A Week Apart 

   “A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.” (Psalm 51: 12) 

   Last Monday I arrived at Our Lady of Clear Creek monastery in Hulbert, Oklahoma for a week of retreat and to declare my promise as a Benedictine Oblate for the reformation of my life according to the rule of St. Benedict; to seek Christian perfection and to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.

   Upon arrival I entered into a realm very different from the world in which I live in on a daily basis.  A place where there is no television, no cell phone, no internet and no need to concern myself with the world at large.  It was a time to focus on the one thing that truly matters, the love of God and serving Him to the best of my pathetic human abilities.  A time to trust in God to lead me where He wishes me to go and know that He will give me the strength to follow where He leads.

   Now that I am back in what some call the “real world” the challenge is to continue on the path I have promised to follow amid the evils and temptations of the world in which I live.  Will I fail at times?  Of course, sinfulness is ingrained in the human person; I am weak and far from perfect.  Yet I am comforted by the fact that my efforts are directed to serving God even in my imperfections.  He knows of my weaknesses; He will forgive my failings and again renew in me a steadfast spirit.

   The spirit of the monastery will remain with me.  In times of trial and weakness it will  continue to strengthen me.  My God is a wonderful God; He loves me just as I am and helps me in my efforts to become the person He created me to be.