Church programs

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do you know how hard it is these days to find a retreat that agrees with your beliefs? Very hard! And when you finally think you found one, it’s closed!
 
I think another problem is expense. You are hard pressed to find a weekend retreat priced under $250. That is a lot of money to people on fixed incomes or who have less disposable income.

There are a lot of places where young families can spend their money. With many, an iphone will win out over week with people whose average age is 60.

Parents of younger adults need to be encouraged to pay for their sons and daughters to go on retreats with them as a way of father/son or mother/daughter bonding.
 
I try to spend a little time every week looking for them or talking to people who go on retreats. I have myself plugged into a lot of ministries, so I am starting to hear about more of them. Getting involved on the diocesan level helps.

But you are right. There are religious orders whose teachings have long since been diverted from the church’s path.
 
And I mean really for older people who’ve been going yearly for orthodox doctrine. Not that old, but people maybe 50 and older
 
That is true. But I notice that a lot of younger people in the church are very orthodox. The younger orthodox people make me laugh. The relativists tried so hard, and they never considered that the young people would rebel from their rebellion.

I know a friend who is 65 who left a retreat a year ago when the retreat leader told him that he needed to accept the fact that women were going to become priests and unmarried cohabitating couples have a right to the Eucharist.
 
I would have left too, and did with another type of retreat. It definitely would be worth traveling to find the right place, and a little vacation as well, but things are looking a little grim now without an job or car!
 
Faith healing, hours of singing in “tongues” while people pray and give “prophecys” or words of faith, there will be talks and Mass and Adoration as well.
 
That makes it hard. You could always have a mini-retreat at home over a weekend. Shut off the computer, the phone and the TV and spend the weekend with God. Be sure to spend a some time in nature, and remind yourself what is important in this world.

Searching for work is hard and it makes a person get lost in their own mind which isn’t healthy. Sometimes we need a short break to be reminded what’s important.

Just a thought…
 
I suppose the new way, since there’s lots of closings, is to attend parish retreats, usually during Lent and Advent. it’s about the same length of time as well-3 days
 
The only retreat in my parish that I’m aware of is the ACTs retreat, which is prohibitively expensive. Not only to they ask for an fee upwards of $150, but you have to take two or more days off from work, since it starts on a Thursday. If you have children who need care while your spouse is at work, you have to pay for childcare while you are not working. They always say that you can ask for a discount, but who wants to submit their financials for the scrutiny of other parishioners just to go on a retreat?

By comparison, my former parish had a similar retreat (CRHP) that they went out of their way to make accessible. First of all, it was only during the weekend, which helps a lot of people. Second of all, they provided childcare for both days, in case it WAS needed. Third, it as held at the parish and the costs were much less and all covered by volunteers and previous retreat attendees and donors. There was no charge for retreat attendees. At the end of the retreat, donations are asked to help sponsor the next retreat, and most put some money in, but they are never asked to beg in order to attend and who donates what is kept confidential.

I don’t know if this contributes to overall lack of retreat attendance, but I know it’s contributing to the problem at my parish, which is in a really wealthy area.
 
LittleFlower said:
Interesting question!

IMHO, the cost for many “live in” retreats is quite high.

http://www.campion.asn.au/retreats-2018/

They have an eight day silent retreat which is $1040 (live-in), and no “live out” option. They have weekend themed retreats for $260 (live-in) or $190 (live-out). (Prices are in Australian dollars)

The average Australian worker earns around $1200 per week and with tax and superannuation taken out $875.87, or around $62k a year. (Australian dollars, in America dollars that is around $46k).

So yeah, living costs, mortgages, childcare, transport costs—there isn’t much money left to spend 1/4 of your monthly wage on an eight day retreat.
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This is what I thought: stuff costs money and takes time. These days most of us have less of both than what may have been in the past. Also, my other guess is at one time churches had more funds on hand to subsidize the costs of retreats. These days, probably not so much.
 
Pup7 said:
This is what I thought: stuff costs money and takes time. These days most of us have less of both than what may have been in the past. Also, my other guess is at one time churches had more funds on hand to subsidize the costs of retreats. These days, probably not so much.
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Yep! Also who has the vacation time with school holidays or being sick to give towards an eight day retreat? Even if you wanted to prioritise it, it can be really difficult to get the time off from work if you have children and need to hours to go to other things.

Everything is so expensive. 😰

I’ve rounded up here but acrossall industries in the US in 1974 the average wage was $10,000, which would now translate to an average wage of around $53,000. The U.S Bureau of the Census has the annual real median personal income at $31,099 in 2016.

There’s a $20k difference. And it’s similar here in Australia, which is why many families have both parents working.

There is hardly any money left over!
 
Were retreats that popular prior to Vatican II? For example, Cursillo started in 1944 but it had grown since that time. It seems like there are more opportunities. Add in Opus Dei, or Cursillo copies (TEC is the only one I can think of right now, and other movements that originated in Europe like Focolare. And there is an interest in poustinias outside of Russian communities. My experience might be different because I grew up in a mission diocese and the retreat the OP is talking about may not have been something accessible in that diocese at that time.
 
Now it could take me 2 months of research for registering even. The themes, costs, location, and whether they are womens’ retreats, etc . Not a great system!
 
Perhaps you could give some statistics.

as a child, I don’t recall much of anything of retreats prior to Vatican 2; there were, however, occasional parish missions, which are associated with retreats but open to the parish as a whole.

they still go on, perhaps not with the same frequency as before Vatican 2, but not likely significantly less.

And there may be fewer retreats, but there are also fewer priests available to give them.
 
There is a Catholic group/community that has a yearly retreat for about $1100 for the week. I was told that I needed to budget better if I wanted to attend. Also, checked with some older parishioners about missions vs retreats and they said more missions than retreats pre-Vatican II. This was their memories of the time period.
 
I cannot think of a retreat in these parts where “scholarships” were not provided to those who cannot afford it (unless it is one that meets at a hotel, in those cases there are people who are willing to share rooms to save cost). It is worth asking the Family Life office at the Diocese if there are scholarships for this event.
 
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