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’.
Our last post of the year comes from Jen Murphy, Manager of Retreats & Events at the Center. Let's read her perspective on a rosy (or yellow!) side of 2020. In gratitude for 2020 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." ~Col. 3:15 My 10-year-old and I were shopping at Target a few weeks ago. We wandered into the junior's clothing section, an area that…
We hope that you're enjoying this time of Christmas. If you are feeling lonely, due to the many restrictions in place right now, we hope that this can assure you of the One who can see us through even the darkest of pandemic days. Fr. Michael Schleupner shares this reflection on "Silent Night" and we have shared a prayer about God's Presence too. May you feel that Presence today and always, enjoying the quiet reflection of that silent night. Silent…
Christmas Day is only a few days away! How are you preparing your heart for the birth of Jesus? Today's reflection is a continuation from last Friday by Tara Mulder, our Guest Services Coordinator. Let's read this follow-up about her creative process for this year's Christmas cards, an inspiring post about the perfect love of our Savior. With Every Christmas Card I Write, Part 2 Back in September of this strange and difficult year, I starting researching Scripture passages to…
Our dear friend, Fr. Michael Schleupner, offers another poignant message today. We recommend reading the reflection and then googling this statue that Fr. Mike refers to (images are copyrighted so they cannot be used on our blog). As we reflect and prepare for Christmas in just a few days, how are you listening, speaking and working? How are you doing this during the pandemic? John the Prophet In the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, there is a large sculpture…
Today's post comes from Tara Mulder. Tara is one of the friendly faces you may have seen in our Welcome Center. She serves as the Guest Services Coordinator and assists with conference group and retreat reservations. Tara is also a very talented artist. She'll be sharing a follow-up 2020 Christmas card post next week. Let's read about her creative process and Scripture insights used with her Christmas cards. With Every Christmas Card I Write, Part 1 For Christmas 2019, I…
Today's post comes from Mary DeTurris Poust who will be presenting a wonderful weekend retreat at our Center next summer. Click here to read more. Today, Mary shares about a wonderful gift that we can give ourselves this Advent. Commit to spiritual self-care this Advent by Mary DeTurris Poust Advent in our modern world has long been behind the cultural eight ball. It’s a season of waiting in a world of instant gratification, a season of quiet anticipation in a…
Fr. Michael Schleupner, friend of our Center and frequent retreat presenter, shares about the best kind of breaking news on our blog today. Let's take a few quiet moments to read his reflection... Breaking News Today, when we watch the news on TV, we often see the words Breaking News. Breaking News appears when a story is new. It is intended to grab our attention. For example, a few weeks ago, we saw Breaking News when an American pharmaceutical company,…
During the pandemic, when we are bombarded with news of climbing COVID rates, it's difficult not to feel afraid. When we leave our homes, we even have to wear a visible sign of this caution - our face masks. It's easy to become overwhelmed with anxiety this year. So, today we thought it would be good to go back to the basics of our faith. Please take a few quiet moments and prayerfully read some of the many verses in…
As autumn begins to make its exit, the temperatures have dramatically dropped in our area! This change can be reflected in many analogies about ourselves too. Take a moment to read this beautiful poem as we seek the Spirit of hope and strength. Spirit, blowing winds of change into our world and letting loose the leaves of last year’s experiences, I am being tossed around too, slipping under what I can’t seem to let go of. The golden sunlight shines…
Today's reflection comes from Fr. Michael Schleupner, a retreat presenter at our Center. He offers these helpful reminders for dealing with the pandemic. At a time when we may be disappointed about rising COVID numbers and how this is impacting our upcoming plans for Christmas, these can be helpful as we cope and take care of our physical and mental health. What do you implement in your daily life? Hang in There Dear Friends, We are all very aware of…
