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’.
Fr. Michael Schleupner offers Mass at our Center frequently and shared this homily with us from last week. We're so grateful for the wisdom that he shares with us and our guests! Let's see how he ties a story about dog food into the gospel! Gospel Reading Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 Dog Food Some years ago, I read a newspaper article about a particular kind of dog food. I was interested in it at that time because I had a dog. Well,…
As one of our caregiver retreats approaches this Saturday, we thought some of our readers may appreciate this beautiful prayer that was shared on the Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods website. Our caregiver retreats are a special time to enjoy a delicious lunch with other caregivers, share and to be guided by a wonderful presenter, Gordon Creamer. Click here to learn more about this afternoon retreat. We hope this prayer offers peace and encouragement to all caregivers. A caregiver’s prayer…
Jackie Antkowiak, spiritual director and dear friend of the Retreat & Conference Center, passed away peacefully on Sunday. She began serving on directed retreats in 2018 and truly touched all whom she encountered with her sweet, gentle spirit. Jackie's directees always shared their immense gratitude for her daily guidance during these retreats. She had an incredible way of making everyone feel comfortable right away. One of her recent directees commented, "Jackie is one of the most welcoming people I’ve ever…
Let's take a few moments to center ourselves with prayer and a (virtual) walk through the forest. Many of the scenes in this beautiful video could be from the woods around our Center. May you have a deeper appreciation for the simple vine wrapping around a tree in the sunlight or the diligent ant making it's journey home on your next walk in nature. Pray with us. Creation Prayer God our Father, you created the world and sent your own…
We were so happy to have Fr. Michael Schleupner with us last week as a spiritual director for our August Directed Retreat. He also celebrated Mass several times throughout that retreat. Today, we're sharing one of those homilies that offers a great reminder to all. Compare and Despair Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30 Today’s gospel is a good lesson about comparing ourselves to others. The workers in this vineyard who began working at dawn would have been okay if they had not…
Today's post comes from Jen Murphy, Manager of Retreats & Events here at the Center. Jen is so grateful to be able to work with really amazing retreat presenters, many of whom she can now call friends. Let's read about a lesson gained from a gift that she received from one of these special friends. One of our cherished retreat spiritual directors, Sr. Ann Belmonte, recently gave me a wonderful book called "The Book of Awakening" by Mark Nepo. I've…
Last week, Rev. Stephen Wade served as a spiritual director on our August Directed Retreat. He has been guiding guests during this annual retreat for many years and enjoys his time at the Center each summer. During his downtime at the Center, you can often find him with his camera in hand. He shared these beautiful images with us below. The outdoor photos were taken in the evening and the Chapel photo was taken in the early morning hours. It's…
Today's post comes from Fr. Michael Schleupner. Fr. Mike offers mass regularly at our Center and just finished serving as a spiritual director during our August Directed Retreat. We're so grateful for him! Today he reminds us to keep God's love at the forefront of our lives. Hatred versus Love? Dear Friends, At Jesus’ baptism and again at his Transfiguration, the voice of God from the heavens declares: “This is my beloved Son.” I believe that God speaks these words…
As summer winds down, many are feeling the crunch of a more hectic pace again. The constant news of the continued pandemic is very stressful too. How can we hear God's voice within the noise? Let's take a few quiet moments to be still...to listen. "Be still and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10 A Modern 23rd Psalm... The Lord is the shepherd of my thoughts; I shall not want for divine ideas. He makes me rest in the…
Earlier this week, Pope Francis urged everyone to hold the people of Haiti and Afghanistan in prayer. The suffering in these countries right now is difficult to comprehend. When referring to the acts of violence by the Taliban, Pope Francis said, “I join in the unanimous worry about the situation in Afghanistan. I ask you to pray along with me to the God of peace so that the clamor of weapons ends and that solutions can be found around a…
