Celebrate
A Reflection by Christine Jurisich
Celebrate.
Celebrate growth.
Celebrate your life.
Celebrate that for which you are grateful.
Celebrate.
If the amount of suffering around the world has you feeling frustrated or sad, you may read this and think, “What? The last thing we should be talking about right now is celebrating!” Or maybe you have a number of reasons to celebrate. Regardless of your initial reaction, I invite you this month to ponder the importance and meaning of celebrations as a vital part of our personal and spiritual growth.
May is typically the time when school graduations and celebrations start happening. I am thinking a lot about celebrations as we prepare to honor the eight participants who will finish the first five-month Sacred Self, Sacred Community program we held in partnership with Mercy Center Auburn. I celebrate their courage in signing up for and engaging in the program in such an honest and open way. I celebrate their vulnerability and dedication to reflect and journal through each of the themes, exploring their sacred self, everyday spirituality, self-care, personal growth, friendships, and the meaning of sacred community. This growth will be ritualized with a special ceremony and dinner.
Here at Retreat, Reflect, Renew, our retreat season is like a school year, running from September through June. As we near the end of this one, I invite you to reflect on your own growth and find something within it to celebrate.
Growth requires intentionality and commitment. It encourages you to make choices. Perhaps you started saying no to TV at night in order to say yes to reading and journaling. Maybe you are beginning to say no to certain commitments in order to spend more quiet time with yourself and God. You may have made a difficult decision related to a relationship, or spoken up for yourself for the first time. Some of you decided for the first time to try a retreat or Sacred Circle. All of these choices take thought, intentionality, and many times courage. It is important to recognize and honor them and the discipline it took to carry them out.
Celebrating Your Growth with Retreat, Reflect, Renew
This retreat season, we navigated through a number of sacred conversations in Sacred Circle, our retreats, and through the Sunday email reflections. Together we explored:
Your Divine Rhythm between doing and being and the importance of practicing the Sabbath
Creating your own sacred space
The name of God is mercy
Mary’s yes during advent
Choosing a new word for the year in January as we focused on the theme of commitment
The invitation that “everyday we begin again” based on St. Benedict’s quote
Lent with fasting and feasting
Exploring God in all things beautiful; Beauty with a capital “B”
How did these themes resonate with you?
In what ways did you grow with them and through them?
Reflect on how sharing and being in the presence of a supportive community guided your growth.
Honoring Your Choices
Making the choice to spiritually grow can feel both exciting and scary (and everything in between). No matter what brings you to a place of intentionality, there is some sort of process. Maybe yours began with:
“I’m tired of being sad and feel ready to heal.”
Or, “I see people deep in prayer and want that for myself.”
Or, “I just experienced the worst disappointment or loss, and I have no idea how to sort through it.”
There was some longing or yearning you decided to listen to within yourself. You made the choice to be intentional with how you would respond. You took action. You showed courage in reaching out to a friend or trying a retreat or Sacred Circle. Did you notice how in your most vulnerable moments you began to learn about yourself and God? All of these moments are to be honored and celebrated. Your life may look the same on the outside, yet you are showing up for life differently. That is cause for celebration.
How to Celebrate
A celebration can be as simple as an awareness within you. Spend time journaling and talking to God about the growth you see in yourself. Appreciate the gems you are taking with you before rushing to read another book or join the next program. When you celebrate, you allow this new awareness to be enough. Sit with it. Honor it. Listen to what it means as it settles into you.
A celebration can also be a ritual. A ritual is an external expression of an internal feeling. Meet a friend for coffee (in person or virtually) and share your growth. Light a candle and say a special prayer of gratitude. Send a thank-you card to someone influential in your development. A ritual does not need to be anything grand. It is an action, however subtle or big, to honor a moment in time and growth and to bring awareness of God in it.
Celebrations or gatherings are not just a way to make people feel good, it is the way that faith in God is lived out, through both laughter and tears. It is the unceasing affirmation that underneath the ups and downs of life, there flows a foundation of spiritual joy.
Henri Nouwen, “The Way of the Heart”
Listen to this reflection on YouTube.
Share in this month’s Sacred Circle
The second full week of the month, we offer a chance to share the month’s topic in Sacred Circles on Zoom and in-person. Come to one or come to all. New participants are always welcome.
Share Here
What would you like to celebrate this month?