesis we read "He made man in His image and likeness," I believe it finds its fullest meaning based on two approaches (approaches I learned and experienced during the retreat):
- The Eucharist
In the Body of Christ I recognize my nature. In the living piece of Bread, I can understand how loved I am and how intimately connected I am to Christ. Only by seeing Him can I truly see myself. Knowing I am loved only by Him, I know how much my heart is truly worth. Only in Him can I find my true self. Recognizing His greatness, I embrace my misery.
- The Neighbor
I understood that our being, being made in the likeness of God, is called to love—not with just any feeling, but with a love like God’s (we are made by and for Love). I understood that it is indeed possible to love as God loves us and, rightly so, Jesus asks us to do so as a new commandment: “love one another as I have loved you.” The only way to undertake this commandment is through the neighbor, in an embrace, in a look, in a smile. I find myself in the other, and the other finds themselves through me. Why does this happen? Because we all have the Spirit of our Creator, a Spirit that burns away sin and embraces the sinner..
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