I'd like to go on a retreat. Are there different kinds?

Sister Maxine  
So our first question comes from Maria, who's across the pond, just outside of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Long distance message.

Sister Julie  
It is. That was a long carrier pigeon ride.

Sister Maxine  
She said, "I'm wanting to go for a retreat somewhere. Could you let me know where this is possible?" And she adds, "I remember how it felt spending time with sisters who used to have a convent down the road. It was just an 'out-of-this-world' feeling." And she said, "I would love to go just for myself, because I've never forgotten that feeling."

Sister Julie  
Well, it's hard to forget an out of this world feeling.

Sister Maxine  
But it's nice that she did experience that. I think it's nice that she experienced it around the nuns.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, I would think that was a good thing.

Sister Maxine  
I think that's a good thing. And she desires to feel that again.

Sister Julie  
I love how you phrase this, Maria, about wanting to tap into that feeling. Again, a lot of times, we think about going on retreat just to get away from everything, leave everything, just drop everything. But I love how you phrase it about wanting to tap into that feeling that you had when you were with those sisters at that time. And that this is something that you recognize that you need to do just for yourself.

Sister Maxine  
And many people will go on retreat for that feeling of being in the presence of God--even though we're always in the presence of God, sometimes we're more able to be present to God. And to be alone with God. I think that's a very common reason to be on a retreat.

Sister Julie  
Very much so. So it's funny because in the secular world, actually not the secular world; I mean, everything is sacred. So there really is no secular world. But I should say more specifically, in the corporate world, for example, there's a lot of talk about retreats and even in corporations and businesses, there's a recognition that people need to get away in a chance to regroup even though the focus of that might not be to get closer to God. But there is a recognition that human beings are built such that we need a little space, a little time to regroup.

Sister Maxine  
Jesus tells us that he had a busy ministry. He was going all over the place working with different people, crowds were chasing him sometimes. And you know, he talks about it. In Luke 5, for example, he withdraws to a deserted place to pray, and he knows that he needs to renew his own energy, so he can go back out there again, engage fully with the world, and engage with all those people who are who are turning to him.

Sister Julie  
And I love that passage, because that's, I think, one of the center places where we get that imagery of going to the desert to be alone. I mean, that's actually one of the foundations of religious life is the experience of people going out into the desert to be alone. Hence, you know, monasticism, the Benedictine tradition, St. Benedict, St. Scholastica. So there's that deep desire that we have within ourselves. Sometimes I don't think we can articulate it, like, "I need to go and get closer to God." But it's a sense that we feel in every fiber of our being, that we need something different, we need something more. And Maria, you had a great experience at one time earlier in your life. And it's it's that wanting to return to discover, again, that feeling that you had.

Sister Maxine  
For Maria, who wonders how to do a retreat, how to make this possible what to look for, there are many different kinds of retreats that she might want to take a look at. Directed retreats, which are seven days, or usually seven- or eight-day retreats that you have a spiritual director that you may meet with once a day or every other day. There are individual retreats, community retreats.

Sister Julie  
When I first started, it was more of a community retreat that I had experienced. And that was mostly through school where like, our whole confirmation class, for example, goes on retreat for a weekend. And so you can have that where there's a common experience, and you're meant to be interacting and praying with one another. But as I grow older, in my old age, Sister, I love the silent, quiet individual retreats where I really can be alone. And that that's another way to do a retreat is in total silence. Other than perhaps saying, "Pass the salt"--even then though, some retreats, you can't even say that. So other kinds might be like a thematic kind of retreat--some people will go on retreats that are around the theme of knitting, for example, or maybe it's wilderness kind of retreat where you have an outer theme. But the goal, again, is to use that pathway, whether it's knitting, or music, or writing as a way to tap into your spirit and to be present to God.

Sister Maxine  
And there's a lot of those different kinds of retreats. The Racine Dominicans that we talked with a while back talked about basket weaving as a kind of retreat, which I thought was very interesting.

Sister Julie  
The one I want to try--I mean, I don't think it exists. But the Jesuits I'd gone to school with, they talked about, you know, if you're really faithful to prayer and faithful to being on retreat, that basically you could open up a phonebook and have that be the source of your retreat. So I'm looking for the phone book retreat. I think that would be fascinating.

Sister Maxine  
Another place besides the phone book, although you might find them in the phone book, Cenacle retreat centers.

Sister Julie  
Mm hmm. Another place to check in would simply be your parish, or diocese, or if you have religious nearby--sisters or brothers--that you might want to contact them because chances are they are in the know, because part of our life as religious is to have regular annual retreats. So they would be in the know about retreats in your area. Now, it's interesting in the chat room, a lot of folks have had different ideas about why they take retreats or why they don't. And one of the common themes that I'm picking up is about retreats being expensive. And sometimes it's not a matter of choosing to go or not to go, but just not being able to afford it or to afford the time. So that's definitely a piece to consider because it involves overnight accommodations, and that sort of thing. I do know here in Chicago, there's a group called Catholics on Call. And I know they offer, for example, free retreats for young people who are discerning their life's calling. And so you can sometimes find places like that or other retreat centers that will offer one or two free retreats--usually shorter retreats for people who can't afford it financially or afford the time.

Sister Maxine  
Somebody had mentioned here in the chat room going to the busy person's retreat. There are so many different varieties. There are ones that are shorter in time, recognizing that some folks might only have a weekend, and there are also online retreats. Now, I know that they exist I have just never experienced one. I don't know if you have, Sister Julie.

Sister Julie  
I've never done one myself because I check my email, and I start surfing, and so an online retreat does not work for me because I think so much of our life and our ministry is online. But I know actually our IHM sisters have a discernment retreat online. But there are also other places and we'll have to come up maybe with a little bit of a list. I think that'd be a good thing to post in the forum at a nun's life.org/forum. Maybe we can get a topic started there. And we can add in our thoughts and other people can, because that's a great idea.

Sister Maxine  
Lisa mentions that, as well, we could create a directory of retreat and spirituality centers on the forum.

Sister Julie  
Maybe even spiritual directors. I know, some spiritual directors are starting to use Skype, and other ways of having audio and visual to relate to people. So those would be really good resources for people who either don't have the time, the finances, or even the accessibility. Now I want to point out Joyce Elaine made a great comment. And she said that she's trying to go on retreat more often just in her daily life by taking an afternoon off and going to the beach. And I think that is a great idea.

Sister Maxine  
Along that same line of sort of a do-it-yourself retreat.

Sister Julie  
Oh, I like that!

Sister Maxine  
Kate, who is a librarian, says "This book is wildly popular at the library--can't keep it on the shelf."

Sister Julie  
Oh, that sounds like because of the phrase "spiritual exercises," it sounds like it might be based on the Jesuits' Ignatian spirituality. There is a form of retreat. It's a form of the spiritual exercises, which is usually a 30-day retreat with the Jesuits, called the 19th Annotation. It's a retreat based on the spiritual exercises. But instead of it being done in a solid, consecutive 30 days, it's done over the course of sometimes like a year, or a year and a half, so that you gradually go through it. And that's really helpful for people who just can't take a month off from their lives. And that was a lot of us.

Sister Maxine  
Yes. Understandable.