Retreat for men and women of diocese

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
January 8, 2004

EARLY - The tenth annual adult retreat for men and women in the Diocese of Sioux City will be held from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 1 at Sacred Heart Parish Center in Early.

"We do get requests from people for adult retreats," said Bev Hurni, director of family ministries for the diocese. "We also get requests from parishes for ideas of something that the parish can provide for people during Lent. We try to meet the requests that we get."

The retreat is designed for men and women of any age desiring a time of personal growth and reflection. It also serves as a model retreat for teams who wish to experience the retreat then offer the event in their own parish/cluster during the Lenten season.

"We usually have between 60 and 90 people," said Hurni. "This year happens to fall on Super Bowl Sunday, so the retreat could be an alternative for people who are interested."

The theme of this year's retreat is Touched by God. It will bring adults together to look at how God's love touches people through the people of the Lenten Scriptures.

"The retreat is centered on three of the Scripture readings that are read during Lent," said Hurni. "One is Moses being called by God through the burning bush. Another is the story of the woman caught in adultery. The other is the story of the prodigal son."

A committee plans the retreat. The committee consists of Cary Brown of St. Mary Church in Storm Lake, Julianne Gilbert of St. Mary Church in Storm Lake, Father Tim Boekelman of St. Mary Church in Lake City, Cleo Harder of Sioux City and Hurni.

Committee members, Brown, Gilbert and Father Boekelman, will lead the talks relating to the three passages from Scripture.

"They will be looking at how Scripture tells us that God touched these people's lives and what does that have to say about our life today," said Hurni. "Often during Lent we hear the call to repentance and sacrifice. While that is very true, we are going to focus on how the Scripture readings show us how God truly gives us his love and forgiveness and calls us to us our gifts."

The cost of the retreat is $5 per person that includes a light lunch of soup and bread at about 3 p.m. Pre-registration ensures that adequate materials and food are available. Contact information will enable the team to notify people in case of inclement weather. The snow date is set for Feb. 8.

For those who want to take the retreat back to their own parish, there will be a packet of information available for $2. The packet will include the materials to repeat the retreat in their parish.

Registration is requested by Jan. 21. Registration forms and the fee can be mailed to Adult and Family Ministries, P.O. Box 3379, Sioux City, IA 51102-3379. For information contact the office of Adult and Family Ministries at (712) 233-7530 or email sandiw@scdiocese.org.