These comments, from participants in recent Marywood retreat programs, remind us of the importance of quiet places for prayer and reflection. We need, from time to time, to temporarily withdraw from our everyday routine when, as English Poet William Wordsworth wrote, “This world is too much with us.” More and more people are discovering how retreats help us take a fresh look at life. The experience of making a retreat teaches us, simply, the value of taking the time to sort things out: to ask how things are going; to ask where things are going; and to rediscover God’s love in everything around us. Still, many wonder whether making a retreat is for them. Some believe you must already be holy, or at least well on the way to holiness, before making a retreat. Others have difficulty deciding what kind of retreat is appropriate for them. And some struggle to justify the apparent luxury of giving up so much time. This article will briefly review the historical context of the Catholic retreat movement in this country; identify some of the most common kinds of retreats available at retreat centers; and, perhaps, remind us how important it is to grow in the joy of God’s love shining in and through us. The American Catholic Retreat Movement The history of the American Catholic Retreat Movement dates back 150 years. It began in the middle 19th century when most Catholics believed retreats were reserved for those who were ordained or vowed religious, whose lives are completely dedicated to spiritual growth and ministerial service. Even today, church law requires members of religious orders to observe an annual period of retreat. Emerging in the latter half of the 19th century, however, is a Catholic evangelical reform movement called, “Revivalism.” This was a mass movement of missionary priests who traveled the United States and Canada addressing the needs of struggling North American churches. Religious orders sent preachers and teachers throughout the country to support the new growth of Catholic communities. This early experience with parish renewal led to the development of new retreat programs and the first retreat centers sponsored by several religious orders. The Redemptorists (1852), Passionists (1860), Religious of the Cenacle (1893), and others provided various parish mission and retreat programs. And in 1875 the Dominican Sisters founded a center for women’s retreats in Pennsylvania focusing on Catholic social teaching. Within the first two decades of the 20th century, although retreat directors were still usually priests, lay people began to organize and promote their own retreats. Lay men and women were beginning to recognize the importance of regular spiritual retreats for all the faithful and initially sought to share the spirituality of religious communities. Lay retreat leagues were developed and looked to religious communities for ways to adapt their particular charism and spiritual practices to everyday life. Finally, in the period of time immediately before and following the Second Vatican Council, the importance of developing a spiritual life received a new emphasis and breadth in the church. Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church proclaimed that all believers are called to the “fullness of Christian life and the perfection of love.” No longer only an obligation of clergy and religious, now the church called all the faithful to grow in holiness and to witness to God’s presence in the midst of their lives. This new and more expansive vision of Catholic spiritual life raised many important questions about the role of retreats. If retreats are not just a spiritual exercise for those with a special call to religious life, retreat ministry must now serve a much wider audience with a more diverse range of experiences and expectations. In the 21st century, retreat centers will need to continue to adapt old retreat models and develop new, more accessible ones to help us reflect on the extraordinary presence of God in the ordinary experiences of our life. Their mission will be to find and offer many different ways of sharing the “good news” of God’s promise with everyone. Retreat Programs In recent years the challenge to develop programs to meet the spiritual needs of all the faithful has resulted in a much greater variety of retreats. There is an increasing appreciation among retreat leaders and participants that different types of retreats are necessary to support many different spiritual journeys. Retreat centers have found that no single kind of retreat can address every important topic; provide every spiritual exercise; or focus on every life issue which may concern retreatants. Even the context may change. At times retreatants need to be quiet and alone. At other times group discussion is more suitable. Even the length may vary from a day to more than a week depending on personal availability and program intensity. All retreats can only be judged, finally, by how well they provide a safe place to explore the unique revelations of the Spirit in our daily lives. Although retreat centers are continually expanding the kinds of retreats they offer, most retreats fall into one of the following categories. The most common type of retreat is a Preached or Conference Retreat. This retreat format is especially good for large groups centering around a theme like prayer, scripture, Jesus, or particular life issues. At this type of retreat a presenter or retreat leader provides one or more talks with periods of individual or group reflection. It often lasts for a weekend, but it may be shorter or conducted in a series of shorter meetings over two or more weeks. Another popular kind of retreat is called a Vocational, Lifestyle, or Commitment Retreat. Most often identified with Marriage Encounter and Engaged Encounter programs, this type of retreat focuses on the experiences and needs of one or more persons in a vowed relationship. While similar in structure to thematic retreats, these retreats are based more on the life situations and skills necessary to meet the demands of long term commitments. Some retreatants prefer meeting with smaller groups of five to 10 persons for a Guided Retreat. Guided Retreats typically invite participants to gather for a daily conference and then spend the rest of the day on their own. A spiritual director may be available for personal consultation, but there are no other individual or group meetings. Another familiar retreat context is the Directed Retreat or Individual Directed Retreat. This is primarily a more extended retreat experience lasting from five to 30 days. It focuses on personal or individual spiritual needs and experiences with daily meetings for spiritual direction. During one or more sessions each day the director facilitates individual prayer and provides reflection material for individual meditation. A combination of elements from both guided and directed retreats has also been integrated into the Group Directed Retreat. This kind of program offers both daily group conferences and regular opportunities for individual spiritual direction. This format may also allow everyone to benefit from the personal insights of an individual through group discussion or faith sharing. Another more recent development is retreats designed to focus on particular age or life phase groups. These include Youth Retreats, Mid-Life Retreats, and Senior Retreats. Each of these retreat programs acknowledges the special concerns and challenges of a particular time of life. They all provide a complete context of formational and, sometimes, recreational components to affirm and challenge each group’s spiritual growth through that period of their life. The Retreat Experience All of these retreat models, old and new, remind us of the importance of taking time to listen to God’s Word in the midst of our lives. Whether we have only a few hours or a few days, they offer us experiences of prayer and reflection to increase our awareness of the Mystery surrounding us. God dwells in all that we are and do. Retreats simply help us to sharpen our vision and open our hearts to the Divine Presence already alive in us. Making a retreat is a careful way to look at the events of our lives from a sacred perspective. The fleeting moments of life require us to stop and appreciate, by looking back and remembering, their sacred meaning and ultimate goal. Retreats provide us with a structured and purposeful pause in our lives to restore our feel for God’s joy and to renew our confidence in God’s faithful love. David Nowak is director of Marywood Retreat and Conference Center in Jacksonville. Turn to the Calendar of Events on pages 30-31 for information on upcoming retreats at Marywood. To obtain the Marywood Newsletter with a schedule of programs and retreats, call (904) 287-2525.