Cluster to host retreat to help prepare for Lent

By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
Posted February 13, 2003

MADRID - Parishes throughout the Sioux City Diocese are shifting their focus from Advent to Lent. One parish cluster in particular is preparing for the Lenten season with a retreat.

Boone Sacred Heart, Madrid St. Malachy and Odgen St. John parishes have invited Father John McGuirk, pastor of St. Patrick Church in Sheldon, along with Deacon Phil Doocy and his wife Jane, to speak at this cluster retreat, which will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 2 in the St. Malachy parish hall.

"It's a mini retreat and Mass," said Julie Hindman, part of the spiritual life and liturgy committee at St. Malachy. "It's a time for personal reflection with prayer and music. Father John is going to have two talks, and they center on the gift of life and the challenges to grow in love with God and others. The service will close with a healing Mass."

St. Malachy's pastor, Father Brian Danner, said the spiritual life and liturgy committee started planning this past fall for some type of event during Lent.

"Ideally, we wanted this retreat during Lent, but we couldn't get Father McGuirk and the deacon and his wife to come during Lent," Father Danner said. "So we're selling this so to speak as a pre-Lenten cluster retreat.

"This invitation is extended to these three parishes as an opportunity to slow down and reflect upon the love they share with their family members and friends. That reflection time is so needed in our lives today."

Father Danner said that unlike the Sunday Mass experiences, this retreat will offer a more practical approach to dealing with the relational love that we are called to live each day.

"This is much, much deeper than what you normally would get in a homily because it's going to be longer, and we're going to be breaking into small groups for discussions," he said. "That's where the depth of the retreat and the time set aside will help people grow in their relationship to God and one another."

Hindman said Father McGuirk's first talk will be on the gift of life and challenge of love. The second one talks about the love a priest has and then marriage love. She said the content would be relevant for high school students but probably not those in grade school.

As a break between the talks, Hindman said reconciliation will be offered to those in attendance.

There is no registration or fee to attend. It is just a free-will offering. Hindman said she hopes to have a couple hundred people attend.

"I think it's a time for personal growth in our spiritual faith," she said. "It's also a good preparation for Lent."

Eucharistic ministers for the three parishes are especially encouraged to attend, according to Father Danner. He said that due to the unique nature of their ministry, an opportunity needs to be provided for them on a consistent annual basis.

Although this is a cluster retreat, Father Danner said he knows of some people coming from Des Moines, so anyone is more than welcome to attend.

"Everyone is busy today," he said. "No one is excluded, but we have to set the time aside. If we don't make the time, we are doing ourselves a disservice to the potential of God's love in our lives and how that love impacts our relationships."