Pause before you begin this retreat. Take a few moments to relax and turn your focus inward. Recognize that God is with you as you continue this journey of faith.

Ephesians 2:19

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.

The Letter to the Ephesians compares the community of believers to elements of a building being built into a temple of God with Jesus as the keystone. Through initiation in the Church we become changed people, called to follow Jesus. No longer on the outside, we are now members of the household of God with a mission to transform the world. In everything we do as a community of believers, it is Jesus who holds it together.

How have I experienced changes that come from being welcomed into a group, class, job, family, or friendship?

As my life is changed by the work of the Holy Spirit, how do I change the way I live to reflect that newness?

(Speak to God, using this prayer or one of your own.)

God, who makes all things new, in the waters of Baptism you mark me as yours and set me to join with your Son in doing your will.