From a Word from Becky, my monthly newsletter to my readers
Dear friends,
My heart is full of hope! I spent the last two weekends facilitating retreats and witnessing God’s powerful work in people. At moments during both retreats, I paused and stood in awe at what was unfolding in front of my eyes. The Risen Christ’s presence was everywhere!
I saw God uniquely, personally, and intimately touching hearts. I witnessed healing. I saw hearts forgiven and readied to offer forgiveness. I witnessed people set free. I savored watching hearts open to believe in God’s unconditional love for them. I stood in awe as eyes were opened to see themselves or a situation as God saw it. I celebrated so many having the courage to say “yes” to God’s invitations.
This is the power of retreats. One of the numerous gifts of this call to accompany people the last twenty-seven years on retreats is witnessing what God can do with an open heart. Retreats, like daily prayer and the Sacraments, soften our hearts to receive what God seeks to pour into us. Open, soft hearts are hearts ready to receive. There are no words to fully describe the moment God meets a person ready to receive. It literally takes my breath away to watch the infusion of grace and transformation that happens when a person is open to God.
What’s incredible about the work of God in our lives is we do not have to be on a retreat for this moment to take place. In the quiet of our homes, praying in the dim-lit corners, or tucked away at work or in the car, God lavishly pours into our open hearts. All God needs is a crack to fill us with love, mercy, clarity, hope, healing, joy, or freedom. As God comes into our open heart, God pours in what God knows we need. It is personal, unique, intimate. God reads our hearts and our lives. God knows us better than we know ourselves. We will be given what we need for the moment we are living. All it takes on our part is openness and a willingness to ask God to come near to us.
So, I invite all of us to check our hearts today. Notice it. Does your heart feel open to God? Does it feel ready to receive? How might God be inviting you to soften your heart more? What spiritual practices or “exercises”, as St. Ignatius called them, do you need to open and soften your heart this month?
I pray for each of you that you may have a big heart open to God this month. I pray that your breath may be taken away as mine was these past two weekends to witness God’s powerful, healing, freeing work that occurs in an open heart.
My vocation in all aspects of my life is to accompany people closer to Christ. I am here to pray for you, to cheer you on, to walk with you so that your heart can be even more open to God than it is today. Come join us and let us help you soften and ready your heart to receive!
Know of my prayers for you daily!
Peace,
Becky
Photo by Doug R. W. Dunigan on Unsplash
Becky Eldredge
August 29, 2024