During the first meeting with...
Illustration
During the first meeting with her director for a weekend retreat, a young woman received but a single question on which to meditate. "Where have you met the risen Christ?" The director cautioned the young woman not to race too quickly towards an answer, nor to be discouraged if at first no response came to mind. She should approach the matter prayerfully. In time a variety of answers might arise. She should, in quiet reflection, dwell on each of these. At last she should write down her answer and bring it to the meeting with her director the following morning.
When the young woman returned the next day she smiled and passed the director two written pages. "At first it was hard," she said. "Nothing came. Then bit by bit different moments arose within. Two pressed themselves as bearing a special presence." Since the director indicated her desire to listen, the young woman went on and shared the two incidents. They were, as with nearly all such moments, deeply personal. One involved the gradual lifting of deep grief after the death of her father. The other had come suddenly, as she watched members of a religious community pour themselves out for the victims of a natural disaster. "I have had no visual sightings," the woman said, smiling again, "but in these moments I have truly gazed on the risen Christ. These have been my moments of seeing with Cephas, with Paul, and with the five hundred."
When the young woman returned the next day she smiled and passed the director two written pages. "At first it was hard," she said. "Nothing came. Then bit by bit different moments arose within. Two pressed themselves as bearing a special presence." Since the director indicated her desire to listen, the young woman went on and shared the two incidents. They were, as with nearly all such moments, deeply personal. One involved the gradual lifting of deep grief after the death of her father. The other had come suddenly, as she watched members of a religious community pour themselves out for the victims of a natural disaster. "I have had no visual sightings," the woman said, smiling again, "but in these moments I have truly gazed on the risen Christ. These have been my moments of seeing with Cephas, with Paul, and with the five hundred."
