As you begin your retreat, pause for a few moments and focus your attention on your breath. Take several long, deep breaths. Be aware of God's loving presence within you.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Saint Paul uses the metaphor of a temple to remind the people of Corinth that their bodies are sacred. For Jewish people of that time, the Temple in Jerusalem was the holiest place on earth. A temple was something they could easily relate to. We, too, are temples of the Holy Spirit. It's a reality that is easily forgotten in our daily lives. But when we truly begin to believe it, our thoughts and our actions change, and our lives are transformed. By treating our bodies and those of others with the dignity they deserve, we literally use our bodies to glorify God.

How does knowing that I am a temple of the Holy Spirit make me change how I treat my body?

How can I use my body to glorify God?

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

Loving God, your Spirit fills us and makes us holy. May I always be aware of the great gift of the Spirit in my life. Help me to treat myself and others with the reverence we deserve as temples of the Holy Spirit.