DCCW sponsors family retreat

By Jamie McClure, Globe Intern
June 14, 2004

Intended for outdoors, the family retreat at Trinity Heights continued to praise the Lord indoors because of the rain that sporadically poured down, on June 3 from 1 to 4 p.m.

The Diocese of Sioux City Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) sponsored the retreat, and this was the organizations first family retreat. It was under president Michele Leiting. Families gathered in the meeting room at the Trinity Heights gift shop. The theme for this retreat was to "Sit in the silence of God, stand in the strength of Christ, and walk in the wonder of the Spirit."

"At each retreat, we see new faces, which is always encouraging," said Leiting. "We want to keep each retreat mostly unstructured, a new theme each time, and new participation to allow for a growth in faith. We also want to allow the Spirit to guide us through prayers and discussions."

According to Leiting, the DCCW wanted to build on different themes because they want everyone to know the emphasis on family and to get a taste of who the organization is. They want everyone to know that all women belonging to a parish and/or diocese of Sioux City is a part of the DCCW organization, and also that her family will belong as well.

"Each retreat is different including some overnight, some afternoons and some Sundays," said Father Jim Tigges, pastor at St. James in Le Mars and moderator for DCCW. "Sunday was chosen for the family retreat day because Sundays are a more family-oriented day and allows for family time together."

The family time was started with Linda Vaudt, the family commissioner for DCCW, who started with a talk that was focused on the families she worked with and the need for families, especially children, to be loved.

"A lot of children don't know how to love because they weren't taught," said Vaudt.

"There are parents that did not learn in the cycle of life to pass down the love that children need," said Leiting. "The community, neighbors and friends of these children and their families need to reach out and help them by being a friend or just being there to give the children a hug when they need it."

Vaudt also stressed that family is important. By family, it's not just your immediate or extended family, it is the family around you including your community and your friends. Parents who didn't learn how to love and care for someone else from their own mother and father, have a hard time passing down the love and care that their own children need.

"We have to learn how to love the girl or boy next door, and we have to try to educate others at these retreats with the help of the Holy Spirit as to what is going on inside and outside of our homes. We also need to know what to do to better educate ourselves in order to help those in most need," said Leiting.

To enhance the children who attended the family retreat's treasure of faith understanding, there was a treasure hunt on the grounds of Trinity Heights. In attendance were about 10 children and Father Tigges led them around to look at the statues and the shrines in order to teach them more about their faith. He would tell them something about each memorial, and he would also ask them questions.

One intriguing question that he asked the children was, 'how tall is the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?' At the last prayer station and the end of the family retreat, Father Tigges gave the answer - 33 feet - as there is a foot for each year that Jesus spent on earth.

"The meet and greet of this retreat is to allow people to visit with everyone here and put a face to a voice so that they can get to know others better," said Leiting. "We want to educate people as to what is going on in the world, especially close to home as much as we can. We also want to embrace the prayer of the retreat. We have prayers at each of the four prayer stations and also with the Living Rosary, but our mission is to educate, empower and to pray."

After five minutes of refreshments, the rosary began. Everyone moved their chairs around the room to gather in a large circle so that everyone was involved. Father Tigges started the rosary and named the mysteries, while the group said the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be one by one around the room.

The last activity on the retreat agenda was to visit and reflect on four prayer stations. These stations included the Memorial to the Unborn, St. Francis of Assisi, the story of the Holy Family and Mother Teresa. Leaders chosen by Leiting led each station. Mary Stevens led the first station; Cheryl Tiffany led the second station; Michele Leiting led the third station, and Father Tigges led the last station.

"I want to talk about the Memorial to the Unborn today because I want to stimulate prayer and reflect on life to save all the unborn babies," said Stevens, DCCW secretary.

At Planned Parenthood every other Tuesday, there is a gathering to pray for the unborn. According to Stevens, this prayer has helped to save many babies' lives. Cars that were in direct-route to Planned Parenthood would keep driving because they would see people outside praying for them and their baby. If you want to know more about prayer Tuesday's, contact Mary Stevens at (712) 276-0442.

"We need God in our lives to survive," said Vaudt. "We also need the 10 commandments, and the six pillars of character, which are caring, fairness, honesty, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness."

There are hotlines to call if you need assistance or have questions about anything concerning yourself or children. You can call the Iowa Concern Hotline at (800) 447-1985, the Teen Line at (800) 443-8336, or even the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Hotline at (800) 362-2178.

The next retreats are as follows: Twin Lakes on October 5 to 6; Wall Lake on Feb. 17 and West Bend in April of 2008. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your parish representative. If you do not know your parish representative, please call Michele Leiting at (712) 663-4584, Cecelia Thelen at (712) 667-2486 or Wynn Touney at (515) 576-2296.