Do you spend a lot of time in your car, or walking while listening to music or books on tape? Are you interested in deepening your faith life through focused prayer with Scripture? If so, A Retreat with the Gospel of Matthew, a four-CD set by Fr. Felix Just, S.J., the Director of Biblical Education at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, California, might be of interest to you.
In these twelve "conferences," Fr. Just helps listeners to work through the first Gospel with Biblical commentary combined with suggestions for prayerful reflection. Centered on what makes Matthew's Gospel different from those of Mark, Luke, and John, this retreat looks most specifically at the themes of christology (the study of the person, nature, and role of Jesus) and discipleship (what is expected of us as followers of Jesus). Fr. Just describes different modes of prayer that can be used to pray with Scripture, detailing the use of reflective meditation, imaginative contemplation, and centering prayer as ways of entering more deeply into Matthew's stories of Jesus, as well as offering thoughtful questions for further reflection. In the accompanying study guide, Fr. Just adds suggestions for art and music related to the Gospel, along with a summary of the main points of the conference.
This retreat was a wonderful addition to my prayer life, particularly during my long commute. While listening in my car was perhaps not the most effective use of the retreat (since I was not exactly able to give attention to the kinds of prayer recommended while driving), I nonetheless learned a great deal from this collection, and highly recommend it as well as Fr. Just's Retreats with the Gospels of Mark and John. I plan to listen to them all again, pen and paper in hand!
If you'd like to try them out, a set of Fr. Just's retreats with Matthew, Mark and John are being housed in the Religious Ed office; call Jonathan for access.
(Full disclosure: Fr. Felix and I were in graduate school together in the late 80's; he was assigned to my parish, and I had the good fortune to take New Testament classes with him during that time. I am eagerly looking forward to his Retreat with the Gospel of Luke.)
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