Participants of the OCDS retreat Oct 28-30 with Fr Christopher Loh from Seremban (middle) as retreat master
By Laurence L Dumling
Nov 17 2022
BUNDU TUHAN – The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites Kota Kinabalu (OCDS KK) held their retreat at Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre Oct 28-30 with the theme “Be Still and Know that I Am God”.
It was attended by 25 participants who said that the retreat was an eye opener for the first-timers and a rejuvenation of spirit for the community.
Retreat master, Fr Christopher Loh, a Carmelite priest from Seremban, gave a simple yet deep insightful sharing through relatable life stories of relationships and nature of the three foundational pillars of the Carmelite charism – Prayer, Community Life and Mission – through four enlightening sessions.
Upon arrival on the first day, the participants visited the Don Bosco Children’s Home and contributed tokens of cash and necessities to 52 children. The children thanked the participants with a heart- warming choir performance. After dinner and briefing of the program, the retreat proceeded with the first session on “Identity” by Fr Loh.
Outreach of OCDS KK to Don Bosco Home before the retreat Oct 28
Relating his talk on the theme of the retreat, Fr Loh emphasized on the importance for Catholics to be aware of their identity in Christ. “Remember our identity, through our baptism, we are children of God. By asking “Who am I as a Catholic”, we are being reminded to go back to the root of our identity,” said Fr Loh and ended the talk with a reflection.
The second session on ‘Prayer’ continued on the second day. Fr Loh defined ‘Prayer’ as taking time frequently to converse with God. He illustrated his point by taking examples of a husband-and-wife relationship, in the small rituals of everyday life such as cleaning, cooking, working, daily communication that keeps the marriage active and lasting. As it is with our relationship with God said Fr Loh, that in the light of the Carmelite charism, their daily small rituals of conversing with God as described in six Ms – Mass, Morning Prayer, Meditation, Marian Devotion, Meeting (Community) and Mission must be kept. It is through these small daily rituals that gradually help us to move from vocal prayer (exterior) to contemplation (interior) in seeking God who is already within us. Therefore, it is necessary for us to clarify on the role we play in any unsettling matters that we are praying for.
The virtues of Detachment, Humility and Love become the anchor for us to reflect on whether our prayer is God’s issue, other people’s issue or our own issue. The purpose of prayer is not to ask God to do what is favourably to us, rather to pray for how we can be transformed through the issues we are dealing with.
The third session touched on ‘Community Life’ on keeping healthy boundary within the community in the form of verbal, physical and emotional boundary to safeguard everyone’s emotion and well-being. Fr Loh shared about the first community of the 12 apostles consisted of people from myriad backgrounds and personalities. It is precisely due to differences in judgements and personalities that the community is being purified by one another. The judgement and standard we hold of other people is the projection of our own self. Choosing to forgive is the way how one gives up their right for retribution. Offering forgiveness is not only a healing to any wounds caused but also the way of trusting God in letting Him take over the matter. It is a call to be kinder to ourselves too because what and how we see another is a reflection of our interior self.
The fourth session was on the third foundational pillar of the Carmelite charism – Mission, which often brings forth the question whether it is an active or contemplative type of mission. Fr Loh said it is instead a balance between both as mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:38-42 about Mary and Martha, because both contemplative and active mission go hand in hand.
Fr Loh said we are not to seek honour and glory in our work, rather we seek to sanctify ourselves through our work by being aware of the presence of God and by finding meaning in all things that we do.
“Keep yourself occupied, work with your hands, to avoid the temptation of melancholy,” advised the retreat master, who further suggested participants to read Brother Lawrence’s “The Practice of the Presence of God” on ways to make distraction and interruption an added value to our work and making our work sacred by doing service for others.
Catholic martyrdom is achieved by doing all works faithfully, perfectly and silently he said. There are two types of martyrdom – white martyrdom as in a daily dying to oneself and red martyrdom as in death for the sake of the faith. Through our mission, it is a way for us to practice white martyrdom by being obedient to our work and in the words of St John of the Cross, “If there is no love, put love and you’ll manifest love in the community”.
