The Chicago District hosted “A Day of Recollection” with Monsignor Dennis J. Lyle on Saturday, March 16, 2013 at the Garden Chalet in Chicago Ridge, IL.
Monsignor Lyle shared with the approximately 42 members from various branches within the District, reflections on prayer and our relationship with God through prayer by reflecting on various Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel readings heard at Sunday mass during the Lenten season along with the thoughts of various Saints who have written and reflected on prayer and finding God’s presence in their lives.
Monsignor Lyle explained that prayer is not complex or schooled – it’s simple — and by sitting quietly and being present to God allows us to invite God in and dwell in us. The desire to have God dwell in us is prayer. He also shared with the group that when Jesus calls his Disciples to be his friends, we should be asking the question – How do I become friends with Jesus? We become friends with Jesus by taking on the qualities that Jesus exhibited in His own life of patience, forgiveness, love, compassion, understanding, and reconciliation. When we exhibit these qualities and share them with all those in our lives, we allow others to experience Jesus through us. He reflected briefly on the meaning of parish and how this is a sojourn since we must think of ourselves not as citizens of this world but as citizens of Heaven, helping each other in our parish community to discern and achieve what God wants us to do before returning home to Him. He quoted Ignatius Loyola who reminds us, that “often temptations come as angels of Light” and from St. Paul who writes to pray always. He shared what Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1600s) wrote that, while the “trees looked dead God will bring them back soon!” and St. Teresa of Avila who reminds us, that “God is present amongst the pots and pans in the kitchen.” Monsignor Lyle reminded all that to be aware of God is to pray always, that desiring God to be with us is a form of prayer and to be mindful of God even in times of temptation.
Monsignor Lyle is a native Chicagoan, alumnus of St. Nicholas Tolentine School on the South side of Chicago and has been an Chicago Archdiocesan priest for 21 years. Over the years he has been an associate pastor at St. Joseph/St. Bartholomew Parish in Waukegan, a member of the faculty of St. Joseph College Seminary and after completing his doctorate in moral theology in 2000 from the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, began teaching moral theology at Mundelein Seminary that same year. Cardinal George appointed Monsignor Lyle in 2006 as Rector of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein for six years and in July, 2012 the Cardinal appointed him Director of the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House which is located on the Seminary grounds and is open for retreats to the priests, religious and lay persons of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The day ended with the celebration of Mass as the group began to head toward the end of the Lenten Season and onward to the upcoming Palm Sunday and Easter Triduum weekends.
To view photos from this event, check out the Chicago District Photo Gallery!
