Bishop Wester leads retreat for Elect of SLC diocese

Intermountain Catholic

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Bishop Wester answers a question during the Retreat for the Elect on March 17, which was held at Saint Ambrose Catholic Church.IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns who will join the Catholic Church at Easter were encouraged to continue their prayer and reflection by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, during a retreat for the Elect on March 17 at Saint Ambrose Catholic Church in Salt Lake City.

The day opened with the Morning Prayer, and Bishop Wester gave a brief overview of the Liturgy of the Hours. "The Church is constantly at prayer," he said. "It’s good that we can be together…and to allow the Lord to touch our hearts as we enter more deeply into the mysteries of Lent and Easter. It’s important to recognize that the Spirit is alive in us today. It is the Spirit that has called you to this journey of faith – this process toward the Easter mysteries – and it is the Spirit who will continue to work in you."

As the retreat began, Bishop Wester asked that those present be silent, especially at the times designated for reflection. "Silence is a gift we give each other; it is the time to let the Lord speak," he said, and referenced the passage from 1Kings:19, 1-3 in which Elijah heard God in the silence.

These moments were the most powerful part of the retreat for Brenda Caine, an Elect from the Cathedral of the Madeleine Parish. "We so rarely spend so much time just being silent, trying to listen to Christ talking to us," she said. "To me that was the most moving thing of the whole time."

In his presentation, Bishop Wester focused on the Pascal mystery. "This is the heart of who we are," he said. "We can’t look at the resurrection of Christ without looking at his death. This is a celebration of the wholeness of Christ."

The group reflected on the Gospel reading of the Samaritan woman at the well, whom Jesus asks for water. Bishop Wester suggested that those present put themselves in the role of one of the characters in the story as a way to delve more deeply into it.

Life involves suffering, Bishop Wester said, and all people die, but they can also choose a "Pascal death," to let die undesirable parts to be able to claim new life in Jesus. "Pascal death is a conscious surrendering," he said. "Every Pascal death promises new life because every Pascal death is a way to enter more deeply into union with Christ."

A good job description for a Catholic is "to share the good news of Jesus Christ as the risen Lord," the bishop said. "We live the Resurrection by proclaiming it."

There are many ways to live the Resurrection, he said: forgiving others, apologizing for hurting others, affirming others by listening to them or giving sincere compliments.

"To live the resurrection is to be positive, to see the good in people and the good in life," he said.

The retreat was a good preparation for Easter, said Harrison Fluman of Saint Ambrose Parish, adding that it reaffirmed for him the RCIA process.

"It’s been nice to be on this journey during some difficult times in our lives," said Kathleen Fluman, who has sponsored her husband as a catechumen.

As the day ended, Bishop Wester encouraged the Elect, their sponsors and the catechists to deepen their capacity for intimacy, to spend time with beauty such as walking outdoors or listening to good music, and to laugh on a regular basis. Beauty is a reflection of the Resurrection, he said, and laughter is therapeutic. Even in the face of death, Christians can say that all will be well, he said, "because Christ is risen from the dead."