Back from the Retreat

Here I am, back to communicating with you after these few days of repose! As I said in my last blog I went to Mt Tabor for my retreat. What a place to be! It is the place where Jesus prayed; where he was transfigured; where Moses and Elijah appeared in glory; where the voice of the Father was heard; where Peter, James and John wanted to build three tents; where Jesus was shown as the Promised One and where he foretold to his disciples how he was to save us: through his passion, death and resurrection.

I was staying in the Convent of the Franciscans. It is a very old, renovated convent. There are two religious: the Guardian is a Polish Priest and a Colombian Friar. Both of them are extremely generous and helpful. Meals were prepared by a group of men, called Mondo X. They are there on a rehabilitation program from various dependencies. It is a program founded by an Italian Franciscan. That is the connection with Mt Tabor. If you plan to go on a diet, it’s not the right place to be! During the day, especially in the mornings, there are many groups of visitors and pilgrims. So the place tends to be a little bit noisy. Apart from this, it is truly heavenly.

The place is very well kept by the young people of Mondo X. They do the cleaning, the gardening and landscaping. I’ve been told that since they are there the place has received a needed facelift.

The Church is very beautiful and it was my preferred place for prayer. Praying on that same place where Jesus prayed and was transfigured … meditating on the transformation that God is calling us to, to become more and more like Jesus … contemplating the beautiful mosaic on the apse of the Basilica showing the Transfiguration of the Lord … all this made of this experience a very meaningful one.

I believe that this experience still needs to unwrap itself. I am praying that I will remain open to receive whatever the Lord wants to say to me and let the Holy Spirit lead me in the paths of the Lord. That was my constant prayer during these past days of retreat. In fact one particular thing that Cardinal Martini insists upon in his book La Trasformazione di Cristo e del Cristiano alla Luce del Tabor (I was following the reflections of this book for my retreat) is this aspect of receiving. He says that, first and foremost, we need to learn to receive the gift that Jesus makes of himself to us. To let ourselves be loved by him. I need to let myself be saved, to be purified by Jesus, to let him do everything and I receive his life with gratitude. I think that this should be the nucleus of our journey of faith. We have insisted too much, perhaps, on our doing! Obviously, we need to collaborate but HE is THE Saviour.

One final note for those of you who know Mt Tabor (588 m). We walked up the mountain and, again, we walked down the mountain. The second endeavour proved less tiring than the first!

Mount Tabor dominates upon the Jezreel valley.
It lies between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.

The Basilica of the Transfiguration by night

The inside of the Basilica of the Transfiguration

The beautiful mosaic of the Transfiguration in the apse of the Basilica on Mt Tabor