I was on a 30- day retreat at Sevenhill in Adelaide this October to mid-November. For 30 days I was praying with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I felt incredibly blessed by the work that Jesuit priests were doing at Sevenhill. When I first got there, everything was bursting out with the newness of spring. The flower buds, particularly the abundance of roses in myriads of colours, the buzzing bees that barge in anytime a door is open, and the blossoms of grapes in the winery, different species of birds and the opportunity to witness new eggs hatching in a bird nest by the entrance to the chapel brought a lot of joy to my heart. The Lord spoke a lot about bringing new life out of my vocation and how all these years of training had been like bringing new wine that will be put in new wineskins. Although I do not fully grasp everything that the Lord was revealing in 30 days of praying, I was excited for this newness that the Lord promised to bring about.

So, I penned down these words on one of the nights while reviewing my prayer exercises of the day.

I live for you

I seek you in the moment

I seek you in the beauty that surrounds

I open my eyes to see

Everything that reminds of you

The Spring that burst in bloom

The new life burst in song

In buds and in new wine being crushed

I seek you; I seek you

Amidst the vineyards I run with you

The buzzling of new life in bees

The blooming in the flowers in due

The birds that fly in joy

Tell me you are near

You are near

You are here with me, here with me

Your presence Lord, is here with me

Here with me, oh yeah

I later put music on and played this song on the organ at St. Aloysius Church as part of my prayer exercises. This somewhat became my theme song for the retreat. The time of retreat also reminded the continued presence of God in my life and his promise to remain with me forever.

Ayanthi Perera