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’.
On Wednesday, Linda Mastro will be guiding our Friends Day retreat with the theme of Blessing the Ordinary. (Click here to learn more.) As the holidays approach we tend to get wrapped up into a hectic pace and focus on those high points in spirituality, but what are you thankful for today? How does scripture guide us to have gratitude for ALL of the blessings in our lives? Are you thankful for the fall foliage today? The friendly smile of…
As we continue to recognize Spiritual/Pastoral Care Week, we want to take a moment to thank all of the spiritual leaders who have walked through our doors. Our sponsored retreat ministry relies on these leaders as they present and guide our many retreats at the Center. Our Spiritual Direction Institute trains future spiritual directors/companions. Our conference groups often include spiritual leaders too and they utilize our space to train or offer respite to those who serve. We are so blessed…
This week we are recognizing and celebrating Spiritual/Pastoral Care Week. Have you be touched by the gifts of a spiritual director/companion, pastor or chaplain? These special individuals offer hope and healing so we pause to offer this blessing for continued connection to God's presence in all that they do. A Blessing for Presence May you awaken to the mystery of being here And enter the quiet immensity of your own presence. May you have joy and peace in the temple…
Today's reflection is another wise post from retreat presenter Fr. Michael Schleupner. Are you familiar with the roots of the word 'opportunity'? This visual described below can be a great reminder for us to evaluate and take advantage of our opportunities in life, based on guidance from Scripture. Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding…
Many guests will be attending our "Grief Retreat: How Wisdom/Spiritual Teachers Can Guide Us" retreat this Saturday. Unfortunately, it's a topic that most of us are familiar with in life, but there are many resources available to guide us. Coming together in community and being aware of how grief can affect us can be a powerful tool for healing. We hope that if you are hurting today, reading this will remind you that you're not alone in your journey. Invite…
We Are Connected Although everyone is an individual, we are all connected Having a living body on earth at this time makes us accountable to each other When things happen in the universe collectively it affects everyone singularly “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is not just a question the answer is a truth I’m responsible for you as well as you are for me No matter how much we may deny it We all came to…
Are you drawn to poetry and creative reflections as you nourish your spiritual life? Do you journal words and phrases as you contemplate your questions for God or gratitude for life's blessings? Today, we offer a poem that reminds us to care for and admire ourselves, just as our Creator would want us to do. We also invite you to consider joining this Friday's poetry retreat (click here to learn more). Love After Love The time will comewhen, with…
A Christian Prayer for Peace in Our Time O God, author and giver of peace, in whose image and likeness each of us has been created with a human dignity worthy of respect on earth and destined for eternal glory, Listen to the cry that rises from every corner of this fragile earth, from our human family torn by violent conflict: Give peace in our time, O good and gracious God, that peace which, as your son Jesus Christ told…
Our hearts are breaking this week as we watch the news and see the devastation in Israel and Palestine. There are no words that express the grief for lives lost to violence. Please take a few moments, light a candle, and pray for all of those affected by the war. May God's desire for peace be heard as we lift our voices around the world. "Let the attacks and weapons cease, please, because it must be understood that terrorism and…
We're so grateful that Fr. Michael Schleupner, a favorite retreat leader and spiritual director here at the Center, shares his homilies and reflections with us. Let's take a few quiet moments to read his thoughts about fairness and spirituality, based on this Scripture passages found in the book of Matthew. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual…
