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(Since I finished the letter about the renovation project last week, I thought
I would take a small break from the renovation project for this week and tell
you about my retreat.)
As you read this Sunday Bulletin, please know that you are thought of and
prayed for this weekend. I am on retreat in the Colorado Rockies at a place
called Nada Hermitage. You can check out their website by going to
Spiritual Life Institute
and clicking on the “Nada” selection.
Nada Hermitage was founded in 1982 and is a community of men and women who live
a communal life according to the primitive Carmelite religious ideal. The
retreat center is located in the Sangre de Christo mountains in south-central
Colorado near the small mountain community of Crestone. While there is an
established religious community at Nada, they have a few “cells” (rooms)
available for those wanting to make a retreat. I have never been to this
retreat center but have always wanted to go…and so here I am!
The idea of a retreat is to get away! To get away from the distractions of life
so that one can be more focused upon God. For me, I need these out of the way
places on top of big mountains! I've tried retreat centers in some cities but I
always get distracted and end up wasting my retreat time. So, I usually plan to
go to a place where I know prayer exists easily.
Every priest is required to make at least one retreat of five days every year.
Now, some priests do the very minimum of this and some do more…I happen to like
to do more. My reason is that it gives me a good time to sit with the Master
Carpenter. Jesus is the real craftsman and he is the one that I am trying to
imitate in my life. If you want to be like someone, you spend time watching
that person do his or her trade. For me, a retreat gives me the chance to focus
on my trade and how I am doing regarding my own spiritual life.
Thanks for your patience in letting me get away for a little while. I leave you
in the hands of a wonderful parish staff…the best I have ever had in my 17
years as a priest. I also leave you with a wonderful sacramental minister that
many of you know, Msgr. Phil Bucher. May God continue to work wonders among us
and show us unbounded mercy and love!
Peace,
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