Guest post by Fr. Kurt
Dear Parishioners & Friends of Holy Family Parish,
Father Terry invited me to share some thoughts with you in his Pastor’s Column this weekend as a way of further introducing myself to all of you and telling you more about what I believe is important in the spiritual journey. This weekend, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The Feast reminds us that our Lord desires so much to have a deep and intimate relationship with us. Each time we gather around the table of our Lord and share the Eucharist, our faith tells us Jesus is truly present through the consecrated bread and wine. What a lasting gift from our Lord! But we are also reminded that the Lord is always revealing Himself to us in the simple, everyday activities of our lives. However, because of our busyness, the different forms of noise in our lives and the distractions that break in upon us from the world every day, we often miss our God’s real and concrete ways of “speaking” to us.
I would like to invite you into an experience that has been very transformative for me over the years. Back in 2005 when I was in full-time parish ministry, some parishioners asked if I would conduct a retreat for them. I said I would, but in my prayer preparation, I heard God’s invitation to share with this group what is called a SILENT, DIRECTED IGNATIAN RETREAT named after St. Ignatius of Loyola. The TRUE DIRECTOR of this kind of retreat is God. The human spiritual director shares very little input. He or she helps the retreatants maintain a spirit of silence during the days of the retreat so that they can BECOME MORE AWARE through all their senses of how awesome and loving God is to us, His people. And my experience in all these years as both one who goes on a silent retreat yearly and also “directs” one yearly is that our God is full of surprises. A core group from that same parish since 2005 has humbled me to accompany them over these many years and, believe it or not, some said what you are probably thinking: What am I going to do with all that silence? My simple response is LISTEN for the voice of God through nature, Mass, private prayers and spiritual reading, dreams, and the conversations with the human director.
I will be hosting this year’s retreat at the Joseph and Mary Retreat House on the beautiful grounds of Mundelein Seminary. The dates are Friday, August 13th beginning with dinner at 6:00 p.m. and continues until Sunday, August 15th when we end with lunch. The cost of the retreat is $212.00. Everyone has a private room with a bathroom and shower. The Retreat House is also air-conditioned in the summer months. Healthy and delicious meals are prepared by staff. Because we are just getting back to the new normal, there is a limit set for the number of participants. If you are interested in learning more about this type of retreat, you can give me a call at the Parish Office. If you would like to make a reservation, please contact Ms. Jen Cummings of the Retreat House staff. Her e-mail is: jcummings@josephandmaryretreat.org. The Retreat House phone number is 847-566-6060. I will be there for all of the retreat as a spiritual guide with whom you can talk about what comes up in your prayer. Other spiritual director friends of mine will join us if needed. I hope you will pray about joining us and see what God has to say to you as well as in store for you. Remember…the God of surprises!
During the summer months, many of us turn to reading for enjoyment and relaxation. Recently, a parishioner from right here at Holy Family recommended the book entitled Two Chairs by Bob Beaudine, a top sports and entertainment executive. It is a national bestseller. What is so intriguing about this book is that this top CEO writes about his spiritual life in its pages. He describes “his prayer method” as starting each day in CONVERSATION with the Lord about important issues in his life at the time. And, you guessed it, you are in one chair and God is in the other chair opposite you where you have a CONVERSATION like two friends. I found the book enlightening, insightful, inspiring and very engaging. Most importantly, it has enhanced my prayer life. I believe it can do the same for you. I would like to know what you think if you read the book. I promise I am not getting any royalty checks from the author! A number of people from the parish are reading the book as we speak and have mentioned that they might like to discuss its contents as part of a book study. If there is enough interest, I would be interested in facilitating such a group.
Lastly, the COVID pandemic has taught me a number of things. I imagine it has done the same for you. A key thing I discovered is that now, more than ever, people want to talk and have someone listen to their hearts with love, compassion and respect. It is a “holy listening” I hear people asking for in their lives. We have such TRAINED LISTENERS here at Holy Family. We have our own TEAM OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS…holy listeners…coordinated by Mary Whiteside. If you would like such a trained professional to walk with you these days, please give Mary a call at 847-907-3450 or email mwhiteside@holyfamilyparish.org. If you would like to learn more about becoming a trained spiritual listener, OUR TEAM will be hosting an information night on Wednesday, August 11th at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Mary. I plan on attending and sharing my experiences.
Peace and Blessings this week!
Fr. Kurt