In
Full Retreat
Parish
Diary
Fr.
Peter Daly
12/11/98
In Full Retreat
The people in my parish are crazy about retreats.
We have men's retreat and women's retreat. We have confirmation retreats and Cursillo
retreats. We have private retreats and
retreats for Catechumens and Candidates.
We have marriage encounters and engaged encounters. We have retreats for
marriages in trouble and retreats for separated and divorced. We have pilgrimage retreats that take us far
away, and Renew mission retreats that we do right here in the parish center.
If
it gets us out of the house for a few days, or even a few hours, we're go'in.
I think all of this is a very healthy.
For those people who have really caught the vision of
what Christ and His church are offering and asking, a retreat is the logical
next step on the journey in faith.
Going to weekly liturgy, doing your own private prayers,
participating in religious education is the bedrock of the spiritual life. But there is a desire for deeper and more
intense experiences. And
a longer time to pause, to pray, to think, and to discuss.
The
wonderful thing about these retreats, from the standpoint of parish life, is
the bonding that takes place. People
come back better friends. They come back
knowing each other on a deeper level.
They come back with a common experience.
This
year, for instance, I made a Men's Cursillo retreat with seven men from our
parish. This intensive three-day
experience gave a chance to learn about each other. We shared meals and prayers. They even got to see their pastor dressed up
as a "fallen angel" in the Saturday night skit. We come back with some common experiences and
memories.
It
is common memory that makes for community.
I
think this means the most to our young people.
This
year, for instance, we took 72 youth and their chaperones on the Confirmation
retreat. Only half of the 72 were
actually making their confirmation. The
others participated in our program as "advocates". These are teens who
have made their confirmation, but want to participate in the confirmation
classes as mentors and helpers. For both
the confirmandi and the "advocates", the
For
teens there is, of course, the attraction of getting away from their house and
their parents for a weekend. They like
going up into the mountains and hanging out with friends. It gives them a way to build a Catholic
identity that they can't get in the public schools that nearly all of our young
people attend.
The
retreat movement is a truly Catholic part of the spiritual life. It is a chance to experience the joys of the
contemplative life. A little bit of
monasticism for the average person.
Even the Lord himself felt the need of a retreat from
time to time. In Mark's gospel he
invited his disciples to "come away to a quiet place" when they were
so overwhelmed by the people coming and going that they did not even have time
to pray.
We probably need more and other types of retreats. We need retreats for people who are
terminally ill. We need
"empty-nester" retreats. We
need vocation retreats. We need retreats
for those who are grieving, for those who are recovering from addictions and
for those who are in prison.
All of these are already offered somewhere around
us. Part of the job of the parish is to
be a conduit that brings people to these opportunities for spiritual
growth.
It seems there is an unlimited desire for deeper
religious experience. People come a'
running when the bugle sounds retreat.