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’.
Author Mary DeTurris Poust offers today's post, shared from her blog (click here to read more). The topic was born while she was at our Center to present a weekend retreat this summer. Her "Broken, Beautiful and Beloved" retreat was so inspiring and guests were already asking about her return to our Center before it was even over! Due to our need to schedule so far out, she's returning in 2023. So, Mary is occasionally sharing inspiration in written form…
Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the abundance of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth we have allowed our…
Today's post is a homily that Fr. Michael Schleupner recently shared. Fr. Mike was the presenter for our Friends Day of Prayer last week and our guests thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and day of reflection too. The focus of this post is a tough, but important lesson from the Gospel with a modern day analogy. Let's take a few moments to learn from scripture and Fr. Mike's wisdom. Gospel Reading: Mark 10:17-30 (shorter form Mark 10:17-27) A man with many…
Today's post is a prayer by Henri Nouwen. If you are drawn to the spiritual writings of Nouwen, you may want to learn more about our upcoming retreat presented by Wil Hernandez too. Click here to read about the "Henri Nouwen: Master of Soul Care" retreat that he will guide October 27-31. Now, let's take a few moments of quiet to pray together... “Listen, O Lord, to my prayers. Listen to my desire to be with you, to dwell in…
We are excited to have author Wil Hernandez back with us for a retreat at the end of this month. Wil has studied the work of the incredible spiritual writer Henri Nouwen for many years and will be providing rich insights into spirituality and spiritual accompaniment during his "Henri Nouwen: Master of Soul Care" retreat (click here to learn more). Nouwen still inspires the world of spiritual seekers with his wisdom in writing. We're including a few quotes today for…
As the season of autumn has begun, reminders to celebrate the harvest are often found around us. It's also important to take a moment to pray for those who are going without though. Let's be mindful of the little things we take for granted, give thanks, and let's give what we can, including heartfelt prayers, for those who are in need. "Let us remember that, as much has been given us; much will be expected from us, and that true…
Today's blog features a homily given by Fr. Michael Schleupner a few weeks ago, but it's a timeless lesson for us all about having an open mindset and being inclusive. Let's open our hearts as we read about a lesson from the Gospels and how it ties into our modern world today. Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48 Hopkins Buildings One day several years ago, I was leaving Johns Hopkins Hospital after visiting a person who had major cardiac surgery. Something at Hopkins really…
The phrase 'Fear not' and similar wording is mentioned over and over again in the Bible. Clearly this is a message that God wants to make sure that we hear! It's been very difficult not to have deep feelings of fear during the pandemic though, right? So, let's take time today to refresh our hearts and minds with the scripture below. Then, take a few moments of silence to unwind, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, relax your…
Book Recommendation: We are happy to have Sr. Chris Kollhoffer, IHM with us for a Lenten retreat next spring (click here to learn more). Sr. Chris is the author of Longing for the Endless Immensity and offered this excerpt for our blog today. If these themes and prayer practices interest you, we recommend purchasing the book to learn more and it will be available in our bookstore soon too. Longing for the Endless Immensity: Reflection and Prayer for Living a Life…
We are excited to host our annual Women's Wellness retreat this weekend and to be able to bring back popular featured speaker, Dr. Veidre Jackson. The theme of this year's retreat is "Peace in the Middle of the Pieces" and this theme in the midst of the pandemic is certainly timely! Please pray for the ladies who are attending this retreat. May they feel joy, relaxation and a sense of the peace in their lives that only Jesus can provide.…
