Fr. Jeremiah Shryock, CFR, gives a homily to the nuns of the monastery of Bethlehem in Livingston Manor, New York, where he serves as chaplain.
Here he offers insight into the vast difference between solitude and isolation.
The deepest revelations of God, Father Jeremiah points out, take place in solitude, “a place of intimacy and self-giving.”
“Every single person, to some degree, has a call to solitude, whether it is for a few moments each day, whether it is a vocation, or whether it is a time of solitary retreat for prayer,” he says, reminding us to fight the temptation to run away from solitude because of what it demands of us: the abandonment of the independent, agenda-driven self so that we can enter into God’s self-revelation and self-giving.
Image courtesy Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
