2001 Silent Retreat at Little Portion
John Michael Talbot

In the first week of December, the 2nd-8th, the monastic expression of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity gathered at the Little Portion Hermitage for our annual retreat. The month of December is an "at home" month, intended for more intensive and intentional community building. The retreat week begins this month with an even more intense week of strict silence, greater time for solitude, and only a minimal work schedule, for greater time for contemplative prayer.

The annual retreat usually coincides with the beginning of Advent. This year was no exception. Advent is intended as a time of penance and great recollection. It is similar to Lent, but less intense. We call Advent "a Lent with a little sugar sprinkled on top!" It was ideal to start this Liturgical season with a retreat as well.

The Retreat is a time to "go aside" with Jesus into solitude and silence for a while. We see the Retreat Master as Christ for us during this special week. When we are open to His presence in through the person of our retreat master, we gain wonderful spiritual refreshment from the retreat. When we are not, it seems like a vacation at best, or just a grand waste of time.

This year our retreat master was Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas. He is also one of the founders of the internationally known Little Rock Scripture Study. He has an extensive knowledge of sacred scripture, and the ability to apply it to the practical side of following Jesus Christ in today's world. We were quite fortunate to have him with us this year.

His theme was " The Journey Through the Wilderness." Using Scripture and the Rule of St. Benedict, as well as many references to Desert Fathers and Mothers and his beloved John Henry Newman, he drew upon his experience as Abbot and monastic community member in a way that we immediately related to. He spoke with the clarity of a scripture scholar, the wisdom of a monastic leader, and the down home earthiness of a boy raised in Arkansas! It was a great combination for our people.

In essence his message was this: This life is a journey in the wilderness. It is not the Promised Land. We have come out of the Egypt of slavery to sin, and are headed towards the Promised Land of heaven in Christ. God gives us many Oases along the way, but this is not yet heaven. The danger is that when we realize the reality of the wilderness we often want to go back to Egypt, or put down permanent roots in an oasis! He then went on to use the example of Old and New Testament figures to illustrate the life of obedience in community.

A quote from a letter to my brother, Terry, will illustrate the above, "For our retreat we have a great scripture scholar who started the Little Rock Scripture Study with us. He is also the Abbot of Subiaco Abbey in Ft. Smith. His name is Abbot Jerome Kodell OSB. He is brilliant, and has a dry down home wit that keeps us in stitches. He also REALLY understands the "stuff" of community life. He is quite confirming and encouraging."

We have had many retreat directors in our community through the years, and they have all been great. But Abbot Jerome delivered a stunningly relevant retreat to us this year. To him and his monastic community at Subiaco we say, "Thank you."