We must begin by listening.  We want to listen with the fascination and focus of a lover.  How many times have we heard the readings selected for this week?  How many times have they left very little impression on us?  This week we want to go to those readings hungry for everything they can tell us about Jesus.

If it helps, print out each reading so you can read it many times throughout the week.  Read each reading all the way through, to get the context and the whole message.  Then, go back and read it more carefully, noticing words that surprise you.  It can help to compare this translation with one you might be more familiar with.  Notice how seeing different ways of saying the same thing can reveal the meaning more deeply.

After a particular reading is familiar, reflect upon who the audience is.  For whom is this "good news"?   Who is threatened by it?  Can I place myself in that scene and feel proud of Jesus for his words of comfort and liberation?  And then, can I experience these words as addressed to my heart?

As we've noted before in this retreat, the real fruit of the week's reflection will occur to the degree the reflection makes its way into the background of our everyday lives.  From the time we wake, until the time we sleep, we can let each and every human experience be open to being an experience of intimacy with Jesus.  The readings will help us get there.  The more those words of Jesus penetrate my heart, the more I will experience every part of my life addressed - my ambivalence, my fears, my hungers, my efforts to be merciful and a peacemaker. 

• Do I feel "joined" to Jesus in this or that act of my day, drawing nourishment that bears fruit? 
• Can these words expose moments I "go away sad" because I can't bring myself to being "heroic" in this or that choice, when my "possessions" are at stake?
• Can I imagine being judged at the end of time by how I deal with the seemingly "unimportant" people in my life today?
• Do I walk through my day as though I'm in search of a treasure or fine pearl - where everything else pales in importance in comparison to the desire to give myself completely to being with the one I love in his mission?
• Can I give him thanks this very morning or afternoon or evening - in these events - for his liberation, for the blessedness he is revealing to me about my poor but humble spirit?

And, please consider sharing any graces from this week with others making the retreat.  Using the sharing link on the guide page could allow many other people to profit from the graces offered you.