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. Feel God's loving gaze upon you.

Matthew 22:37-39

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If you watch children at play, you might observe them making intricate rules for a game they have dreamed up. They can be experts at creating rules that bring enough order to their play that they are free to have fun. God does the same for us. In the Commandments, we find the rules that will allow us, the children of God, the freedom to live in the joy of God's love and in community with one another. We don't have to guess how to live a life that is pleasing to God.

How do God's rules make me free?

How well do I fulfill the second commandment to love my neighbor as myself?

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

Loving God, thank you for your direction in my life. Help me to celebrate the freedom you give me to follow your Son, Jesus.