Our need for deep reflection

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE have to realize that we have this need for deep reflection. Thus, we have to set aside some time where we can do that. Otherwise, we may be doing a lot of things but still miss what is truly important for us. I think it was St. Augustine who once said, what good would racer be if he runs very fast but does it out of track? He’ll never reach the finish line!

Especially in our increasingly fast paced world, we have this great need for reflection. We have to have some time for a period of recollection and spiritual retreat if only to have an atmosphere of reflection and prayer that help us contemplate on the mysteries of God, letting us enter into the life of the Lord and learn to imitate him according to our circumstances, with the light and strength that God grants.

This period of reflection would enable us to meditate on the life of Christ, the pattern of our humanity, by reading and listening to his word as recorded in the Gospels that would hopefully lead us to translate Christ’s word into action.

Thus, from time to time, we should withdraw from our usual activities and concerns, and go into what is called a spiritual retreat where we try to get a closer if also global picture of the current state of our life.

We need to see if things are going well, if we are still in the right direction, if we still have a clear vision of the over-all purpose of our life. We can’t deny that there are new developments in the world that give us new challenges, trials and other possibilities, and we just have to be ready to handle them properly.

We also need to see how things can be improved or even radically changed, since definitely there will always be things in our life at any given moment that need to be given such attention. In the end, we have to realize that a retreat is a great occasion to have another conversion. We have to see that. We have to feel urged by that. If we don’t feel that way, then let’s pray that we be given the relevant grace from God.

We have to understand that the growth and development of our spiritual life, of our relationship with God and with others which can only take place if we learn to love them more and more, will always be an ongoing affair in our whole life. It will always be a work in progress. We can never say that we have reached the point where there is no more room for improvement.

It is in a retreat when we can afford to savor the joy and beauty of silence and the spirit of recollection, reflection and discernment. Silence helps one to see the basic structure of his mind and heart, and the objects to which they get oriented. This is where he sees whether these human powers are in their proper condition and are properly used.

Silence also facilitates internalizing things, attuning our senses and faculties to their proper object. It also merges us with the stream of time, allowing us to run from the present to the past and then to the future, rectifying and refocusing things along the way, until we reach the doorsteps of eternity and infinity itself.

The need for the spirit recollection during the retreat simply indicates that our life consists of different aspects and levels that we have to orchestrate to be able to reach our final end.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com