WHITE HOUSE JESUIT RETREAT

St. Louis, MO 63129

1-800-643-1003

Jesuit retreat center high on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MO.  Since 1922, thousands of people from around the world make annual three-day silent, guided retreats here to relax, reconnect with God and strengthen their spirituality.  A true gem in the Midwest!  Call 314-416-6400 or 1-800-643-1003.  Email reservations@whretreat.org  7400 Christopher Rd.  St. Louis, MO 63129

Both men's and women's retreats are offered as well as recovery retreats.

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Weekend Reflections for 6/29/18

June 28, 2018  /  Joe Parisi

The Gospel of this Sunday focuses on healing touch, as experienced by the hemorrhaging woman and a young girl who had died.  What are we to make of this?  We learn that there are two kinds of touch.  There is the touch of those who connect with Jesus simply by being in the Church, bumping up against holy objects and holy persons regularly.  These are those of the crowd bumping up against Jesus as he goes along his way.  It is good that they do so. 

But there is another kind of touch, one that reaches to the deepest recesses of Jesus, for it is the touch of desperation, of faith experienced on our knees, the touch of the hemorrhaging woman.  When Jesus is touched like this, he experiences the merciful graces flow immediately from his heart, and he loves that feeling!  It is an deeply inspired touch on our part, clearly motivated by the Holy Spirit and not by holy routine.

How, then, do you and I approach the sacraments?  Do we take them partly for granted as does the crowd, bumping up against them regularly but without profound effect in our lives because we are not plaintive enough in our need?  Or do we come to Confession and Eucharist with a deep desire in our soul, a holy longing for remedy?   The choice is ours.  The one most touched will be Jesus.

-Fr. Anthony Wieck, SJ