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’.
Later this week, we will commemorate the 23rd anniversary of September 11. We hold this as a solemn day to remember those lost, those that suffered, and those that risked their lives for others. Although we are 23 years removed from the devastation of that day, we continue to care for one another and move forward as a nation. Join us in prayer today and Wednesday... Holy God, Creator of all people and all nations, It is with sorrow and…
Seek Me with your whole being. I desire to be found by you, and I orchestrate the events of your life with that purpose in mind. When things go well and you are blessed, you can feel Me smiling on you. When you encounter rough patches along your life-journey, trust that My Light is still shining upon you. My reasons for allowing these adversities may be shrouded in mystery, but My continual Presence with you is an absolute promise. Seek…
Dear Creator God, You made the wind and the waves and the wide sandy beach that stretches as far as the eye can see. I felt Your presence as I baked in the sun and dove in the sea-green water, listening to the gulls darting overhead. May I continue to bask in Your warmth in the cooling autumn days. The ice cream truck was always there when I wanted it, and somehow the rain stayed away when the picnic supper…
Amy Sorensen Kulesa shared this poem with us, originally from ordinary on purpose. All of these are the perfect reasons to call out to God in prayer. GOD HEARS! More Hope... God hears. God hears our fancy, formal, memorized prayers, fingers slipping over beads. God hears our bitter, angry prayers. Why, God??? How??? What am I supposed to do now, God??? God hears our tiny, whispered pleas. Every single word. Please. Help. Be near. Or even… God???? God hears through our…
Mary DeTurris Poust writes a regular blog on her website, Not Strictly Spiritual, and today's post is one of her writings. She invites us to ponder: if we could have $10 million OR five minutes with Jesus, which would we choose? It sounds like a tough decision...but is it? Mary will be at Bon Secours October 25-27 for a weekend retreat, Make My Joy Complete. An earlybird discount expires August 25 so book your spot soon! Click here to read…
Did you know this society exists? It was originally started in 1997 by Pamela Gail Johnson, who wanted to celebrate when she felt happy! The trouble, however, was she was living in the midst of the self-help era when so many people were focused on what was wrong, not what was bringing them happiness. So she built a community of people that wanted to rejoice in their joy. What began as something small has become an international movement to seek…
Today is World Conservation Day, a day dedicated to acknowledging that the "foundation for a healthy society is a healthy environment." As a ministry of the Sisters of Bon Secours, we are called to care for Creation and our Earth in thoughtful and meaningful ways, even when it challenges us. Through our Justice, Peace, & Integrity for Creation ministry (JPIC), we make strides daily to defend and care for creation. Learn more about JPIC through their newsletter by clicking here.…
Andrea Springer is a regular face at Bon Secours and her words regularly appear on our blog. Today we are sharing her thoughts of Joan Chittister's book, Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope. Let us know in the comments: are you like Andrea, and need the reminder to loosen your grip? Or does that come naturally to you? The last few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time with Joan Chittister’s book, Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope. If you haven’t…
At the end of August, we are welcoming Lori and Robert Fontana for a Christian Marriage Retreat. But before they arrive at the Retreat and Conference Center, they will spend the summer in El Paso, TX serving at the Annunciation House. The "A-House" serves the homeless poor and those in need of food, shelter, clothing and medical attention that are waiting for asylum paperwork to be processed. They will spend their summer cleaning, doing laundry, making meals for those in…
For our local friends, you likely know that there is major construction unfolding near our campus. While the outcome will make for smoother travel to and from Rt. 70, the two-month long road work can pose significant stress. So today we are sharing a prayer from Rev. Terry Stokes and his book Prayer for the People, Things We Didn't Know We Could Say to God to help us navigate the traffic challenges. For those not impacted by this particular road work, save…
