Nativity Young Adult Fall Retreat
By Fr. John Roderick, F.S.C.B.
The Nativity Young Adult Group gathered for a weekend retreat at Highland Camp and Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colorado last October. The title of our retreat was taken from a verse from the Book of Revelation: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me (3:20).
A few days prior to the retreat the Church celebrated the Memorial of St. John Paul II. That evening, I watched a documentary on his life with one of my brother priests. The scenes of the late pontiff’s hiking and kayaking trips with the young adults he accompanied inspired me to entrust the retreat to his protection. The documentary helped clarify my desire for the retreat to be a personal encounter with the Lord through the beauty of creation, prayer and fellowship.
In this reflection, I would like to share some of the highlights of our time together.
Home is where the heart is free. We made our home in a spacious cabin located a short distance from the main retreat center. It was a perfect spot for our group since it was nestled away amongst the aspens and pines which enabled us to freely decide the schedule of our retreat. It came fully equipped with a kitchen where we prepared our meals, a nicely decorated main room with couches, a fireplace and a piano, and three separate sleeping areas. The beauty of common spaces along with the warmth of the roaring fireplace made us all feel at home, and helped facilitate our hearts being open to one another and to the Lord. It helped us to be truly free.
Praying together. Our retreat begun Friday evening with the praying of evening prayer. As we began, I reminded everyone of the primary reason why we were together was “to help each other look at what the Lord is doing in our lives and to ask to listen to what He wants to say to us during these days.” When we opened our red Liturgy of the Hours books, one of our friends was quite excited that we would be praying different Psalms from the regular ones we pray every Sunday evening when we have our regular meetings. Full of enthusiasm, he mentioned that it was awesome that he could expand his repertoire of the Psalms. While praying I was moved by the seriousness and engagement of everyone to really lean in and pray together to the Lord. The climate of prayer and the orientation of our hearts towards God and our friendship accompanied us throughout our retreat.
Fun in the kitchen. One of the reasons why we chose the large cabin with the kitchen was to invite the young adults to form small groups and take the responsibility for preparing the meals. Two of our friends made amazing homemade pizza Friday evening and this helped set the climate for wonderful discussions and sharing around the dinner table. The pizzas just kept leaping out of the oven and it seemed like you could really taste the love and joy that went into them. Afterwards we put on some of our favorite music while we worked together to clean and tidy the kitchen.
Witness to hope: The life of St. John Paul II. Leading up to the retreat there were many signs that led me to desire to invite my friends to discover the beauty of the lives of the saints. I proposed that we watch the documentary on St. John Paul II by George Weigel. Prior to the documentary a friend and I shared with the group how important this saint was for our lives. I wanted everyone to meet and befriend the saint who became a real spiritual father for me while I was studying in university, and who helped me to discover my vocation to the priesthood.
The beauty of creation. After the documentary, we finished the evening with a moment of prayer. Then one of our friends asked if he could sit outside and take some time to be still and look at the stars. Personally, I would have preferred to hurry to bed, but I decided to accompany him, and a few others came along as well. When we came outside, we were greeted by a spectacular light show of bright shinning stars. The cool and quiet of the night seemed to make the stars shine even brighter. This moment reminded me of how much I need friends to invite me to do things that I may not be immediately interested in doing. In following their proposals I can discover more of the beauty of God’s creation. Another friend shared with us how the stars shining in the dark sky is like a paradigm for life. Certain special moments in life, she continued, are like the stars that break through and enlighten the darkness that often dominates our days.
Walking together. After breakfast on Saturday, we left for a hike to the Calypso Cascades Trail in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We were blessed to have a few friends drive up to join us for the day. We began the hike by entrusting our day and our lives to the Blessed Virgin Mary by praying the Angelus together. The 6-mile trail ran parallel to various cascades and waterfalls. We were surrounded by amazing fall foliage and the gradual increase of morning sunlight and warmth was much appreciated. We stopped many times to admire the beautiful scenery and running water over the rocks. Upon arrival to the Calypso Cascades, we stopped for a much-deserved break and group picture.
Come let us adore Him. Following the hike, we rushed over to St. Malo’s Chapel on the Rock for Adoration and Mass. This is the chapel where St. John Paul II prayed during his trip to Denver in 1993. It was great to stop and spend time in silent prayer before the Lord present in the Holy Eucharist. I remember being filled with gratitude for having the opportunity to be before the Lord with my young adult friends, and aware that the greatest thing I can do as a priest is to bring people to the Lord present in the Eucharist. One of our friends mentioned how it was so much easier to pray in adoration knowing that his friends were there beside him and looking at Jesus with him. Another mentioned how amazing it was to pray in the exact same spot as a great saint.
Lunch with an unexpected guest. After a not so brief stop at the St. Malo coffee shop we returned to our cabin for lunch. Our friends delighted us with chicken parmesan. During the meal I wanted to have a small assembly with the young adults asking them what most struck them about our time together and what they were most grateful for. We ended up staying at the dinner table for close to three hours. Everyone desired to share what they discovered and what caught their attention. I was really moved by the depth and personal character of everything being shared. At a certain point I looked at my watch and I wondered where in the world the time went. This beautiful experience of friendship and communion pointed to the presence of an unexpected guest in our presence. I thought to myself that this must have been what the disciples on the road to Emmaus experienced when the unexpected guest joined them on their journey and their “hearts burned.” We could have stayed around the table all evening.
After cleaning up the cabin, we prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the beautiful retreat weekend and left to return to our regular lives. During the drive home, I was filled with gratitude for how everything came together, and for how I saw the hand of God present in the lives of all of my friends, and the newness and joy that comes from having been graciously visited by Him.
