Each day that we were there, we were scheduled to have a conference on a specific topic. We only ended up having two conferences because Fr. Peter, our retreat director became ill. The topic he chose for us was forgiveness. I’m going to jot down here, some of the notes I took.
*We all have some sort of ‘unfinished business’, loose ends that need to be tied.
*When we say “I don’t want to deal anymore” that is a sort of revenge and a sign that you haven’t reached forgiveness.
*Forgive but don’t ‘enable’…you need to either speak up…or ‘separate’ if necessary.
*Forgiving is NOT forgetting.
*Don’t just say ‘I forgive you’…don’t say it too easily…honesty is more important.
*When you can’t seem to forgive, then pray for the other person.
*Forgiveness from the heart stems from prayer…it is a grace.
*Choose to focus on the good instead of the bad of the other person.
*Sometimes the person that you need to forgive is yourself.
*If you don’t find love ‘here’, you won’t find it ‘there’. It starts within yourself. Fr. mentioned how in the Benedictine Rule, only if you live well in community are you then allowed to become a hermit.
