Taking the Time to Getaway

Father was sharing how Catholics don’t believe in retreats anymore.  He said that twenty-five percent of the people that used Serra Retreat Campus are professionals, twenty-five percent non-Christians, twenty- five percent protestants and only twenty-five percent Catholic.  I found his statistics a little shocking because I try to go on a weekend retreat once a year and I thought most Catholics did the same.  Though I have never paid attention, I think the retreat center is not the only one that struggles with getting Catholics to sign up.  At the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra, I’ve also seen the sisters over promote their campus to be able to run their home.  If one is new to the faith a retreat does sound a bit odd, and they can seem expensive because usually people think that all faith-based programs should be free.  Yet, the small fee goes into running the center so that we can all have access to beautiful places of worship where we can leave behind the world to encounter Christ.

I think that for me, my first retreat was the pivotal point in my faith journey.  At the time I was still very new to faith, I remember that I drove my car to Big Bear thinking if these people try to brain wash me, I will get in my car in the middle of the night and disappear.  Though I had a getaway plan- I never felt the need to use it, in fact when the retreat was over, I didn’t want to return to my life I craved to stay in the mountains with God.  In those mountain grounds, miracles occurred I had an encounter with God that began years of healing to come.  Every time I go on retreat – the same happens, I go up in need of His salvific waters and He never disappoints to give me drink.

This last retreat, my friend who is a quarter Papago Indian planned a prayer moment just for me.  In her culture labyrinths are used to show the journey through life with all the twists and turns.  She explained how we all have a path we must walk and how a block in the road is not seen negatively, but rather a way to direct our course towards the center.  The maze design symbolizes the choices we make in our journey through life.  In reaching the center we look back reflecting on all the choices that got us to there.  Usually people carry objects with them to leave at the center- she gave me a rock she painted and asked me to pray for all the things that I wanted to leave at God’s feet.  When I reached the center, she used a horn to call on the four winds.  I found this unique way of prayer to be so enlightening and enriching.  I always associated labyrinths with pagan worship, yet the way she introduced me to her culture I found so special.  God really transcends all human barriers.

Each retreat that I have been on has filled me with blessings.  It has fortified my faith and encouraged me in my path with God.  Thus, if you haven’t given yourself the opportunity to go on retreat, make the effort to leave behind all with the desire to encounter God.  He is patiently waiting.