Are retreats worth the time

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I am not sure my opinion will help as I can’t afford retreats as such. I only go on one’s with my Order, but I love them. They are structured around a theme and silent (mostly). We bring/invite our own priest who runs the retreat and it consists of prayer, community and talks. Sometimes we have other business like meetings or events. We have a moderate amount of rules and definitely our own rooms which would be part of our Order’s rule anyway. We have mass and Divine Office every day and often Adoration in the evenings and spiritual advice and/or confession whenever the priest is available. We do have structured talks by the priest but usually afternoons are free time and we usually have one desert day (free day) if it is a long retreat (week or so).
 
I would run away screaming.

That stuff reminds me of “Feed the Hungry Bee” from “The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test”.

It’s fine when it’s people you actually know who are your friends and are trying to do something for you because you are having a hard time or a personal tragedy. It’s downright creepy when it’s a bunch of strangers or people you just casually know. I’d rather they leave me alone and all send 5 dollars to an animal charity or go do a good deed for an elderly person.
 
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I do not discourage people from going on retreats that I would not choose, but I do ask others to respect the decisions I make for myself as I respect the choices others make for themselves. If someone says that eight days of silence wouldn’t help him, that’s fine. It helps me. Each person posting here has a better idea of what (s)he needs spiritually than anyone else here, and if not then (s)he should discuss it with someone who knows him or her in real life. It is not up to me or anyone to tell others that their personal retreat choices are wrong.
mrsdizzyd said:
a guided retreat where I’d have to be “on” the whole time.
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What you describe sounds to me like a led/preached retreat. The guided retreats I’ve been on involved a half hour of one-on-one conversation with a retreat guide to keep me focused and give me the opportunity to ask any questions that came up regarding my retreat experience. The rest of the time, I was on my own in silence.
 
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UpUpAndAway said:
The guided retreats I’ve been on involved a half hour of one-on-one conversation with a retreat guide to keep me focused and give me the opportunity to ask any questions that came up regarding my retreat experience. The rest of the time, I was on my own in silence.
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That sounds right up my ally! Thank you for the clarification.
 
I have been on two different retreats that were more than day retreats.

I live in the San Antonio, TX area and was on an two ACTS retreats, one as a retreatant and one on team. I got a fair amount out of them but while many people go multiple times I will probably not as I am not the Rah-Rah type.

The other retreat I went to is hosted by the Mission of Divine Mercy in New Braunfels, TX. It is called Encounter With Jesus. It is a guided, mostly silent retreat. They have a few discussions with several hours in between for you to encounter Jesus as guided by the discussions. Their adoration chapel is open 24 hrs a day during the retreat. They require a $40 registration fee but beyond that you pay what you think the retreat was worth. They REALLY believe in the Holy Spirit guiding people.

I had a weekend of spirituallity and many Ah-Ha moments. They have recently created a followon retreat called Cor Jesu which is silent and unguided. Tou have to have been on an Encounter With Jesus to attend and I have been thinking about it.

Thei web site is http://www.missionofdivinemercy.org

Patrick
AMDG
 
phoage said:
The other retreat I went to is hosted by the Mission of Divine Mercy in New Braunfels, TX. It is called Encounter With Jesus. It is a guided, mostly silent retreat. They have a few discussions with several hours in between for you to encounter Jesus as guided by the discussions. Their adoration chapel is open 24 hrs a day during the retreat. They require a $40 registration fee but beyond that you pay what you think the retreat was worth. They REALLY believe in the Holy Spirit guiding people.

I had a weekend of spirituallity and many Ah-Ha moments. They have recently created a followon retreat called Cor Jesu which is silent and unguided. Tou have to have been on an Encounter With Jesus to attend and I have been thinking about it.
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This sounds awesome. Wish it was closer to me.
 
I was totally awesome. New Braunfels is in South Texas and is a tourist destination in it own right. It is also only 15 miles north of San Antonio which has many tourist attractions. Look up Schlitterbahn and San Antonio Mission Trail. Then if you decide to come down here on vacation, you can schedule it around an Encounter With Jesus.

By the way, if you do get to San Antonio, Check out St Joske’s

Patrick
AMDG
 
I should say that the meeting with the guide was half a hour each day for the duration of the retreat. That still provides many hours in silent, peaceful solitude, though 🙂
 
Every year I go on a three-day retreat at a Monastery that is just an hour away. It is a Carmelite retreat and is silent. We do get to talk at the first and last meal, and when we are at a conference with the Carmelite Retreat Master we can raise our hands and ask a question. This retreat is all about Carmelite spirituality, usually focusing on one of the Carmelite saints. I have learned a lot at these retreats. We always arrange to bring in a Carmelite priest to give the retreat.

I used to go to four-day Ladies retreats at this same monastery, with the same format, only it is an extra day. Some of those were great, and some not too great as we didn’t get to choose the retreat master. But having that quiet time to reflect was still beneficial.

These retreats were affordable to me, even though we have private rooms. The bathrooms and showers are down the hall, and when one gets older that can be uncomfortable. There is always a sink, mirror and small desk in each room.
 
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From someone who has yet to experience a Catholic retreat and is getting her information from an internet forum from folks who refuse to consider certain types of retreats because they may have give up little control, I say you are not able to speak about what happens on retreats with any real certainty.

I’ve been to many retreats from Cursillo to Charismatic, from mission based to silent. I’ve not like every retreat I’ve been on, those I did not care for I don’t do again. However that is based on my own experience, not other’s experience.

How do you know you have to focus on the social experience rather than God? How do you know you will be bombarded with things that require social interactions?

I reject you premise that “many” people have this struggle. You may have it and seem unwilling to work to open yourself up to a retreat experience with others. Okay, that is fine, but don’t lump the majority of Catholics in the same boat. You heard negative things about certain retreats so rather than find out for yourself, you choose to not explore the options. Okay, that is fine. But that is not “many” of us.
 
Horton said:
From someone who has yet to experience a Catholic
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Actually, I have been on a Catholic retreat. I just haven’t yet been on this particular retreat which I have been researching and praying about for some months now.

Edit: I should clarify. Although it was indeed a retreat. A preached retreat. It didn’t feel much like a retreat to me, so I don’t count it. Whenever I actually embark on this retreat I have been planning I will consider that my first real retreat.
Horton said:
I say you are not able to speak about what happens on retreats with any real certainty.
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And I haven’t done any such thing, so I’m not sure why you are addressing me this way.
Horton said:
I reject you premise that “many” people have this struggle.
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What I am talking about is social anxiety. If you reject that many people suffer from it, I don’t know what to tell you.
Horton said:
Okay, that is fine, but don’t lump the majority of Catholics in the same boat.
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Again, I have done no such thing. I spoke about social anxiety and said that it is a real thing for many people (not just Catholics) around the world.

Honestly. This is absurd.
 
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Well, some retreats I have heard about feature listening to testimonials, and lots of singing and hand clapping. That does not sound too restful to me.
 
That’s fine if you choose not to go to a retreat like that. It wouldn’t be one for me either if that is the substance of the retreat. I am just saying learn something about a retreat from someone who has done one, not just someone who heard someone say that this person was talking to a lady at church who said her sister-in-law’s cousin went to a retreat called XYZ and it was the worst thing EVER so don’t go to one of those. Sarcasm intended
 
All I ask is for kind of a loose agenda of what to expect. But the folks at my parish who do ACTS seem to want to keep things secret.
They say they want to keep the element of surprise.
But I do not want to be in a situation where I am an hour or so drive from my home with no means of transportation. And then to find that I really am not enjoying the retreat.
To a certain extent, I think we all feat the unknown.
I have never been one to like surprises, not even surprise birthday parties.
 
Fair enough, and my posts on this thread have probably been too disparaging of the Curscillo and ACTs retreats. Its just that those have become what people think of when they hear the word retreat these days, and that is unfortunate, as they are quite out of the norm historically.
As to learning about these retreats from someone who has done one, good luck with that, unless you are saying we should read some of the overly critical internet info out there on the internet. My personal experience with both ACTs and Curscillo (I have been invited to both) is that very little information is forthcoming from those who attend.
 
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