Lifeteen Spring Retreat - Face to Face with God

·26 min·2 clips

The word 'intimacy' comes from Latin 'intimus', meaning to let someone into the innermost, which requires overcoming immense fear.

The episode begins with Fr. Ryan hosting a retreat talk titled 'Face to Face with God' for Lifeteen. He starts with an interactive game where participants do a staring contest and then gaze into each other's eyes, highlighting that the latter feels more vulnerable because it's about the person, not the game. He connects this to confession, stating it's meant to be an experience of extreme intimacy where we allow ourselves to be seen. Fr. Ryan delves into the etymology of 'intimacy', explaining it comes from the Latin 'intimus', meaning the innermost, and relates it to overcoming fear. He discusses how since the Garden of Eden, humans have developed the capacity to hide their innermost selves, creating a disjunct between outward appearance and inner reality. In confession, we sit before Jesus hidden in the person of the priest, who is configured to Jesus as the high priest. Fr. Ryan shares personal anecdotes, including confessing to stealing peanut M&Ms from a supply closet at a summer camp, to illustrate how embarrassment leads us to polish up or use euphemisms for our sins. He compares this to villagers in Honduras who honestly name all their medical issues to doctors because healing requires revelation. The host distinguishes between guilt, which is a healthy alarm bell for the soul, and shame, which comes from the enemy and isolates us. He describes how the enemy fears losing strongholds in our hearts when we consider confessing hidden sins. Fr. Ryan references art by Victor Isa depicting Jesus and the adulterous woman to emphasize that God's mercy is inexhaustible and there's nothing he can't forgive if we ask. The talk concludes with an examination of conscience and a mention of an enactment of the stations of the cross as a visual prayer, reinforcing that confession leads to freedom. The episode is framed within the Slaking Thirsts podcast's theme of quenching spiritual thirst through intimacy with God.

As heard by us

A talk turns staring, stolen candy, and enacted Stations of the Cross into a meditation on being seen by God.

A talk on seeing God face to face opens with a disarmingly ordinary staring contest, then turns toward the harder question of what it means to be seen without disguise.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when a staring contest and a bag of peanut M&Ms sound like the beginning of a confession lesson.

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