A Reflection
on a Special Time of Retreat and Reflection for U.S. Bishops
January 2-8,
2019 Mundelein Seminary Chicago, IL
While all bishops and priests are
very familiar with times of spiritual retreat and reflection, and in fact look
forward to such an essential part of our spiritual life every year, I don’t
think that any of us have ever experienced such a week as we just
completed. On the 2nd day of
this new year, at the urging of our Holy Father Pope Francis, every Bishop in
the United States who was able to do so, made their way to the gorgeous,
600-acre grounds of Mundelein Seminary in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Of course there were plenty of comments about
traveling to blustery and windy Chicago in the dead of winter, as well as musings
about how many bishops in the southern and western parts of our country
(including Hawaii and Guam---yes both of those Bishops were present) had to
borrow winter coats and hats before making the trip; yet, we were blessed with
an unusually moderate, and somewhat pleasant, week, weather-wise.
Much more important than the
weather, of course, was the incredibly rich substance of the week, and the
clear evidence that the Holy Spirit was truly at work through the inspiring instructions
of the Retreat Director, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M., Cap.,
The schedule remained the same each
day: two spiritual conferences at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., as well as the Homily at
the 11 a.m. daily Mass, all preached by Father Cantalamessa; Morning Prayer and
Evening Prayer before each morning conference and following the late afternoon
conference; Holy Hour in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament each evening
from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m.; and three
meals each day, mostly partaken of in silence. The meals were good, but simple; healthy without
any desserts or alcoholic beverages served. There was not any coffee available,
except in the dining room, so it was definitely an adjustment for those of us
used to 8-12 cups a day. Finally our
rooms were the typical seminary room: bed, desk and desk chair. No easy chair, no TV, no frills. There were
opportunities provided on several of our retreat days to celebrate the
Sacrament of Penance. The remainder of
each day was for personal prayer and reflection.
On the first evening of our retreat,
the Apostolic Nuncio (who remained with us throughout the retreat) welcomed all
the Bishops in the name of our Holy Father, and provided each bishop with his
own personal copy of an eight-page letter Pope Francis had written to us. When he first recommended that we enter into
this time of retreat, it was Pope Francis’ intention to come to be with us in
person, to direct the retreat himself; however, due to security issues, and too
many other details to deal with, he realized that would not be possible. That is why he recommended that the Preacher
of the Papal Household, Father Cantalamessa, be our retreat director. His letter, which has been released to the
public, made it clear what the Holy Father’s hopes were for us as we entered
into this time of retreat. As he said, he
sees this retreat “as a necessary step toward responding in the spirit of the
Gospel to the crisis of credibility that you (Bishops) are experiencing as a
Church.” He went on to write: “At times
of great confusion and uncertainty, we need to be attentive and discerning to
free our hearts of compromises and false certainties, in order to hear what the
Lord asks of us in the mission He has given us.” And he concluded his letter by encouraging
us: “Entering with trust into Jesus’ prayer to the Father (Jn.17:11-12), we
want to learn from Him and, with firm resolve, to begin this time of prayer,
silence and reflection, of dialogue and communion, of listening and
discernment. In this way we will allow
Him to conform our hearts to His image and help us discover His will.”
It was with that direction from the
Holy Father in mind that Father Cantalamessa drew the theme for his eleven
conferences, six homilies, and one penitential service: “He appointed the Twelve to be with Him; and then sent them out to
preach”. While I knew who Father Cantalamessa
was, I had never been privileged to hear him, and certainly never had been in
his company. I can say now, after this
week, that it was indeed our privilege to have him be our retreat director, and
I could not help but think that we were in the presence of a truly saintly
priest. He spoke God’s Word with
insight, conviction, and with a sense that he indeed had a deep, personal
knowledge of and love for Jesus, His Word and His Church. As I mentioned earlier, Father’s focus in the
first half of his daily conferences was on the first half of his theme: that
Jesus appointed the Twelve to be with Him.
One of the titles that Bishops are privileged to bear is that we are
“successors to the Apostles”. Father
wanted us to reflect and pray about the fact that as the Apostles’ successors,
we too have been appointed first of all to “be with Jesus”. What does that mean? Father’s emphasis on each of those
conferences was helping us to think and reflect more deeply on what it means to
be “in love with Jesus”---that we “stay with Him” by being one with Him, united
in Him, in love with Him. And when we
are one with, united in, and in love with Him, that means that we are one with,
united in, and in love with Jesus’ Church.
Those reflections led to a deeper appreciation for the importance of
regular and constant prayer, and an openness to the prompting, guidance and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit Who continues to guide the Church. The second half of Father Cantalamessa’s
conferences focused on the second part of his theme: that we have been sent to
preach the Good News of the Gospel to all the world; that we are to speak the
Truth in Love; that we are to preach Jesus, and not ourselves.
Father Cantalamessa was inspiring,
insightful, and challenging. Each of his
conferences lasted the better part of an hour, and he always left me wanting to
hear more. As I already stated, I had
not read much of Father’s writings in the past; having heard him on this
retreat, I have ordered six of more than two dozen books Father has written so
I can continue to be inspired and challenged by his powerful insights.
These seven days of retreat have
been a great spiritual gift to me, and no doubt to every Bishop who
participated. I am grateful to our Holy
Father for directing us to enter into this time of prayer and reflection. The purpose of this retreat was exclusively
focused on the need for each of us as Bishops, Successors to the Apostles, and
Disciples of Jesus our Lord and Savior to grow in our love for Jesus and our
commitment to follow Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; it was
not intended to be a working session for the Bishops to develop plans, nor was
it a time for the Bishops to discuss solutions to the serious concerns that our
beloved Church is currently experiencing.
However, it is my conviction as we begin this new year that the fruits
of this special retreat have better prepared me, and all of our Bishops, to
respond to the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help change our hearts, guide our
thoughts, and inform our decisions so that we are more spiritually prepared to
find the solutions and develop plans in the near future that will help us
resolve the crisis of trust that our people have in their Bishops, to root out
the evil of sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, and to continue to
help all abuse survivors to heal and to find peace. With God’s grace, we can enter into what our
Holy Father calls “a new ecclesial season” in which we bishops can discern
God’s will, and collaborate with others in that same discernment process so
that, again as Pope Francis put it, we can “combat the ‘culture of abuse’ and
deal with the crisis of credibility.”
Thank you to the members of the
clergy and lay faithful of the Diocese of Kalamazoo for your prayers for me and
for all the Bishops during these days of retreat. I ask that we all continue to pray for, and
with, one another, asking the Holy Spirit to bring healing within the Church
and encourage us all to a new spirit of unity, trust and collaboration in
following God’s Holy Will.
Faithfully
yours in Christ,
Bishop
Paul J. Bradley
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| Front of the Chapel |
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| View from the front of the Chapel looking toward the lake |
