Funniest/best/ Or Worst Retreat Experiences

[blacksheep]

Going to do my very first all male retreat with my church this weekend. I am really hoping to get some great things out of it. I havn't done a retreat since confirmation. So I will ask...what have been your experiences?? Good? Bad? Scary? 

[Tufsoles]

I went to the Fishers Conference when they were still having it in the Colorado Springs area. When I went it was so much fun and I learned how to apply my catholic faith in the real world. Sadly, People just stop going. They got bored and unintrested. Also, It did cost quite abit to go, so that was a factor too.  :cry:

[Basilisa Marie]

Yes, yes, and yes.  :) 

 

My parish's youth group did this thing we called the "Catholic triple threat."  We had fall and spring weekend retreats (friday evening through sunday morning).  Saturday night we'd have a rosary walk (with talks/testimonies/witnesses/stuff between decades, which included a song that went with it to meditate on), after which we'd have an hour of adoration with confessions available (almost everyone went), after which we'd have mass. It was really, really cool.  Afterward we'd have about an hour of social stuff, goofing off with each other and our priest before he drove back for Sunday morning mass at the parish.  Those were definitely my best experiences, because it really effectively combined celebrating the sacraments with educational talks from adult leaders and inspiring testimonies from peer leaders. 

Retreats can be good or bad based on the leaders and how willing people are to participate in things.  It's definitely a bit scary at times, but that's fine! They're supposed to help you grow.  I've been to some bad retreats, which seem to be the result of poor planning or a misguided focus from the leaders...but there's not much you can do about that.  My advice would be to go in with a positive, open mindset and be willing to jump in.  You'll probably learn stuff and have a great time. :)   Maybe prepare by going to confession beforehand?  That way you're setting yourself up as best as you can to be open to what God wants to tell you. 

[ContemporaryCaflicCrusader]

[mod]Mature content --franciscanheart[/mod]

[PhuturePriest]

I was never one for acronyms, but I think this is a worthy moment to use one.

 

TMI.

[Tufsoles]

I was going to say thing. ewww. and I work in a positon were I have seen alot of eww moments and they don't phase me but I don't need to know that.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

  :twitch: 

 

please use your filte.r next time.

Edited February 23, 2013 by ToJesusMyHeart

[Groo the Wanderer]

best: youth 2000

 

worst: White House Retreat in St. Louis.  Heretic Jesuit telling us all its ok to receive the Anointing of the Sick, even if nothing is wrong with us *wink wink*, another heretic Jesuit saying he didn't think Satan really existed during Reconciliation.

[BG45]

Best:  My Catholic Student Association did a very nice retreat at a local convent.  The nuns had the best sense of humor.  They would joke with you as you worked alongside them to clean the dishes, told us stories about our priest's trip there while he was in seminary on a Retreat, and the Mother Superior could almost magically make her blackberry appear from nowhere under her habit.  She texted us the door codes to get back in, so no one had to wait in the lobby for us as we walked the oppossum infested Rosary Walk at night.

 

Worst:  Same retreat in one way.  The nuns accidentally booked me in the maintenance closet.  I walked to my room and found it full of janitorial supplies.  It was an easy fix and we all had a good laugh about it, but the others on that retreat still won't let me live down that I almost had to sleep with the mops and brooms.

 

Most Uncomfortable But Spiritually Fulfilling:  I had Confession on a Retreat once where the priest in charge wouldn't blink.  He just stared the entire time straight at me and it caused me to stumble all over my words. 

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

At my Confirmation retreat everyone was all circled up singing praise and worship music. And then our teacher decides that while she plays the guitar we should each go around the circle and say what our favorite part of the day was and then jump into the giant bean bag in the middle of the floor. It was um... different.

 

But hey, the Confirmation retreat was the only part of my entire class that I liked, so that works.

[FutureSister2009]

I have been lucky to go on many great retreats.

 

My first really memorable one was my senior retreat. We all went to a Church for the whole day. Our guest speaker was Father Stan Fortuna (I'm sure there's someone on here who's heard of him) He is a rapping Priest. He was amazing and he really knew how to talk to high school students and I think everyone really enjoyed him. And we had Chik Fil A for lunch too as an added bonus. It was a great experience.

 

Another favorite memory of mine was last year my first year at Desales. We had a special women's retreat. We stayed at a convent in Maryland where the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis Desales live. It was a peaceful and beatiful time for all of us to just be together. The topic was The Beauty of Womanhood which is a topic dear to my heart. I'll never forget it.

 

We have a spring retreat right before Holy Week so it's very soon and I'm looking forward to it.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

Best: I have two that I can't decide between: The Come and See Retreats for both the Sisters of Life and the Nashville Dominicans. Both were so full of joy and peace, laughter, and good food! The Sisters of both communities are radiant with Christ, and I felt unbelievably at home in both convents. The prayer times were beautiful, and everyone was just so like Mary! 

 

Worst: A silent retreat I went on last year. The prayer itself wasn't bad, but we didn't have warm water for our showers, and the showers were outdoors, and there were hornets and spiders and snakes in our cabins so I hardly slept at all due to fear of being stung/bitten. And it was a chilly weekend, so that didn't make it any more enjoyable. But it wasn't all bad--the meditations I did were fruitful and I got very good spiritual direction. 

 

:)

Edited February 23, 2013 by ToJesusMyHeart

[Ash Wednesday]

Worst was a girl I knew who slept with a guy, went to confession about it, felt bad about it and was sorry, and the priest told her that as long as two people "loved each other and were in a relationship" he saw nothing wrong with it. She was telling some other girl about it and the girl went into hysterics and wished she had seen the same priest. I wasn't in any place to judge anyone, but it wasn't really a pleasant thing to hear about when you're on a retreat. I guess it was also the first time I really experienced first hand people that professed Christianity but lived double lives -- which a lot of us do and try to improve, but they treated it all like a joke.

 

Best experience is probably too personal to share, really. Hate to say that but it would take a long time and a lot of personal things to bring up. I will say that I loved going to mountain retreat camps in the forest with my parish as a young adolescent, looking back and thinking of what a lot of youth deal with now, my upbringing and experiences like I had were just downright wholesome.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Ash Wednesday

[BigJon16]

Best: Diocesan young men's retreat. It was an awesome, manly-man filled weekend of hiking, praying, and playing. My favorite part was a lantern lit Stations of the Cross hike through the woods in the evening. It was awesome, and I am totally looking forward to it this year. 

 

 

Worst: Never really been on a bad retreat. There have been some uncomfortable moments, but that is what makes a retreat a retreat, right?