The theme of the retreat this year is "Everyday Saints," focusing on saints "in our midst," possibly even you and me! The sessions will be informative and interactive, as always. All the men of our parish are invited to attend.
If you would like to attend this year's retreat or just have questions, please call Michael Kellogg at 909-860-1332. We have a limited number of openings available, so call as soon as possible to secure your spot.
3 comments:
I went to the retreat for the first time this year and had a great time!
Highly Recommended.
Recently joined the St. Denis blogosphere; hence the late response...
I attended the Women's Retreat in Nov. 2008 with the same theme. One of the questions we reflected upon was "Who is the contemporary saint in our life?" All my life I always thought of my mother having the greatest influence on me as far as modeling and promoting the Catholic faith. Therefore, it came as a surprise when, after remembering the saints as having less-than-saintly beginnings, my father surfaced as a saintly candidate.
My father was a quiet man, hardly interacting with his children except to discipline. We usually heard what he was thinking through our mother. He was very strict, and could control us with that "look" (think: Msgr. Jim). But it was his character that left an indelible impression on all of his children; an impression that we did not realize until we grew up and started raising children of our own. He remained faithful to my mother even after an instance of infidelity, forgiving her and even supporting the child born out of that affair. The knowledge of this did not become revealed until I was in high school. He tried his best to raise his own six children, instilling in them the values of hard work, responsibility and looking out for one another. And so it came as quite a shock to me to think of my father as being a contemporary saint, more than my mother!
Yet the more I thought about it, the more I was reminded of St. Joseph. We know St. Joseph to be much older that Mary (my parents were 22 yrs apart in age); he was a devoted husband and father because of his great faith, even though not much is said of him in Scripture. My father too displayed these qualities, though not in a way that was visible to the world, or even to his children until after his death when we learned of his humility from others.
What does this all mean? The focus on "Everyday Saints" shows us that saints live among us now. That we are all called to a life of holiness. That holiness is achieved differently for each of us because each life is unique; the struggles we encounter in life are accompanied by the gifts chosen for us by God and the grace he continually offers to us to overcome those hardships. At the end of our lives--whenever that will be--our "sainthood" will have been established by the life we have lived.
And so to you men, I encourage you to be all that God has ordained you to be: spiritual leaders in the home, workplace and society. As in the example of my father, you don't have to be a CEO or politician or a man of many words. But in the image of St. Joseph you can be a quiet source of strength, a man of great faith and virtue.
Happy Father's Day!
Wow, MTom (Mildred?), what a beautifully written post. Welcome to the blogosphere, and thank you for sharing such a powerful personal story.
I felt the theme at Mater Dolorosa this year was the best yet, and I learned plenty. We did discuss saints in our lives and we did learn that we ARE part of the Communion of Saints, right now, today.
I was named Captain of the St Denis Men's Retreat while up at MD this year. I encourage any men who have any interest in making a retreat with us to please contact me here and get on our mailing list. And I hope to get a solid dialogue going with our Women Retreatants, as well.
Thanks again for your comments.
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