The 33 Days as a Spiritual Retreat
For those who have purchased the book, “That Flame in your Heart? Turn it into a Blowtorch!“, you are aware that it is written as a 30 Day program, one chapter for each Day of the readings found in “Volume Two” by Anne a lay apostle. There are actually two additional Days, an Introduction at the beginning and an Assessment Day at the end of the 30 Days.
There is also one additional Orientation Day of reading the preparatory material found at the front of the Prayer Journal and Guide, and/or the free download on the web site along with the Appendix in the book on prayer. These should be read before starting the 33 Days program.
Interestingly, that brings the number of Days in the program to 33, similar to the highly recommended Marian consecration book, “33 Days to Morning Glory” by Michael Gaitley.
The book was written for the singular purpose of helping the reader enter into a deeper, more intimate dialogue with the Person of Jesus Christ than they have previously known, no matter where they are in their spiritual life. The guarantee, if I may be so bold to call it that, is that if you open yourself to Jesus in new ways, you cannot help but be changed from what you were formerly!! He will not withhold his grace from anyone who does that and that IS guaranteed!
These 33 Days are structured in such a way that they become a spiritual retreat and the reader becomes more than a participant, they become a retreatant – a person on a religious retreat!
First there is a reading from Volume Two, the words of Jesus, spoken to Anne firstly, but to all of us who read them. One can read that and reflect on it for some time, from minutes to hours to days or even weeks!
Then to help the retreatant plumb the depths of their own hearts and initiate a deeper, more intimate dialogue with Jesus, I have opened up my own interior spiritual journey sharing a short reflection on those same words from Volume Two. One can use my reflections as kindling for stoking their own flame of love for Jesus into a Blowtorch.
Lastly, there are a set of questions encapsulated in THE POINT exercise for each Day. It is there that the opportunity for the most intimate dialogue with the Person of Jesus Christ can be initiated and developed. It is there that His Graces can become manifest to the retreatant.
You can find a 33 Days with Jesus Christ Retreat Guide for either a personal spiritual retreat, or a leader’s guide for a group elsewhere on this web site.
The 33 Days transformed my life radically. I trust that it will do so for you if you put the time and effort into it and trust Jesus with the outcome just as you would with any spiritual retreat.
May peace, serenity and joy be yours as Jesus turns that flame in your heart into a Blowtorch!