The Importance of Catholic Retreats

The Antebellum Manresa Retreat House on the Mississippi River in Convent Louisiana

I was over at Stuff Catholic Like and looking at some of their posts. This was a good one called XXI. Catechisms.

However their one entitled XIX: Retreats really struck me in the very first paragraph.

Protestants have revivals. Catholics, being the more “I prefer experiencing the Spirit kneeling in silence under the stars, thanks” type, have retreats. And oh, do we like them. Ignatian exercises, high school senior retreats, engagement encounter, marriage encounter, Quo Vadis?, Cursillo, TEC, etc….Frankly, the creative Catholic with some cash could spend his whole life on retreat. An intervention is sometimes needed and can get ugly. So I’ve heard.
I think that is so true. When I became crossed the Tiber I was struck about all this retreat stuff. I was more struck by people that came back from them. Especially things like Cursillo. As to the Catholic Retreat folks it was very similar in outward appearance at least to me as people who experienced a Baptist Revival.

Retreats though suffered a tad. Even in Conservative Catholic Louisiana some wacky things were taught at some retreat places. Goodness do people recall the enneagram nonsense !! However we have been blessed that there were even in the more crazy days sane deep intense Spiritual retreat opportunities. I also preferred it to the Baptist Revivals of my past (which do by the way produce legitimate Spiritual fruits). Just the fact that it was expected that Catholic (if possible) take time off of work and spend like a week doing this was something striking.

I hope we are not losing this as American Catholics.