Join Fr. Adam Potter for this third session of The Little Prince Advent Retreat as he reflects on the theme of relationship. In a sense, thirst leads us to relationship. “[W]e’re going to die of thirst,” said the Pilot. …“So you’re thirsty, too? The pilot asked. But he didn’t answer my question. He merely said to me, “water can also be good for the heart…” (67)

Consider the themes of shared responsibility, time, and suffering that leads to "creating ties" or being "tamed." Both the little prince and the pilot have their own journeys to understanding true love, and it culminates at the well.

Here are some helpful quotes used in the podcast, not in the book:

“The prince also begins to understand that his own actions within the relationship have bound him to the flower permanently. For one, the time and care he has lavished on the rose have transformed his own feelings toward her: she has gone from being simply a flower like any other to “his” flower. The relationship has also changed the flower herself, in the sense that it has made her more vulnerable. The prince, for instance, often things of the “four ridiculous thorns” (80) the flower has to protect herself, but this physical fragility is largely a metaphor for the flower’s new emotional fragility. Now that she loves him, he has the capacity to hurt her. As a result, the prince comes to feel that he has a duty to return to his rose.” (Study Guide, 50)

"Each of us can experience that in [Jesus’s] eyes we are loved, chosen by God, in an extremely personal way. We often have a feeling that God loves in a general way: he loves all men. But being loved in a ‘global’ way cannot satisfy us. And it is absolutely different from the reality of the particular, unique love that God the Father has for each of his children. God’s love is personal and individual. God does not love two people in the same way because it is actually his love that creates our personality, a different personality for each. There is a much greater difference between people’s souls than between their faces, says St. Teresa of Avila." (Jacques Phillippe, Thirsting for Prayer, 22-23)

"Even more mysteriously beautiful, God’s infinite love also makes Him infinitely vulnerable. Love makes the lover vulnerable. He is moved by the Beloved. She brings Him out of Himself. He gives all He is to each one without ever becoming less because He is infinite. He pours Himself out in creating us in His Image. He pours out His image and shares His very self with us. He pours Himself out in infinite vulnerability, emptying His divine self to become human (Phil 2:6-8), and becomes one with us in the Incarnation. He pours Himself out totally for us on the Cross as He suffers anything and everything that has ever been suffered for the sake of His Beloved. God becomes radically vulnerable, using all His divine power not to protect Himself but to love more deeply and become more vulnerable to us. And He does this for all, and for each and every one as if each were the only one." (Frs. Acklin & Hicks, OSB, Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father’s Love, 11)

Join Fr. Adam on this second theme from The Little Prince: Structural Disproportion. It's the idea that "our desire is bigger than our ability to fill it. We are structured for something that we don't have and can't supply. It's like being a cup, but there's no liquid to fill it. We are that cup and we are desperately looking for water, or any liquid we can pour into it. Anything." (Lorenzo Albacete, Priesthood and the Human Vocation)

“You and I, each and every one of us without exception, can be defined as an aching need for the infinite. Some people realize this; some do not. But even the latter illustrate this inner ache when, not having God deeply, they incessantly spill themselves out into excitements and experiences, licit or illicit. They are trying to fill their inner emptiness, but they never succeed, which is why the search is incessant. Though worldly pleasure seeking never fulfills and satisfies in a continuing way, it may tend momentarily to distract and to dull the profound pain of the inner void. If these people allow themselves a moment of reflective silence (which they seldom do), they notice a still, small voice whispering, is this all there is? They begin to sense a thirst to love with abandon, without limit, without end, without lingering aftertastes of bitterness. In other words, their inner spirit is clamoring, even if confusedly, for unending beauty.” (Fr. Thomas Dubay, Evidential Power of Beauty, pg. 17)

“The heart is originally poor with that ‘original solitude’ or ‘original poverty’ that is man’s initial condition from which he yearns to be set free…this original condition of thirst…is the way the heart is oriented to the Mystery that alone can fulfill it.” (Albacete, Traces, September edition 1999, pg. 2)

Proverbs 17:1 -- "Better is a dry morsel with quiet; than a house full of feasting with strife."

Join Fr. Adam Potter in this four part Advent Retreat on the Little Prince, by Antione de Saint-Exupery. In this first reflection, Fr. Potter reflects on the theme of becoming like little children. He highlights the power of imagination, as exemplified by children. It is contrasted by the "serious" adults who have become distracted from their true creative longings.

Here are some of the quotes from this first retreat session:

We must "not be discouraged by the difficulty or the obstacles that come form sin. In this regard, we must not forget that the dynamism of desire is always open to redemption. ...We all, moreover, need to set out on the path of purification and healing of desire. We are pilgrims, heading for the heavenly homeland." (Benedict XVI, Nov 7, 2012)

"What are you looking for?" (The first question posed by Jesus to disciples in gospel John) “…this seems to be an important question because the rest of the Gospel is going to be an interplay between the answer to this question and Christ. Christ identifying himself as that which fulfills those desires. But if we are not familiar with those desires or haven’t really thought it through, then we cannot recognize the value of whatever it is Jesus offers to us.” (Alabacete, What is Christian in Christianity?, 101)

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” (GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

The Most Holy Rosary Glorious mysteries with Father Adam Potter 

Glorious Mysteries:

The Resurrection

The Ascension

The Descent of the Holy Ghost

The Assumption

The Coronation of the Blessed Mother

The Most Holy Rosary Sorrowful mysteries with Father Adam Potter 

Sorrowful Mysteries:

The Agony in the Garden

The Scourging at the Pillar

The Crowning with Thorns

The Carrying of the Cross

The Crucifixion

The Most Holy Rosary Luminous mysteries with Father Adam Potter 

Luminous Mysteries:

The Baptism of Our Lord

The Wedding Feast of Cana 

The Proclamation of the Kingdom

The Transfiguration

The Institution of the Eucharist

The Most Holy Rosary Joyful mysteries with Father Adam Potter 

Joyful Mysteries:

The Annunciation

The Visitation

The Birth of our Lord

The Presentation in the Temple

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

Join us in praying the Most Holy Rosary with Father Adam Potter.

Joyful Mysteries:

The Annunciation

The Visitation

The Birth of Our Lord

The Presentation in the Temple

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

Last day Day 33: Putting It All Together

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Day 32: The Darkness