Do you desire a deeper love relationship with God? Do you want to improve your prayer life? Are you looking for an opportunity to reflect on your life and where you are going? Do questions keep rising in your heart about how God has been at work in your life or what direction God may be calling you?
Then you may need a Busy Person’s Retreat.
Since the mid-1990s, the Newman Center at the University of Hawaii-Manoa has been hosting Busy Person’s Retreats to respond to these longings. This five-day retreat helps participants draw closer to God through prayer and the guidance of a trained spiritual director.
Retreatants commit to praying one hour privately each day of the retreat, to reflect on their prayer experiences, and to talk about that reflection with a director trained in Ignatian prayer and discernment. Sharing the gifts and difficulties experienced in prayer often gives participants new insights into God’s love for them and an understanding of God’s direction in their lives.
The retreat begins Saturday, March 21, with all participants gathering for a morning of prayer and reflection setting the retreat guidelines. It concludes Wednesday evening, March 25 with a second gathering to give thanks, to celebrate the experiences of the retreat and to have dinner.
In between Saturday and Wednesday, participants go about their regular lives, adding the hour of prayer and the meeting with their director each day. By intentionally setting aside this daily time for God, participants discover they can find time to pray, a practice which may become a habit that spreads blessings throughout the year.
This retreat has been a blessing for the Newman Community, which this year is extending the invitation to people beyond Newman. The retreat can accommodate 50. For more information or to request a registration form, contact Sharon Chiarucci at sharonlee@hawaiiantel.net.
The demand for this retreat grows each year and so does its cost. This year’s $150 registration fee helps defray the transportation and accommodation expenses associated with the spiritual directors.
God meets us where we are: married, single, widowed, divorced, employed, unemployed, faithful Christian, doubting Catholic. Through your director, God will guide you along the path toward a deeper relationship, one step at a time. Are you ready to take this step? Are you ready to live the life God is calling you to — a life God intends to be filled with joy? Are you ready for a Busy Person’s Retreat?
