Only One Came Back to Give Thanks – What Happened to the Other Nine?
Martin Bell writes a “parable on a parable” about what might have happened to the nine lepers who did not return to give thanks when Jesus healed them. What are some of the reasons that we fail to give thanks in our life? As we explore the fate and/or faith of the nine, we’ll discern what we have to be grateful for and how we too might return to offer thanks to God. Guided by Fr. Patrick Bergquist.
All are welcome to attend the Friends Day of Prayer retreats, held monthly on the first Wednesday of the month. It is not required to attend every month, so register for one or more sessions as your schedule allows. While the presenters and topics vary, each Friends Day of Prayer typically includes pastries and conversation at 9:30am, a morning presentation at 10am, an optional Mass, a delicious lunch, short periods of free time to enjoy the grounds or shop in the bookstore, and an afternoon presentation.
Fr. Patrick Bergquist, MDiv, MFA, MATW, after nearly twenty years as a missionary priest along the Yukon River of Northern Alaska, has turned to look into a wilderness far less charted, but far more wondrous — that of the human heart and soul. Now a retired priest of the Missionary Diocese of Northern Alaska, Fairbanks, he spends his time as a spiritual and retreat director. He holds master’s degrees in Divinity, Creative Writing, and Theopoetics, as well as two certificates in spiritual direction, including the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. As a writer, a poet, and a priest, he has written for publications such as Spiritual Life and America Magazine, as well as authoring a book, The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege. He is currently working on a spiritual memoir called Springtime Beneath the Snows: Confessions of a Priest-Turn-Poet.