FORMAT FOR EACH SESSION
- Begin with the prayer specific for each session
- Watch the Introduction Video by Fr. John
- Watch the TED talk video
- Watch the reflection video by Fr. John
- Pray over the scripture passage
- Review Personal Reflection Questions
If you have any questions please e-mail Fr. John at [email protected]
INTRODUCTION VIDEO FOR THE RETREAT
Please watch this video as an introduction and explanation of the journey ahead. Fr. John gives some things to remember as we enter into the retreat seeking to make time for those things most important in our lives.
SESSION #1 – How to Gain Control of Your Free Time
Opening Prayer – A Prayer for Busy Times
Lord,
In quiet times, we see your face and we feel your holy presence.
In busy and hectic times, we tend to run aimlessly away from your help.
In our most fatigued and stressful times, we need you most.
Send us your calming Spirit. Lighten our hearts, Lord.
Help us to work in a Spirit of Wisdom, overcoming the stress that can slow us down Lord.
Jesus, may your life always stand before us.
You call us to a ministry that is sometimes overwhelming.
Slow us down to se your face and to feel your hand upon our shoulders.
AMEN.
LAURA VANDERKAM TED TALK
There are 168 hours in each week. How do we find time for what matters most? Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she’s discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can “build the lives we want in the time we’ve got.”
FR. JOHN VIDEO REFLECTION
Romans 13:11-14 – An Urgent Appeal
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS
(1) What do you value and find most important in your life?
(2) What takes up most of your time and how important is it really?
(3) Think of the ways you waste time each day with useless distractions.
(4) What prevents us from deepening and developing a strong spiritual life?
(5) How can you change things in your life to “make more time” for those things you cherish the most?