In a world that urgently needs people of deep faith, where do we find our strength? Jesus withdrew to pray before and after moments of great ministry. Bishop Hughes reflects on how that pattern continues in the life of the church today, and how practices like retreat, pilgrimage, and shared reflection can transform and strengthen our faith. (Time: 522.)
Video Transcript
This is Bishop Hughes from the Diocese of Newark. I say from the Diocese of Newark because this week I’m in the Diocese of Texas as the bishops of our church gather for the spring House of Bishops meeting. And timing wise, last week I was at our Diocese of Newark clergy retreat, and the week before that was the Diocese of Newark lay retreat. So in about three weeks’ time, this is the third gathering where I have spent time, significant time, with the people of God as they took themselves away. Away to a quiet place, away to rest, to think about what God is doing, to ask the question of, “How am I called to be a Christian in this particular time? How do I do this?”
This pattern of going away is one that started back with Jesus, when he would take the disciples away for a time of rest, and it modeled something that he had done in his own ministry. Before big ministry, after big ministry – so after healing, after feeding thousands of people, he would head off to be in quiet. And of course, people would want to join him, because they would want some of whatever it is he has – whether it’s healing or that incredible sense of peace and connection to God that he had, I think people wanted a piece of that.
And that is why we still go on retreat to this day. he House of Bishops meeting isn’t a retreat, per se. There’s a lot of information that we have to cover, conversations that we need to have about how we are doing church. But there is this time for prayer and for thinking about what God is doing in the church and asking ourselves, “What does this remind us of in the way the church has behaved before and the way Jesus was with the disciples? How does that inform what we’re doing to this day?”
This practice that we do with our lay people and that we do with our clergy, and that we do as bishops, this practice is one that is meant for everybody. On Sundays, when I talk with congregations, it is not unusual for me to give homework, and that homework almost always involves something about a piece of scripture or the prayer of the day, the Collect of the day, to take that home, to spend time saying it over and over and over again, and then sitting in the quiet asking, “How does this speak to my life? What does God have to say to me through this passage?”
This practice of reflecting on what God has said before and what has happened with God’s people before, reflecting on what is happening in our life now, reflecting on how Scripture speaks – this scripture that is thousands of years old, how does it speak to us this very day – is a vital practice for all Christians. Whether you’re serving the church, or you just want to get to know more about who Jesus was, or you want to learn how to pray and pray better, pray more effectively, or you need a place to talk about your faith. All of that happens on retreats. It also happens on pilgrimages. It happens in small groups, in faith groups. It happens whenever a group of Christians gather together, to study, to think about what God is doing, and to ask, how does that affect us?
In our Baptismal Covenant, one of the things we say is, “Will you follow in the Apostles’ teaching, the breaking of the bread and sharing of the prayers? Will you do those things?” Often we think that just happens on Sunday morning, but actually, what takes us deeper in our faith is doing more than Sunday morning. It is finding that weekly time with ourselves and with others. It’s finding that retreat time, whether it happens once a year or twice a year or every other year. It’s finding the pilgrimage to go on. It’s finding these times where we can talk, think and reflect deeply on where God is in our life.
As Lent winds down, and we head ourselves into Holy Week and then Easter season that goes on for a great 50 days after Easter, straight into Pentecost – as we head into this shift that is getting ready to happen in our liturgical season, I hope you’ll give some thought as to when you can take those times away. You don’t have to wait for the next retreat that’s being offered by the diocese or offered by your parish. There are places that you can go. Talk to your parish priest, talk to one of the lay pastors that are around our church. Talk to these people who have a sense of those quiet places to go, and those groups that are meeting where you can really talk about your faith.
These are the ways that we strengthen who we are as people of faith. And strong people of faith are very much needed in the world that we are living in right now.
