‘What are you looking for?’ …‘Come and see.’

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. — John 1:38-39

Greetings of peace from Holy Spirit Monastery!

I am Brother Michael, the vocation director, and on behalf of my abbot and brother monks it is my privilege to invite you to spend a vocation retreat with us: a time to pray and work with the monks, to read the things of God, to ask questions and start to find answers. This is an opportunity to join others who share a similar focus, in an environment of quiet, beauty and peace.
Sounds good so far? Then please read on.

We live on the grounds of the old Honey Creek Plantation, amid the rolling hills of rural Georgia. We feel that our geography, while nothing spectacular, is sacred --- because Christ has blessed it by calling here men of diverse backgrounds, so that they might gradually grow into a gentle kindness and generosity that gives without expecting anything in return.

One of our Cistercian monks, Thomas Merton, once said that “if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat; but ask me what I am living for, and what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” Does what Merton said apply to you, my brother in Christ? Then I invite you to ‘come and see.’

But then let me ask another question. Have you ever been on vacation in an unfamiliar state, and reached a fork in the road --- with no sign signaling where each road leads?

Some who attend our retreats experience something similar: they are unsure of which life path to take—is it to marriage, priesthood, monasticism, or is it some other “fork in the road?” They are seeking to find their purpose in life within the context of one of these paths. Whether it is as a monk or a married man, they want to live their purpose fully.

Others come in response to an inner instinct that bids them to at least explore the possibility that Christ might be suggesting: “Why not consider the monastic path?” They reach this point of exploration after having taken seriously certain desires that won’t go away. Some or all of these desires might be ---

• For an environment that will facilitate going deep into the Heart of Christ, and finding their purpose in life there.
• For a lifestyle that challenges them to know and accept themselves and others, with both strengths and weaknesses, so as to gradually become the men they are meant to be.
• For the silence and solitude where they can ponder God’s Word, addressed to each of us in so personal a way.
• For a place where deep prayer leads them to bring the needs and concerns of the whole human family into the Heart of Christ.
• For a life path which will challenge them to shift gradually from loneliness to creative solitude; and from absorption in self-serving work to selfless service.
• For a caring community of mutual trust and fraternal support.
  
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Discernment Retreats