While wondering this week how this might impact some of our programming, I receive an email asking us to do a staff retreat on Amazing God and implementing that initiative in the parish.  I am not sure if ‘retreat’ and ’staff implimentation’ really go together, so I am praying about how we would give a staff reflection time AND in-service time.  It has brought me to reflect on past adult programming we have done.

Having attempted ’staff retreat’ in school ministry, I find it a challenge.  It is not really a challenge in presenting, it is more a challenge of participant mindset.  In school ministry, the teachers’ mindset was very resistant for the most part.  Their minds were everywhere but on retreat- papers to grade, classes to plan, programs to learn about.  Often they would come to the retreat with their plan books and grade books.  That is not a mindset easy to shift into prayerful reflection.  I even attempted to write a retreat based on using their plan-books.  If you cannot stop them from bringing them, then show them how to pray with them.  I think it went pretty well.  So, I think the challenge for this parish, to both be renewed and have some ideas to renew their parish with Amazing God will have to have a similar bent.  They are coming with their ‘plan book’ and ‘to do list’  how do we pray our way through that so we don’t lose sight of our Amazing God when we are in the weeds?

Prayers as we develop this further would be greatly appreciated.

Although we did not win the contest, I did have an opportunity to work with a couple of the folks from our music ministry at St. Mary’s in Clinton Heights.  It was a neat experience. 

Thanks for your prayer and support,

Chris.

PS Here’s the song:      we_are_called_5-27

Stamped Labyrinth

Over 70 Jr. High Youth from all over the Albany diocese got together this week to celebrate our Amazing God.  I was on the committee AND sending our children, so it was a labor of love.  Chris also spent the day, lead prayer and praise and presented a workshop on Music/Media as prayer.  In the afternoon, we had service projects.  Above, you will see the Labyrinth we built- using a pattern of a 7 circuit Labyrinth, drawn in blue crayon (not a wise choice) then stamp painted with ragged t-shirts by 15 participants on Wednesday.  Amazing- 1 hour to draw and 20 minutes to paint.  One young man painted his feet to indicate the entrance (in red at the bottom).  We talked about a labyrinth as prayer.  This will be used at the Albany Sr. High Rally this fall.

Now we need to complete ours!  We are also building a labyrinth to bring on retreat with us this coming year.  After borrowing one from RPI regularly, we decided it was time to build our own.

The Confirmation retreat is called Tsunami of the Spirit, a retreat focusing on our gifts, the gifts of the Spirit and being a wave of God’s love to others.  We are excited to be offering this OCt. 2, 2010 and hope to see you there!

Registration and more information- click here

We pray that you all are having a prayerful and restful summer, and if that is not the case, that you feel the guiding hand of God in all you are doing.

Peace-

Beth and Chris

I began to ponder some questions on reflecting on this particular retreat.  Is confirmation simply individuals “confirming” their belief in God and the Church or is it God conferring a deeper sense of God’s self to us?  An offering, a invitation, a reality, waiting to be opened, waiting to be realized?

Beth and I are recently back from yet another confirmation retreat.  This one was unique in the sense that we were back in the Ogdensburg Diocese.  Secondly, the group was mainly 7^th and 8^th graders.  The confirmandi were awesome!  They seem to be one of the best prepared groups that I have ever encountered.  I believe that is based on two factors, the confirmandi’s  receptivity and the dedication of their teachers and catechists. 

It was a great pleasure to work with and pray with a couple of my former teachers, Sr. Mary Rita and Sr. Annunciata.  As junior high students, we sometimes do not appreciate the great prayers and patience we are afforded.  As an adult I look at these two women of great faith and love with gratitude for both of them.

Peace,

Beth and Chris

Christ has no body on earth but yours

No hands but yours.  No feet but yours.

Yours are the feet with which He goes

About doing good

And yours are the hands He

is to bless people now

-Theresa of Avila

What a wonderful opportunity to share faith with 63 teens from our former Diocese in Ogdensburg.

The group of teens was awesome!!  We talked about the walls, the obstacles in our society which attempt to lessen the simple fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our God, Abba!

As confirmation candidates, we talked about how to overcome those walls, no matter how difficult and seemingly impossible.  For as the Gospel of Luke says, “Nothing is impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:37)

Thanks for an awesome day.

Hands and Feet

It was really great to be able to share with them some new ways of prayer, like a labyrinth borrowed from Alice H.  It was also the first time we used a guided meditation that the Holy Spirit would not leaveme alone until I wrote.  It was really cool and in the end, the participant’s favorite part of the day.

This past week we have been looking at the upcoming retreats in Hudson/Stuyvesant Falls and this coming weekend in Plattsburgh.  We are excited at the directions the Spirit seems to be taking things. 

Now, partially rested and renewed, we jump into this coming week. 

A friend emailed me this quote and I am finding it a guide post for me right now:

“In souls filled with love, the desire to please God is a continual prayer.”  -Wesley

At the same time, I read an email I sent to a friend.  I meant to say “I am praying for you” and what I typed was “I am prayer for you.”  She wrote back, “You *are* prayer for me, thank you.”  So while praying about these kids in Clifton Park, and what the Spirit wants them to have the opportunity to experience, I am reflecting on ‘being prayer’ and how, as a Eucharistic community, we are called to *be* prayer for each other.

Prayer defined is “communicating with God,”  what if we took St. Francis’ desire to make his life a prayer one step further, that all we are becomes prayer, that all we are becomes talking to and listening to God?  How does that change the way I live?  Interact?  love?  disagree?  How does that cause conversion?  What language am I using as I pray?  And how do I encourage others on their journey, on their *being* prayer?

Much to reflect on, with the added dimension that this will probably change the plan for the retreat.  Ah well.  The Spirit doesn’t work on my time table… never has….  which is good, as mine is not perfect, but God’s is.

We didn’t do evaluations with the 6-8 grades at Blessed Sacrament.  It seemed too much like ’school’ and not retreat to us.  These young people needed work on team building and self-esteem.  ”School” stuff from us just didn’t seem appropriate- almost like they would be graded on their experience.  So today, when we got a package in the mail from them, we were taken aback.

In the package were 70ish thank you letters.  Although all followed the same basic formula “thank you for… I liked…. I will use…..” each one was personal and reflective and a gift.  Each one is a blessing.

Here are some excerpts:

“People tell me all the time to think before I act, but the way you explained it and acted it out made it make way more sense.  I really liked the way you were teaching us by using things we could relate to.”

“I thought the retreat was cool.  I just wanted to say thanks.”

“I learned from pulse that if you react too soon, you can’t take it back. Just like at home.”

“I know we are different but we are one Body.  That is my favorite part.”

“You helped me see that I can have an impact.”

“The wall showed me that I can overcome anything life throws at me.”

“This experience with you guys was great.  It really brought us together.”