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 1/29/21

January 28, 2021  /  Joe Parisi

This Sunday’s bible readings invite reflection on our prophetic calling.

There are many images of prophets in our history and culture: angry, wonderworkers, frenzied lunatics, magicians, seers, visionaries, mediators, martyrs, etc.

Many people asked Jesus "are you the prophet?" and he was ambivalent about answering this question formally. He kept on pointing to his deeds, and people learned who he was more by what he did than by what he said. He was, then, a new kind of prophet, one whose words became deeds. He spoke with power, authority to change things.

Jesus considered his mission as prophetic in this sense: he is the eschatological, prophetic proclaimer of God's reign and our ultimate mediator with the Father.

Sunday’s gospel reveals Jesus as a different type of prophet: he teaches, but his teachings are not just words. They are deeds, events of his own life. His own life of service in itself is prophetic, without a lot of words. He astonishes people with something new: words that are so true that they don’t just remain rhetoric but become deeds.

In Jesus' word, heaven breaks in and hell is destroyed. His word is deed. God's rule is at hand, evil has no ultimate power. But even Jesus' words are not so magical that they coerce or force. They still demand faith. His miracles do not cause faith, but call us to faith. His words/deeds are invitations to faith, hope, love -- service, discipleship, prophetic following.

We too have a prophetic vocation. Not with the divine power of Jesus, but certainly sharing in this mission. We see this prophetic vocation in some people today in our world: Martin Luther King, Archbishop Romero, Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Pope Francis' and our American Bishops' messages about peace and economic Justice, race and life are all challenging words which must not be just words, but become our own deeds, as Jesus's words did. May our experience of Jesus’ transforming words through the Spiritual Exercises at White House become eucharist for us and our lives and world, where words become deeds, we become Christ, bearers of his prophetic mission today.

-Fr. Ted Arroyo, SJ