Tonight I took “The Three Classes of Men.” I prayed the Spiritual Exercises, and with my Father compared myself to each of the men. With all honesty, I can say I am not the first man. When my Father has asked me to do something, at least in recent years, I have done it. He did, however, show me that I need to so some things a bit better. I asked Him for the grace of improving the performance of my duties, and felt reassured of His help. He gave me the comfort of reminding me that I am still only a novice in His service, so this urging to improve shouldn’t discourage me. Only His Son has served Him perfectly!

I looked at the second man, then. I asked my Father to show me what, if anything, I was holding back from Him. He was silent.

He gave me a great longing to be the third man, and so I asked for that grace. He, in turn, assured me that He would ask nothing of me that He wouldn’t give me the strength to give. He showed me, briefly, the holy poverty of the Holy Family. Theirs was not a wretched, starving poverty. Their needs were met, but they had little by way of luxuries. This seemed a beautifully simple way of life to me. I realized that this is the life of the covenant I have made with my Father. I am content. He will see to my needs. With that, I felt ready to proceed to the next section.

I began the first of the sections by the priest. I was struck by what he wrote about the retreat being only a beginning, and that God gives what we should give to others. I thought, too, of my calling to write. My Father has been showing me how I can weave some the themes He has been working with me on into the novels I’m planning. This seemed to confirm that He does want me to write them.

I also thought of the SIG. One of the members sent me a lovely meditation he had written on one of the Psalm verses. I thought, when I read it, that it was a good way to open the group to sharing their spiritual insights from our Father. Then, another member sent a group of “thoughts” that the others might consider for prayerful reflection. With the Holy Spirit leading us to this kind of sharing, should I not share some of what He has been teaching me, also? I feel the priest’s comment confirmed that I should.

Then I turned to Hebrews 12. Verse 1, “…let us lay aside every encumbrance of sin,” reminded me of my pride, though the rest of the first section (vs. 1-13) assured me that my Father would help me overcome that. I prayed that He would.

Vs. 14, “Strive for peace with all men…,” brought to my mind my plan to open the SIG to all people of goodwill, and I felt confirmed in that, too. Verses 15-17 seemed a warning, though. I must be careful that the members, all members, be genuinely people of goodwill.

There is more of the chapter for tomorrow.