Each day that I come up that beautiful drive at St. Anne Retreat Center, I’m reminded of the great blessing I have been given. It has been just over four years since Bishop Foys appointed me as Director and I’m grateful each and every day. But since the pandemic, it’s been too quiet out there and with good reason. Working with the Bishop and Father Ryan Maher, we’ve made the determination that we’re not likely to see retreats resume until at least January.
At first when that decision was made, I was a bit disappointed. I miss the energy and the people who come there for spiritual renewal. I miss the high school kids and all that goes with those retreats. I miss a good deal of my staff since we can’t utilize them during this down time. But it’s funny how God gives us those little reminders to keep us moving in the right direction.
As I was driving to work early one morning, it dawned on me that this was a perfect time to reflect on St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In particular, the 8th chapter and the 28th verse. “We know all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose”. All things work for good and yes that includes pandemics, social unrest and all the other things that we are facing in this crazy time. Of course, pandemics and social unrest are not good, but we must work to find how we can use them to further God’s Kingdom on earth. We take what we’re given and work to find the purpose God has for us in the circumstance.
When I got to work that morning, I had a new attitude. We were going to take what we were given and do what we can to make the Retreat Center an even better place when we re-open. We began by developing some ideas of what we wanted to do. At first, it was primarily dedicated to the outside of the Retreat Center. We redid the courtyard seating area, we moved benches around on the grounds in front of the statues. We weeded and trimmed and planted new growth and put new mulch all around. All of us were involved in the process. In a short period time, we became a landscaping group. We’re blessed with hardworking and talented people who are willing to get their hands dirty to do the job.
We then began to work inside, moving the offices to the first floor of the Convent Center to get us more centrally located. We re-positioned furniture to create better gathering areas and set up a new conference room. We’re now utilizing the front entrance in that beautiful foyer that has been so seldom used in the past. That’s just the beginning of what we hope to get accomplished by the time we’re ready for retreats.
While all of this has been going on, something beautiful came from it. We had a purpose and a reason to come to work and it brought everyone together. I told the staff that during this time, we have no job titles only jobs to do. I’m proud of my staff because of how they’ve enthusiastically pitched in to get these jobs done. I’m going to leave the rest of the projects as a surprise so those of you who come will see them once you come back for a retreat.
Even though we are closed to the public on the inside, we still encourage people to come out and see what we’ve done around the grounds. It’s a beautiful place and a good place to come out and pray and walk the grounds.
None of this would have possible without the great support of Bishop Foys and for that we are grateful. He understands the importance of having a beautiful place for the people of the Diocese to come to and get away from the stress of the world. Come and see the beauty and experience the peacefulness here at St. Anne Retreat Center. We look forward to getting back to business but until then, please pray for our work that has been entrusted to us.
At first when that decision was made, I was a bit disappointed. I miss the energy and the people who come there for spiritual renewal. I miss the high school kids and all that goes with those retreats. I miss a good deal of my staff since we can’t utilize them during this down time. But it’s funny how God gives us those little reminders to keep us moving in the right direction.
As I was driving to work early one morning, it dawned on me that this was a perfect time to reflect on St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In particular, the 8th chapter and the 28th verse. “We know all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose”. All things work for good and yes that includes pandemics, social unrest and all the other things that we are facing in this crazy time. Of course, pandemics and social unrest are not good, but we must work to find how we can use them to further God’s Kingdom on earth. We take what we’re given and work to find the purpose God has for us in the circumstance.
When I got to work that morning, I had a new attitude. We were going to take what we were given and do what we can to make the Retreat Center an even better place when we re-open. We began by developing some ideas of what we wanted to do. At first, it was primarily dedicated to the outside of the Retreat Center. We redid the courtyard seating area, we moved benches around on the grounds in front of the statues. We weeded and trimmed and planted new growth and put new mulch all around. All of us were involved in the process. In a short period time, we became a landscaping group. We’re blessed with hardworking and talented people who are willing to get their hands dirty to do the job.
We then began to work inside, moving the offices to the first floor of the Convent Center to get us more centrally located. We re-positioned furniture to create better gathering areas and set up a new conference room. We’re now utilizing the front entrance in that beautiful foyer that has been so seldom used in the past. That’s just the beginning of what we hope to get accomplished by the time we’re ready for retreats.
While all of this has been going on, something beautiful came from it. We had a purpose and a reason to come to work and it brought everyone together. I told the staff that during this time, we have no job titles only jobs to do. I’m proud of my staff because of how they’ve enthusiastically pitched in to get these jobs done. I’m going to leave the rest of the projects as a surprise so those of you who come will see them once you come back for a retreat.
Even though we are closed to the public on the inside, we still encourage people to come out and see what we’ve done around the grounds. It’s a beautiful place and a good place to come out and pray and walk the grounds.
None of this would have possible without the great support of Bishop Foys and for that we are grateful. He understands the importance of having a beautiful place for the people of the Diocese to come to and get away from the stress of the world. Come and see the beauty and experience the peacefulness here at St. Anne Retreat Center. We look forward to getting back to business but until then, please pray for our work that has been entrusted to us.
