"Back in February I went on a retreat at an Opus Dei retreat center Cedar Crest Retreats and I must say it was life changing. I did not know before going that it would be a 'Silent Retreat' but that was the best thing for me. Instead of spending all my spare time gabbing with the other men about our families, work, school, life, and such. I ended up taking the silence as time for study and reflection. There were 12 Meditations given by a priest, and each day we had mass, an examination of conscious, prayed the rosary and the stations of the cross."
There are also several talks by a member of the work. And you can schedule one on one time with the priest or the retreat director. I feel absolutely rejuvenated each time I come. And the retreat recharges the batteries. The monthly recollections I attend help keep them charged. In 2025 I made it for the first time since the pandemic. These are some of my notes.
Talk 1 - Roy Wong
Spend Time in Prayer
Take this opportunity to pray and examine ourselves
To increase out live for God
Have I made progress on my resolutions
Ask the Holy Spirit for the root cause of habitual sins
Indulgences for
3 day retreat
Rosary
½ hour before the blessed sacrament
Stations of the Cross
Partial indulgence for:
Angelus
Preparation for confession
…
Administrative items
Silence
Books for sale
Books to borrow
Watercooler
…
Reflection 1 - Father Eric Nicolai
We turn to our lady to help us understand God's call and will for us
That this retreat will be a time of grace
That we will trust in God's mercy
That God will inspire us
That God will be with us
That he will be here with us in his sacred heart
We need to tear down the barns we have built up
We need to build up new ones:
in our conversion
In our marriage
As fathers
Our apostolate
Our growth in holiness
We must see what we must tear down to make room for God
We have to be silent.
We need to be silent to really hear the voice of God
We should be able to be:
Counted on
Reliable
To provide stability
To be protectors
We need to let God speak to us this weekend!
2024-04-04
Meditation 2 – Father Eric
Jesus emphases the fact that he was sent by the Father
If we were asked about our identity how would we reply
What is our conception of the father?
The truth of who we really are
Divine filiation
Will I work to finish the construction God has begun in me?
In the end what can I say my life was built on?
Am I building my life on a solid foundation
Am I prudent, am I patient, am I faithful
I do not want my building of sanctity to be incomplete, to be half finished
I have to build on the foundation of divine filiation
I have been sent as a son of the father
This is our greatest dignity to be sons of God!
This need to be decisive for our way of thinking, acting, and being.
Do I live a life of obedience?
Will I work to finish well?
Will I humbly comply with God's will?
Will I say yes to God's will?
We need to be filled with the wonder of being a son of God.
Omniainbonum – all thinks work out for those who love him!
We need to be able to tap into the grace God offers.
Talk 2 – Roy Wong – Mental Prayer
The importance of prayer was evidenced bu Jesus's life and ministry
We have to discover how to pray, where to pray, and when to pray
Jesus is ready to speak to everyone
Prayer is about relationship
Just enter the presence of God even if just to start with ' I do not know what to pray'.
We should bring professional issues, family items, and friends to God in prayer
4 Types of Prayer
Adoration – Praise
Petition – Supplication
Thanksgiving
Pardon – Confession
We should not be content with shallow prayer
We should strive to increase the quality of our prayer
We need to persevere in mental prayer
Jesus doesn’t make us waith for him
God is waiting for us
What are my attachments that draw me away from God
The Way 880
Furrow 453
We need fixed times of prayer throughout the day.
Adoration – Praise
Petition – Supplication
Thanksgiving
Pardon – Confession
We should not be content with shallow prayer
We should strive to increase the quality of our prayer
We need to persevere in mental prayer
Jesus doesn’t make us waith for him
God is waiting for us
What are my attachments that draw me away from God
The Way 880
Furrow 453
We need fixed times of prayer throughout the day.
Spiritual Reading – Very Human Very Divine I
Meditation 3 – Fr Eric.
What does it mean God loves us first?
It is a greatest consolation of our life!
We were made because he knows and loves us.
It is important as humans to know we are loved.
What imprint on other's lives will my life leave?
Will I live all out for God?
Will I let Christ's light define my life?
We need to let God's grace shine though us.
It all starts with the grace of conversion.
We must ask for the grace of conversion true conversion
We should life like cheerfulness is a duty
We should open ourselves to:
God's goodness
His mercy
His grace
We need to be aware of what poisons our soul
Lord help my unbelief
We have to be holy and blameless because God choose us before the foundation of the world
What shapes our living?
What shapes our dreams?
My time does not belong to me
What are my deepest desires
What am I fighting for?
He must increase I must decrease.
Ask our blessed Mother and St John the Baptist to strengthen us in trust.
Meditation 4 – Father Eric
This retreat is a time for us to convert.
We use silence to take down barriers with God
We need to recognize the sin in our lives
We need to for the different forms of disobedience in our lives
How susceptible am I to the influence of collogues, friends, even family
The source of all forgiveness flows from the passion of our Lord
When we lose hope the devil is happy
We need to trust in the faithfulness of God
We need to trust in the promises of God
Discouragement and sadness are the ally of the enemy
We need to have faith in God's love and mercy
We need to live in confidence of God's mercy
When we feel shame we should see it as an opportunity for growth and grace
God is asking me "where are you?"
Do I want to get well?
Do I really want to be healed?
Why do I doubt?
Everything we do we must do in the presence of God
His watch is a gaze of love
Happiness is not an algorithm
We have to discern the difference between sadness, from laziness, sloth, wasting time versus the black dog
I want to change Lord, I want to be acquitted of Adam's sin. I want to leave behind a legacy of hope.
Meditation 5 – Father Eric
Edwin Hatch – wrote the hymn Breath on Me
The action of grace on a soul
Refines up
Purifies us
Cleanses us
Breath on me breath of God
God breathed life into Adam
We need the breathe in the breath of God
We need to ask the Holy Spirit to breath on us a life anew
Pray to love what God loves and do what he wills
On retreat we must discern our lukewarmness,
Lukewarmness is evidenced by complacency and indifference
Lukewarmness is a disease of character of our will
Stir up our souls O Lord
Lord Jesus Christ bring me fully alive restore me to glory
What is the heath of my interior life?
What is the fruit of my apostolate?
Of my connections at work?
Of my friendships?
Forge 940
Does my faith have sparkle to it or does it lack love?
Am I willing to be led by our lady?
Irritability is a sign of lukewarmness!
The mortar of this retreat is the desire for Holiness
Book: The Last of the Romantics
What is more romantic than our relationship with God
We have to fight the pathology of lukewarmness!
Meditation 6 – Father Eric
Do I declare my love for Jesus boldly? Bravely?
The incense at mass are like the spices the three women took to the tomb to prepare our lord
Let the incense of God infuse all area's of my life
We have to ask
We need to have hope in our lives!
Our hope must be ever growing
Do I really want to be with Jesus?
When we are born we are diagnosed with death.
With Christ death became a bridge not an abyss.
That's why as Christians we are dominated by the cross
Whenever we see a crucifix we should reflect on our approaching death.
What god is a talent if it is buried in the ground
What talents should I be digging up in me life?
For us death should have a calming effect.
We are pilgrims in the world not tourists.
If I were to die today would I be ready?
We need to live getting ready for death for the 4 last things
Viva Christo Ray – what life should all be about.
Where is the best place for me to live and die?
What kind of biography am I writing with my life?
Talk 3 - Roy Wong
Our lord call us to conversion through Penance
Accompanied by prayer, fasting, giving to the poor
Penance is only really effective when accompanied with acts and gestures
We need to express true sorrow for what we have done
Fasting – Prayers – Almsgiving
God gives us the means to draw close to Him
Our Lord fasted, renounced comfort, spent whole nights in prayer, how can we expect to do less?
We need to take up our cross daily
We need to live this everyday
Penance can be a moral virtue
Ww need to hate our sin, to detest it
It is up to us to accept God's grace
Growing in virtues will help us overcome sin
Penance and reconciliation is healing for our soul
Confession restores wholeness
Mortifications are a means of overcoming ourselves to draw closer to God to draw others to God!
With spiritual combat we progress spiritually
Complain less and do true acts of service more at home, at work, and in the community
Guard our senses:
Sight what we watch,
What we read
What we listen to
Need to learn to live cheerfulness!
Conversion of the heart leads to changed lifestyle!
Spiritual Reading 2 – Very Human Very Divine II
The Way 960
The Way 947
Forge 156
Meditaion 7 – Father Eric
What will heaven be like?
Heaven is our going home
How can we build a home that is like an image of heaven
Strive to build bright and cheerful homes
We need to dedicate our homes to Mary
We need to connect our family life to heaven
We have to keep at it
We need to have hope
Our hope is in heaven
Hope is a step into everlasting life
The church teaches us with gentle assurance
Our hope is in heaven
We have to work, live and die a people in love.
Nothing on earth can prepare us for the reality of being a son of God
Our life is about preparing to enter heaven
Meditation 8 – Father Eric
On retreat we must go through examination of conscience
Sift through our life
Sift through our sins
Our times of rigidity
Our times of lukewarmness
Do I recognize when I am wrong
When I am obtuse
We need to have due process in our life for we will one day be judged
The Four last things!
That moment of particular judgement
We will be drawn like a magnet to the immensity of God's love or we will be repelled by it
For some it will be straight to heaven for some purgatory
We will face a judgement that is absolutely true
We need to make it our goal to please Him,
At home
At work
At play
We are not in a permanent dwelling here
If we are on the side of truth we listen to Jesus
When we face judgement we will know all the good we did and what we omitted to do
What times in my life will be bugs or crashes in the code at judgement
Ask God to show us the deepest truth of ourselves
We need to guard against sins of omission just as much as commission
Servium!
I will server I will be of service.
We will have to give an account
An account of
The grace of our baptism
The grace of our confirmation
The grace of our marriage
How well we did with sanctity at work
Did I govern my moods
How I served at work
How we respond to hardships
How We respond to illness
God will weigh the scales of how well we loved
But we need to remember God is a merciful hudge.
Ask God for true self-knowledge
Humble self-knowledge
Meditation 9 – Father Eric
We need to identify the model of our life
Jesus needs to be the central core of our lives
He gives us joy
He gives us courage
He makes up humble
…
Our Christian life is not about techniques it is about relationship
We need to preserve our faith, to live off it
If we do not live it, care for it, look after it, it will spoil
Our faith will spoil if we do not deepen our formation
Only God can make satisfaction for our sins, only a God-Man
God's justice and mercy are perfectly aligned in Jesus's atonement
A man of sorrows acquainted with Grief
The Way 2
What qualities do people see in me?
We have to have deep takes on life, on suffering, on illness, on theology, …
People need to see my integrity, my uprightness, my witness
Mere example is not enough, we need to speak our faith
We do not do apostolate we are apostles
Friendship with the Lord, loving him is the secret to living the good life.
We need to do this because we want to.
Formation is not just knowledge it needs to be our core
Meditation 10 – Father Eric
How can I be sure I am on course, moving in the right direction?
Be strong, be determined, unshakable, but be humble
Let us identify our obstacles:
to growth,
to hope,
to peace
Pride is a baseline that blocks God's grace
Pride turns us away from divine truth
Without habitual and actual grace, we would not be able to do anything good
We must meditate on the holy family and reflect on our own family
We must strengthen our humility
We are in a Jubilee year of redemption, embrace the grace
Am I easily approachable
Quick to judge?
Can others relax in my presence
The secret of humility is to accept lovingly our limitations
Ask God to remove the blindfold from our lives
Help me identity pride in my life
Talk #4 – Cam Hyginus – Sanctification of Work
What we do in life echo's in eternity
Our daily life should be preparing us for eternity
Sanctification of work, family bonds, and friendships; if we are not Christian in these we have failed
They are not obstacles to our holiness
Our ordinary daily life is to be an encounter with God
Jesus spent 30 years preparing in the ordinary hidden life
God wants us to be contemplatives in the ordinary life
We need to give God the gift of ourselves
We need to grow in the virtues each day
Through each act
Responding to emails
Washing dishes
Sweeping the floors
We need to find God in the routine of our daily lives
Sanctity is fidelity!
To live each day with intention
We need to live on purpose
Our day to day is not going to change;
We need to
Do we often offer help before it is asked for?
Ending the work day on time, to make time for family, friends, service
The need to live out my plan of life.
Our family life is not a detour from holiness but it is the path!
Three things to ask
Does our work bring us to God?
Does our life bring other to God?
Am I being transformed daily?
Spiritual Reading 3 – Very Human Very Divine Interior Freedom (XVIII)
https://opusdei.org/en-ng/article/very-human-very-divine-xviii-interior-freedom/
Interior Freedom
Luke 4:17-21
Thomas More experienced freedom in the tower!
Matthew 10:28
Freedom of Choice should always be ordered to a deeper degree
Truth of our divine filiation is what truly makes us free
Meditation 11 – Father Eric
We have to hone in on the virtue of faith
The miracles bear witness to our connection to the father, to our divine filiation
We have to face our
Fears
Crises
Chaos
In light of Jeus being in charge
Jesus is the great gift giver
He is in the church
Giving to our marriage
Our work
Our friendships
No matter what Jesus is in the boat
The boat of my life
The boat of the church
We need to ask God to not let cynicism into any area of our life
We need to develop a sensor for cynicism for distrust or pessimism and cut it off.
We cannot say pessimistic or cynical things to our children
We should not lose confidence in God, no matter what comes our way. We need to keep our eyes always on God.
Our marriage is a miracle from God, we need to strive to see the supernatural dimensions in our marriage and our home.
Our path is as confessors of the faith, living our ordinary lives as witness to our faith!
Does my faith make me happy?
Make me serene?
Make me calm?
Is my life a witness to my being a man of faith?
Meditation 12 – Father Eric
The empty tomb, without it the rest of the gospels have no meaning, no purpose
The incense at mass are like the spices the three women took to the tomb to prepare our lord
Let the incense of God infuse all areas of my life
We have to ask are the stones in my life that prevent me from accessing Jesus
I do want to serve you lord.
The angel sat on top of the stone, the removal of the stone was the sign of the transformation of the living Christ
The stone needed to be removed so we see the empty tomb
We must remove our stones so others can see Christ in us
Our faith is in the eternal
Our faith is ion the place he has prepared for us to be
Our apostolate, our words, are only as convincing as our faith is evidenced in our lives
We have to think about our own resurrection, about Christ's resurrection as a model of our own
We must never let the resurrection be an antidote.
Marriage can be sanctified
Work can be sanctified
My body can be glorified
There are things only God can do in our lives
With God nothing is impossible
WYD 2002 – Song Sister Veronique Nothing is Impossible for You
Teach me to love lord
We can't do everything
We need to discern what God is calling us to.
We must be men of prayer.
O God don't let me get in the way.
Fidelity to prayer in the daily life
Silent prayer
Vocal prayer
The rosary
We have to protect our times of prayer
The fruit of our prayer will be gravitas, reliability, trustworthiness, integrity and honour.
Books read while on retreat that the themes overlapped with the notes above:
Thirsting for Prayer - Father Jacques Philippe
Growing Through the Motions: Living Your Faith with Intention - Fr. Mike Schmitz - Homilies Book 7
33 Days to Eucharhistic Glory for Kids – Matthew Kelly
33 Days to Divine Mercy – Matthew Kelly
...
Opus Dei Part II
Cedarcrest Retreat 2017
Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2018
Cedarcrest Retreat 2018
Cedarcrest Retreat 2025 Notes
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