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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
School has started. A few more of our college folks head
off to start their fall semester this weekend. The State Fair is
over. The NFL pre-season is well-underway. It’s that time of year
when everything is ramping up and heading into high gear! Sometimes
it feels like we just need to buckle ourselves into life and hang on
for all that’s going on. It can get kinda crazy. A perspective is
needed. Hey!?! What about a retreat?
This Thursday and Friday, our Parish staff will be going
away on a staff retreat. As we head into this busy time of the
year, and before things get too busy, we want to take the time to go
pray and reflect on what God is doing in our lives and in our work.
It’s not a long retreat. But it is a chance to get our individual
souls and our collective soul, started out on the right path. I
would ask that you pray for us this Thursday and Friday. It is my
sincere hope that this time together this week, we help us in
everything that we do for the next 52 weeks!
You know, a retreat is a good thing for just about
everybody. When’s the last time you went on a retreat? Far too
many Catholics, have NEVER made a retreat. Lent is somewhat of a
retreat for all of us, but there are times in all of our lives when
we really need to take a break and put things into perspective with
God and life, even if it is just for a couple of days. Maybe the
best thing that you can do for your soul this fall, is to find a
good retreat to go on. It can do you a world of good!
And…it just so happens that both the Men’s and the Women’s
Christ Renews His Parish weekend are coming up soon. You should
hear an announcement/ invitation at all our Masses this weekend. If
you have not made a Christ Renews His Parish weekend, what a perfect
retreat to go on this fall! Both the men’s and the women’s Cursillo
weekends are also coming up in about five or six weeks. Never done
a Cursillo weekend? What are you waiting for? Cursillo is an
amazing renewal experience. St. Meinrad, The Fatima Retreat Center,
the John the XXIII Center in Hartford City, and many others right
here in our own area offer all kinds of retreats this time of year.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is once again offering the Catholic
Men’s Conference at the end of September. This is not exactly a
retreat. But it does offer guys a chance to re-charge their Faith.
There are all kinds of opportunities. The high school youth group,
TRUTH, has their annual fall retreat scheduled for early November.
The new RCIA class is going on retreat on the first weekend of
March. Retreats can make a difference for everybody! How about
you?
You know, priests, sisters, brothers, and deacons are
required to make an annual retreat. Both Fr. Dale and I will be
doing ours later this fall/winter. If it is important enough that
priests, religious, and deacons have to do it, don’t you think that
it is a good idea for all of us to set aside some time to
concentrate on our relationship with God? A good retreat could be
just what your spiritual life needs right now. Why not get some
information? Christ Renews His Parish and Cursillo are the best
places to start. Couldn’t you give up a couple days to jump-start
your Faith? We spend so much more time each year watching TV than
we ever do going on a retreat and getting closer to God. Is God
really asking so much, when He asks us to consider giving Him a
couple days a year to go on retreat? I don’t think so. Neither
does He!
We’ve got to make time for God in our lives. It’s never
just going to happen. We’ve got to block it out, schedule it in,
and make sure that it happens. We put too many other things
first. We do it under the guise of being responsible, but are we
really responsible to anybody, if we’re not responsible to God first
and foremost?
In 2008 and 2009, let’s keep our priorities straight. If
we need to go on a retreat to help that happen, then we need to go
on a retreat to make that happen. Again, pray for our Parish Staff
this week. And what about finding some time for your own retreat
this fall?
In Christ
Fr. Kevin
The old forget. The young don’t know.
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