This retreat at the beginning of Lent is a tradition that dates back almost 100 years. The Pope invites a speaker to give daily spiritual talks for a week to himself, the cardinals who are in Rome, and the senior staff of the Curia.
This year, Eric Varden OCSO, Bishop of Trondheim, is giving the retreat talks. In his latest reflection, he quoted Mary Ward. Bishop Varden called her ‘that great Christian educator of the 17th century’ and emphasised:
“Mary Ward, that great Christian educator of the 17th century, used to tell her sisters: ‘Do your best and God will help’.
The notion that God can and will help us in our predicaments is axiomatic to Biblical faith. It sets the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God made compassionate flesh in Christ Jesus, apart from the Unmoved Mover of philosophy.”
