Retreat experience begins and continues at home
| This picture of Manresa was taken prior to construction of Loyola Hall. It includes a bird's-eye view of St. Mary's Hall (center), the library (center left), the chapel (right), and the dining hall (rear). The Manresa grounds cover a much larger area than shown, stretching over a mile from the majestic river, across River Road, past the beautiful buildings and the manicured landscape, and into deep verdant woods at the rear of the property. | |||
This is a walk-through of what the 16 men from our parish experienced at Manresa, on Labor Day weekend.
It starts with the wives packing the suit case for the trip. You know, making sure we have all we need for our stay at Manresa. Such as drawers, shaving stuff, pants and shirts for each day. Then the guy you're riding with drives up in his Japanese-made SUV, hits the horn and hollers "Come on or we'll be late!" On the way up, the conversation is about LSU, Tulane, the Saints, and one or more people we know are sick or getting married, etc. Upon arrival we go into the library and meet all the guys who made retreats with us before. The captain issues us a retreat manual and assigns a room for us to stay in. After we are settled, we go back to the library and reminisce some more with the guys we know or meet new ones. Some of the priests come in and join the conversations and meet most of the retreatants. Some of us have a beer, wine, or soft drink. Then it's off to the mess hall for supper (Yankees call it dinner). It sounds like a boiler room with all the conversation going on. All of a sudden, supper is over and silence begins. We then go to Loyola Hall for the first of 11 instruction periods. The retreat master (Father Hacker Fagot) starts with a joke (same as Father John does). about two brothers who are classed as bad boys, always getting into hot water. Their parents bring them to the priest to try and make them behave. The priest takes one boy into a room and asks him "Where is God?" several times. The boy doesn't answer and runs out, grabbing his brother saying "God is missing and they think we did it!" We have a laugh and then the lecture gets serious and we listen attentively, because Father really makes his point stick. After that we hit the sack. The next day, more instructions, Rosary, and Way of the Cross. Breakfast, dinner, and supper, etc. One observation made during this retreat (probably all of them) is that the wonderful ladies who serve the meals are always smiling. One lady in particular has a certain air or glow about her. She seems to be savoring watching these men as they eat. She walks by with eyes beaming as if these were her children she is feeding and pampering. You can see God's love in her eyes. Come Sunday after Mass, silence ends and boiler room noise erupts once again with everyone telling how great it was (and still is) to be close to God. Then we pack our belongings, pay for our stay, say goodbye to our old friends and new ones, and head for home in the Japanese SUV to our wives and children. Upon arrival the wife greets him with "Darling, did you have a good retreat?" He answers "Yes, if you will kneel before me I will give my blessings to you." All the men in St. Charles Borromeo Parish should make at least one retreat before kick-off time. Belatedly mentioning that 99% of the men who made the retreat received Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. So we're starting over, or - a la Yogi Berra - "It's deja vu all over again." God bless. This was a good retreat. We complete our walk with the SCB Manresa motto "To the Lord I give all the hours of my life and the use of my death." 