Retreat Season!
"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples."
- St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
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Guys, retreat season is upon us!
I'm proud of our ability to offer excellent retreats for each age group as a part of this ministry. I don't mean it in a way to boast but because of how powerful a retreat can be in a person's relationship with the Lord. We take significant blocks of time to get away. To step back from life, to retreat from life for a bit. I'm thankful that it's been a fruit of this ministry.
We don't retreat because we're afraid and need to run away but to build back up. We take this cue from Jesus – He often departed from ministry to the wild and prayed. He took some of the Apostles up the mountain where He transfigured and showed them His true Self (Matt 17: 1-8).
We retreat because He retreated.
It has great purpose. A way of getting our hearts and minds in a different element, away from the distractions our lives get consumed with.
Jesus leads us and meets us there. And He is there. Waiting for us.
This is why we lead our people. We lead them closer to Christ, and in these moments we're blessed to embark on, we get to lead our youth and young adults back to Him and away from their busy lives too.
I'm the product of Christ meeting me on retreat and changing my heart. Many of you have experienced that as well. Now we have the next group of retreatants lining up. It is important for all of us to pray for each age group and the retreats we host. A ton of work and prayer is needed because we also have an enemy who would love nothing better than for these to fail. In addition to the personal encounter, a retreat is a total momentum maker and an opportunity to build deeper and healthier relationships with our people.
So, if I can ask for you to put the upcoming Parish Lenten Retreat next week (along with our former priests leading it, Fr. Paul, Fr. Moses, and Fr. Joe), the HS Spring Retreat in two weeks, and the MS Spring Retreat coming in May on your prayer list. Cover all who need to be there to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to encounter Christ, and let the ministry continue to grow, I'd be much obliged!
Adam Jarosz is the director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry at St. Greg's. He loves raising his family of six in the Sacraments, writing, and playing beach volleyball in the summer!
You can also follow along with Coffee Talk, a great homegrown podcast on YouTube with people you should hear from as examples on how to have faithful conversations. Subscribe and follow along in the talk with a cup of Joe!
