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.

Take Spirituality to the Next Level!

Weekend Reflections for 2/14/20

February 12, 2020  /  Joe Parisi

Today’s bible readings invite us to reflect on this call to discipleship, the demands this call places upon us, and God’s promise of fruitfulness when we generously respond to this call.

Isaiah, at the start of his mission, realizes his own unworthiness before the tremendous and fascinating mystery of God. Even though angels witness his calling, he knows his own unworthiness, his need to be cleansed by a burning coal as he enters more deeply into the sacred mystery he is called to share with others.

Paul, too, acknowledges that his own call to proclaim the gospel to the nations is deeply intertwined with his own purification and salvation. I am not fit to be an apostle, yet by the grace of God, I am what I am; though I have toiled very hard at this mission, it is ultimately a matter, pure and simple, of God’s grace.

In Spanish, a fish which is still swimming around in the water is called “pesce,”  while a fish which has been caught, and is ready to be cooked is called “pescado.”  The truth of today’s gospel is that it is only because we are “pescado,” only because we have been caught up by God’s grace in Jesus, that we can swim around as “pesce” ourselves, and receive the call to go fishing for others.

We can only toil effectively in our mission as “fishers” for others if we at the same time receive and cooperate with the grace of our calling, the grace accomplished in Jesus.  Our experiences of the Spiritual Exercises at White House Jesuit Retreat invite us to deeper and deeper fishing because we have been fished by the grace of God.

Let’s all get caught up as fishy people who have been caught into the mystery of God’s grace, and at the same time, let’s all of us follow in our daily lives, together, and catch up many others in the mysterious net of God’s kingdom! Let’s ask ourselves today: how am I, how are we caught up in this net; how are we going about our calling to catch up others in God’s kingdom?

-Fr. Ted Arroyo, SJ