I'm in Jacksonville for our annual priests' retreat for the Diocese of Savannah. I could not get into the retreat house at Marywood, for the first time ever, and so I'm staying at the Ramada Inn about 20 minutes away. Sad. But I procrastinated calling the diocese to register, so there you have it. But someone, several someones, had to go elsewhere, why not me?
The retreat master is a Benedictine from St. Meinrad, Indiana, Fr. Eugene Hensell, OSB. When I was vocation director, I placed a few of our seminarians in their college seminary. I enjoyed visiting there and they offered a vocation director workshop each year in February.
Since I'm in a traditional motel room, with the door opening directly to the outside and to a lovely pool and that traditional motel smell, that is turning my stomach, I also have a TV with cable.
One of the Jacksonville stations had an advertisement by a Protestant minister advertising "Get Back to Church Sunday, September 16th." I don't know if this is just a Jacksonville thing or has a broader inspiration. The minister promoted his own church but then listed the names of other churches people could get back to. These were all Protestant, not a Catholic name in any of them.
I wonder how well these advertisements work. I know we Catholics had many ads for our Catholics Come Home in the Diocese of Savannah and of course we didn't advertise Protestant Churches. We did see a goodly number of people returning to the Church, but I wonder how many stayed. But if one person only returned permanently to the Church I suspect it was worth it.
So on this retreat, with a lovely pool right outside my door, do I pray or swim? What a conundrum!
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder