Men’s Retreat
Over the weekend I attended a retreat for men sponsored by a neighboring parish. Its content was based on the scriptural account of the two men to whom the resurected Jesus appeared on their way along the road out of Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). Many talks were given by the retreat leaders using their life experience to show how they had progressed in their love of God in terms of: knowing oneself, the Word of God, the ‘masks’ we all wear, the sacraments, prayer, the healing of memories, family and friends, trust, and service. There is a parallel retreat given for women, but I don’t know to what extent it overlaps the mens’.
The thing that struck me most about the retreat was the sincerity, both of the leaders and the participants. It was salutary to hear spiritual topics addressed in normal voices on an everyday level, as compared to the oratorical tone and ‘churchy’ vocabulary used by most preachers. Another strong positive was that we were fortunate in having a professional musician/singer among the attendees, and he stepped in as a fine replacement for the faltering CD player which wouldn’t play the same songs that the leaders specified.
