Be Not Troubled: A 6-Day Personal Retreat with Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade

A friend of mine recommended I read this book by Father Kirby. His recommendation came at the right time. I was trying to deepen my understanding of the concept of abandonment/filial trust, and so this book was the remedy needed.It's short; each chapter can be covered in a period of about 30 minutes. It's practical and sprinkled with some personal stories from Father's own life, or stories he tells from others he has met.I love the story on the "Little Sisters of the Lamb" found near the back of the book. A PERFECT illustration of the concept of abandonment ("wounded I will not stop loving"). Indeed. Father's points were also quite useful applied to work, helping me see how God's will (and He Himself) is waiting for me in my professional work, in each moment, in each task, however tedious or fun it may be. His point about making ourselves a living sacrifice to the moment at hand is similarly helpful. At one point Father Kirby writes "our surrendering is a broadening of our minds and hearts to the eternal and infinite", which is of course precisely what it is...every moment God is hoping we unite with Him a bit closer. He gave us our time each day and our many tasks to do it! He is infinitely generous, of course.Highly recommended. Very accessible. Father Kirby at the end of the book inserts several sections from Father Caussade's original work, and with Fr Kirby's own writing as preparatory material in front of these later sections, the selections by Caussade make great sense. There's a particularly good section by Caussade on the meaning and operation of Faith. Brilliant in fact. Read them to my bride and she loved them.

Like Fr. Kirby, my first reading of Fr. De Caussade’s spiritual classic was frustrating. I knew there was gold buried in his wisdom, but I surely failed to discover it. That is, until I undertook Fr. Kirby’s spiritual journey of retreat through de Caussade’s work. Fr. Kirby has demystified the meaning of divine providence in daily life. He showed me the awesome power of the sacrament of the present moment in my ongoing struggle for holiness. Fr. Kirby uses compelling personal examples in the lives of people he has known to illustrate what abandonment to divine providence actually looks like. Importantly, too, he links accepting God’s loving grace of the present moment to the call to action, to give virtuous witness to goodness in the face of evil. Making this retreat, I joyfully accept Fr. Kirby’s closing invitation: “Let us drink together the refreshing water of God’s divine providence.” Robert M. Marino

Through his new book, BE NOT TROUBLED, Father Kirby connects us to the Spiritual Classic, ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE, by sharing his own personal, heartfelt story along with others he has encountered in his ministerial vocation. With each day of this retreat, we are reminded that God's goodness and love are always with us, leading us to "realize that the demands of holiness are nothing extraordinary" and are easily within our grasp with a simple YES. In addition, Father Kirby closes each day by injecting questions of self examination followed by a beautiful prayer. During this six day retreat we are invited, through virtue, faith, and a willingness in our ordinary lives, to become active participants in seeking God's graces and to ultimately find our way of surrendering to Divine Providence. This is a retreat that one will return to time again for encouragement and renewal.

A deeply personal and profound retreat that has made a huge impact on my spiritual life. BUT, I really had to work at it and be very honest with myself. This retreat is definitely not for sissies. And for me, it is different than most retreats because I find myself having to go back and ‘redo’ it. The struggles don’t change, but my attitudes and how I deal with them do. As the demons along the journey get scarier, Divine Providence becomes much more necessary (and somehow much more believable for some reason.) The only warnings that comes with this book is, “have plenty of tissues close at hand and be willing to be brutally honest with yourself!”

A short, excellent, simplified summary of the classic spiritual book "Abandonment to Divine Providence" adapted for Catholics of our times. This is definitely a treasure to read over and over again. Beautiful, consoling, and easy to read. Very highly recommended.

I like the mini retreat but I think most people need a little more background information and personal guidance for it to be a success. I happen to have a degree in Theology. I gave a copy of the book to a friend and he thought it was the least helpful spirituality-type book I have given him to read.

interesting

I expected a more in depth application of this spiritual classic

Esyvto follw