Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Retreat-Workshop with Mother Raphaela...

Here are my notes from the women's retreat with Mother Raphaela from Holy Myrrhbearer's monastery. (I took notes on Saturday, not on Friday night- I forgot my notebook).
  • Read the Bible- Get to know the Lord.
  • Monastery is not an escape, there are no escapes (this caused me to ask myself the following questions- what are my escapes? when do I escape?)
  • Follow a rule of morning and evening prayers even if it is just a simple "Hello, God"
  • Liturgy is about life
  • Hardship: we are carrying the burden of the cross- we are chosen to be a part of this burden. When "good" things happen and we have no hardship we are not worthy to carry the cross.
  • Learning to live with silence
  • The world would know God through us- we are Gods hands and feet to bring God to the world.
  • Meet everyone unconditionally as they are- our families first. Charity begins at home.
  • Do with me, God, as you know best
  • Loving, not judgmental- today, we have no sense of our own worth and we; can do no better.
  • Spirit of despair/hopelessness is the spirit of the world- people in the world do not know who they are.
  • Learn to overlok the bad, see the good. See Christ in one another. When we love people we can see the good/God will draw out the good.
  • We do not need to be looking for the devil in others.
  • where there's death, there is hope.
  • Society: Dr's consider it a failure when someone dies.
  • Our vision of heaven has been taken from us.
  • the martyrs died for that vision of heaven
  • we are in no way a Christian Society/Muslim Society, Hindu Society- We are a NOTHING Society.
  • Prayer is standing before God and giving Him your family, etc. I do not control them. God is in charge of the universe, not me.
  • Becoming transparent to the world (poise/dignity)- by following our prayer rule and fasting it changes us.
  • Take up our cross daily and follow me- Why are we surprised by hardship?
  • ascetic training prepares us to stand before the lions (the martyrs)
  • Be prepared- because we are surrounded by people who are tolerant of everyone but us.
  • Vision of heaven? Cultivate beauty in the world, in our parish, in our community.
  • Obedience= to listen up
  • Listen to one another- we are called to listen to each other and respond appropriately
  • Obedience is a dialogue
  • we set our children up for failure when we do not dialogue
  • Ask, "Is this for my salvation?"
  • God can forgive, we don't let Him.
  • To be perfect is to be merciful.

It was a lovely weekend, check out Mimi and Susan-Sophia for more tidbits from the retreat. And, consider joining us next year!

Two new blogs to check out! http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com/ and http://haniadailyphoto.blogspot.com/ Both blogs are by Mediterranean Kiwi who is from New Zealand and lives on Crete (I have been to Crete but it was many years ago). Check them out!

10 comments:

Mimi said...

I love your notes, thank you.

It was fantastic to see you!

Maria Verivaki said...

i could do with a list like this - very spiritual, especially when you live in a world that has lost its inner spirit, and is more concerned with appearances - this is very much true of my town, it's beginning to lost its old world mediterranean values

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this list. It was really important for me to read this today. Thank you.

Christina said...

At these kind of retreats/workshops, it seems that I don't hear anything new... just that sometimes my ears and heart are open to a new/better understanding of whatever is being taught. It was a great retreat.

Christina said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

great notes -- better than mine!

Appreciate it!

layne (herman) said...

Good snippets, thank you for sharing them.

I would be interested in reading more about some of the statements.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Christina for taking such great notes. I wasn't able to attend all sessions- so this is wonderful to have. I didn't feel like taking notes- but now after reading yours- I wish I had taken the time to do so.

Lois

::Sylvia:: said...

Wow! I am printing these out! Thank you for sharing! I wish I lived closer and could have attended. :(

Iconography Girl said...

Thanks! I was there for the interesting Theology 101 on Sunday, but I missed the retreat (believe it or not, the kids were sick!!).