As you begin your retreat, pause for a few moments and allow yourself to grow still. Let go of any distracting thoughts. Take several slow, deep breaths. Become aware of God's unconditional love for you.

Mark 12:30

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The love of God cannot be relegated to specific times and places or to a single part of our being. Jesus tells the one who is questioning him that the love of God must engage the whole person, body, mind, and soul. We are invited to allow our love for God to be in every breath we take, in our waking and our sleeping hours, in our joy and in our sadness, in our successes and in our failures.

How wholeheartedly do I love God?

What is one thing I will do to increase my love for God?

(Pray, using these words or those of your own.)

Gracious God, fill me with your grace, that I may be open to your presence in every fiber of my being, every minute of my day, and in every person I meet.