As you prepare for this retreat, pause for a few moments and pay attention to your breathing. Slowly take three deep breaths and remember that you are in the loving presence of God.

John 6:45

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

Listen. Learn. Come. In one short sentence, Jesus sums up the movement of a life of faith. When we stop talking and listen to another, there are so many things to learn. And when we listen and learn from another, we are drawn closer together. How much more so with God! Listening to God and learning from God leads us to Jesus. It is through Jesus that we come to know the Father. It's a dynamic movement of love between Father and Son. When we open ourselves to God's voice, we place ourselves within that dynamic movement of love. We come closer and closer to Jesus.

What have I learned from someone I listened to today?

Is there anything that prevents me from listening to God?

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

Open my ears, O God, to listen to your voice.