THE BLOG OF THE BON SECOURS RETREAT & CONFERENCE CENTER
Retreat with Us
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’.
Nancy Sylvester, IHM is the founder of the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue. She is Director of the program, Enter the Chaos: Engage the Differences to Make a Difference, which was presented by Sr. Nancy, Dr. Vernice Solimar and Sr. Margaret Galiardi at our Center in February. She will return next summer for another great workshop and information will be posted soon with details. Sr. Nancy offers today's reflection, sharing about our connections during the pandemic. From "I" to…
Today's reflection comes from our Marketing Manager/Sales Associate, Tessa Newton. Our frequent guests are likely already familiar with Tessa and her contagious smile. She continues to work through the pandemic, now safely at home, but looks forward to when we can all be back at the Center again. Holding Onto Hope I have always been a silver-lining person. I look for, find, and focus on any sliver of positivity I can find in an otherwise crummy circumstance. This doesn’t mean…
Sr. Elaine Davia, the area leader for the Sisters of Bon Secours, USA, offers today's reflection and a poem as we distance ourselves from our normal routines. Let's take a deep breath and focus on these words of comfort and goals for patience. Our Sisters of Bon Secours in Ireland have a unique name for their need to stay indoors because of the virus. They call it “cocooning”. What a beautiful and hopeful image. The caterpillar inside the cocoon has…
Sr. Mary Shimo is a Sister of Bon Secours and currently serves on the Leadership Team for the sisters in the United States. For today's post, Sr. Mary offers the following reflection, which she received from the sister's Associate ministry. We are not perfect and this ballad calls us to recognize our brokenness. We (I) am broken in so many ways yet our culture does not allow it, but Our God does allow it and enters into that brokenness with…
Linda Mastro is a retreat presenter at our Center and will be guiding, "Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart", a women's retreat next January. Click here to read more about the retreat. Let's take a moment to read this reflection and to ponder the questions that Linda presents about our future during this uncertain time. What future are we creating? “The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to…
Rainey Taylor is a familiar face at the Center. She is our Sales Manager and assists many groups to secure their reservations and make arrangements for the group's meeting room, housekeeping and dining needs. Rainey brings today's reflection during this Easter season. “For Such a Time as This” This morning I heard a devotion based on one of my favorite scriptures from the Old Testament. It is a scripture from the book of Esther. The scripture I am referring to…
Happy Easter! Marcia McMullin was scheduled to give a day retreat around the theme of centering prayer last Saturday. In addition to presenting retreats, Marcia is a nurse and the Manager of Breast Health Services at LifeBridge Health. We think of those healthcare professionals who are helping those in need during the pandemic and pray for their safety and their spirits. On a day when many of us would be congregating in churches to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, instead…
In the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke we read: “Why do you search for the living One among the dead?” It is so easy to call this picture to mind, being in the garden before the empty tomb of the two messengers speaking to the women who have come to the tomb. It could be very provocative for us to allow this question to be asked directly to ourselves. “Why do you or I search for the living…
A few years ago, a Muslim man was visiting a small Trappist monastery in the Northern African country of Algeria. This Muslim and the abbot of the monastery were friends and he was delighted to take his guest on a tour of the monastery. Eventually they came to the chapel. The Muslim stopped and gazed wistfully at the crucifix. After what seemed like several minutes of silence, the abbot asked his friend what he saw in the cross. The Muslim…
Fr. Nicholas Amato, a frequent presenter at our Center for many years, was scheduled to guide our annual Triduum retreat along with Fr. Michael Schleupner. We're so disappointed to have to cancel, but glad that we can all be safe at home and read this poignant reflection by Fr. Nicholas today. Today, Holy Thursday, begins the most solemn time of the year, called the Sacred Triduum. Before the pandemic we would have gathered around the altar of our local church…
