Retreats

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Has anyone been on a retreat? What did you get out of it? Is it worth it?
 
Cone said:
Has anyone been on a retreat? What did you get out of it? Is it worth it?
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It is worth it! As long as you have set yourself to be at the state of spirituality. What did we get? it depends. Moreover, it is worth it for those who have really set there whole being into it. All the saints have experience retreat. Not only Catholics do have retreats even none Catholic and Non-Christians.
 
Yes, I’ve been on several retreats, and enjoyed them all. Like Deo Gratias says, there are many different kinds of retreats, and each retreat center or retreat leader will have different areas of focus, so you need to shop around.

I look for silent retreats, and have found them with the Benedictines and the Passionists in my area. Usually just for the weekend, but I went on a week-long, guided, silent retreat led by a Carmelite Friar once, and enjoyed that very much too.

It is time away from your normal routine, without all of the usual responsibilities and distractions - a time more exclusively devoted to God. Time to just be with God, both alone and in the company of others with the same desire.
 
When I first started going on retreats they were the kind that had a few conferences a day, Mass, and sharing in small groups.

After a few yearly retreats like that a lady suggested to me a silent retreat. It was awesome, and I have been going every year to two such retreats.

One is a four-day ladies retreat, and the other is a three-day Carmelite retreat with the Lay Carmelite group I belong to. I will always go to silent retreats now.

It depends on what one is looking for in their spiritual life. Retreats are great, there is always something good to take away with you when you are open to the grace of the retreat.
 
Cone said:
Has anyone been on a retreat? What did you get out of it? Is it worth it?
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When I was in my teens, I went on one called “IMPACT” and LOVED it! My brother went on it, cried. At that time, there was a couple who talked about the importance of communication in marriage. Nobody had ever sat me down, talked about marriage like that to me, before. People had talked about sex, in school…but marriage, never. I found it VERY helpful.

People also rave about “Cursillo”. It’s been highly recommended to me.

I’d say retreats can be worth it.
 
I’ve gone on many retreats.

I went to the Passionists Retreat Center in Shrewsbury, MA when it was still in operation and the retreat team was still Passionist priests. These were structured retreats with scheduled takes, confession and Mass.

Then, I’ve gone on Carmelite Retreats, Benedictine and then lastly with the Trappist at St Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass and this was my favorite.

These were not structured, with just one conference on Saturday morning. The rest of the time we were free to go to the Liturgy of the Hours and Mass. Confessions were available throughout the week-end.

Every retreat was wonderful, but they got deeper the more I went.

I highly recommend going on a week-end retreat, but where you go will have a lot to do with the kind of spirituality you prefer.

I would prefer a Trappist or Benedictine Monastery, but it’s up to where God is leading the individual.

In all remember that the retreat experience is yours and yours alone. What others experience will not be your experience. So, don’t put too much thought into expecting something others have experienced.

Jim
 
Definitely worth it.

When I was going through RCIA, I went on an un-structured retreat at a nearby Benedictine monastery -just alone time and attending morning and evening prayers and Mass. It was great. I look back on it often as a very fond memory.
 
Cone said:
Has anyone been on a retreat? What did you get out of it? Is it worth it?
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I have been on two Manresa silent retreats, each led by a Jesuit priest. The retreats lasted from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. Both were beneficial to me, they helped me to grow in my faith and brought me closer to God.

DGB
 
I hope to go on a retreat someday. The silent retreats seem like they would be very worthwhile.
 
I have been on three silent Centering Prayer retreats at a Benedictine monastery over the past two years and will attend the fourth (8 day) in May. I have grown spiritually as a result and met some very interesting people during the course of the retreats.

My experience with retreats has been positive but I always have a specific spiritual goal in mind before selecting a retreat.
 
Right. Good retreats are like climbing up the mountain. I’ve been on several retreats in my lifetime - mostly while in college. Honestly, it depends on the focus. Most of the ones I went on were focused toward strengthening young people in their faith - and so had talks based on that. One such retreat was called “Youth Encounter Christ” - it was pretty much a Cursillo for youth (and three days instead of four). The others were Catholic Campus Ministry retreats.

The one thing you have to watch out for with retreats though is called “retreat defeat”. Retreats, in and of themselves are a good thing - they help us grow in faith in Christ Jesus. But - this is big - often we can get prideful by the end of the retreat and think we can do no wrong because we’ve gotten so close to Jesus. Satan uses this pride and can trick us into falling into graver sin than we ever thought possible for us to commit. It happens time and time again. By no means do I say to avoid retreats - we all need to go on some from time to time - but keep your wits about you, lest you become easy prey for the evil one.
 
I’m a Benedictine oblate so I tend to favour silent retreats at the abbey I’m associated with, or other Benedictine abbeys on occasion if I can swing it.

Other than our annual oblate’s retreat, which has meetings, presentations, etc., mine are usually self-directed: I immerse myself in the liturgy (Mass and Divine Office), meditate in front of the Blessed Sacrament, pick a good spiritual book from the abbey’s guesthouse library, pray, etc. Occasionally I’ll have a brief chat with our oblate director or the prior (a friend).

And mostly, try to keep both my mouth, and my inner voice… shut and stilled.
 
Definitely worth it.
If you have never been on one before, I’d go for one that is a guided retreat offered by an order who runs a retreat center.
After that you might try one of the silent ones. I sense by your post that you’re not sure what to expect, and maybe a silent retreat the first time out might be a bit too much for you.
I’ve been on several silent retreats and love them. The Jesuit Retreat center in Atlanta, called Ignatius House is superb, nestled in the woods.
I’ve been going on retreat since 6th grade. You should go in with an open heart, open to listening to the Lord.
I hope you try a retreat presented by well trained people. You will be blessed, no doubt.
 
The purpose of a Catholic retreat is to become closer to God, to understand more deeply God’s will for us and how we might serve God more fully. I do retreats regularly and have done for 30 years.

My early retreats were Ignatian silent 10-day retreats with a spiritual director, so that I could develop the skills of discernment leading to greater freedom and choice in Christ. The year I turned 30 I did a 30-day silent retreat, one of the hardest retreats I have ever made but it changed my life. Since childhood I had experienced issues with trust and was fearful of any closeness to God, preferred to keep my faith at arm’s length and just go through the outward motions of being a faithful Catholic. The silence and reflections on the Spiritual Exercises and practice of Lectio Divina transformed my understanding of the Christ.

Some years ago I had the opportunity to begin attending Carmelite retreats – very different from the visualisation and ‘active’ contemplation of the Ignatian retreat – and this encounter with a more wordless concept-free prayer deepened my prayer life and desire to be of service to the Church. My heart was inflamed with Love.

Cone, I hope you decide to do a retreat and I shall pray fro your intentions.
 
Silence is important in my spiritual journey, and I lead a chaotic life so quiet time is difficult to come by. To counteract this I go on silent retreat annually, but have only been doing that for a short time. This year’s retreat will be my third.

The first was ten days and individually guided. While it was overall a positive experience and opened spiritual doors that had previously been closed to me, I don’t recommend a retreat that requires silence for this long as a first-time retreat unless you’re under the guidance of a spiritual director. The one I had at the time approved this as a first-time retreat for me. YMMV.

Last year’s was ten days unguided, and that can be tough if you’re not prepared for it. Though I had no “official” guide, I did have the opportunity to approach a monk with any questions that came to me in the silence so I wasn’t wandering around totally directionless for the duration. This year I will be on a six-day unguided retreat, as circumstances don’t allow for a longer one.

If you have never been on a retreat before, please resist the “more is better” temptation. It’s easy for some to think that if a three-day retreat is spiritually productive then one that lasts nine days must be three times so. Not necessarily. It’s important to select the retreat that is appropriate for you given where you are right now, spiritually speaking. Different people need different things at different times. Work with your spiritual director on this, if you have one. And if you don’t have a positive experience with one retreat, try another kind. There is a great variety of spiritual retreat available, and I’m convinced there’s something for everyone. God bless.
 
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