THE BLOG OF THE BON SECOURS RETREAT & CONFERENCE CENTER
Retreat with Us
Welcome to the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center’s blog! This blog will extend our retreat ministry by bringing prayers and reflections into your home ‘retreat.’ Many of our presenters and staff share their homilies, favorite prayers, and reflections through this medium. We encourage you to comment, pass it along to friends or simply take a moment to pray with us. We hope that this will serve as a moment during your day when you can ‘retreat with us.’
By Gerri Leder The journey through Advent may call up other patient journeys. Waiting through pregnancy for the birth of a child takes patience, and much later, sitting up late into the night for your teenager to arrive home. You may remember waiting to buy your first home, for the inspections to be completed, the mortgage to be approved — all the while planning, anticipating, and visualizing the new day when the waiting is over. The days tick by…and finally,…
By Sister Elaine Davia, CBS Last weekend, it finally wasn't raining, and the weather was bearable enough to go out and clean up my garden, getting it ready for a few months of fallow time both for the soil and for me. It looked kind of sad and barren as I finished up. But then, just along the edge of the raised bed, I saw one little yellow daisy reaching straight up. It was perfect as ever, as if to…
By Gerri Leder Car trips were especially boisterous when we visited Grandma as kids. Six kids sharing the second row and ‘way back’ of a station wagon generated every kind of noise, from happy chaos to disputes about whose turn it was to sit in a certain spot or play with the popular toy. No wonder my Dad invented the “quiet game,” in which the first one to break the silence lost. The quiet game was pointless to us and…
By Gerri Leder The light poles were adorned with white Christmas lights when we drove through town after Thanksgiving dinner. How is it that, having barely put away the Thanksgiving china, we find ourselves barreling toward Christmas? What about Advent, when we Christians prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world? The word Advent derives from the Latin word, Adventus, which means coming. The season of Advent is often referred to as the space…
By Mary DeTurris Poust Writer and retreat presenter Mary DeTurris Poust invites us into the season of Advent with beautiful words from the introduction to her new book, Waiting in Joyful Hope: Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas 2025-2026, published by Liturgical Press. She writes: “Standing on tiptoe” is how author Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, describes our Advent time of waiting in her beautiful book Seasons of Your Heart. I’ve always loved that image. Can’t you just imagine yourself peering over the edge of…
As Thanksgiving arrives, we are invited to pause, breathe deeply, and recognize the countless ways God has been at work in our lives — quietly, tenderly, faithfully. While the holiday is often filled with family traditions, favorite dishes, and the warmth of reunion, it can also serve as an opportunity for deep spiritual reflection and a reminder to practice gratitude as a way of life. In the Psalms, we are encouraged again and again to “give thanks to the Lord for…
By Sharoon Jamil There’s something about stepping into a forest, a meadow, or a quiet lakeside that makes the soul remember what the mind has forgotten. The air seems heavier with meaning, and the noise of our lives—emails, deadlines, opinions—fades into the background like static we suddenly realize we don’t need. In those moments, we don’t just breathe differently; we exist differently. And perhaps that’s the point. In a time when constant motion is praised and stillness is treated like…
By Macrina Wiederkehr Slowly She celebrated the sacrament of Letting Go… First she surrendered her Green Then the Orange, yellow, and Red… Finally she let go of her Brown… Shedding her last leaf She stood empty and silent, stripped bare Leaning against the sky she began her vigil of trust… Shedding her last leaf She watched its journey to the ground… She stood in silence, Wearing the color of emptiness Her branches wondering: How do you give shade, with so…
By: Mary DeTurris Poust If you spend any serious amount of time with Scripture, you can’t help but take to heart that there are some absolutes when it comes to our call and responsibility as Christians. While there are many things that are not specifically addressed by Scripture, there are others that are undeniable and irrefutable: loving our neighbor, welcoming the “stranger” and caring for the poor. No matter how you slice it, there is no way to avoid these…
In a world fractured by violence, fear, and misunderstanding, the call to peace feels both urgent and sacred. The conflict in Gaza and Israel has once again exposed the deep wounds that lie between communities, faiths, and families — wounds that words often fail to heal. This gathering reminds us that dialogue is itself an act of peace. It is a form of prayer in motion — a way of saying, “We refuse to let hatred have the last word.”…
