Living the retreat experience

In the 1960’s through at least the 1990’s (and beyond in some places), weekend retreat experiences and their follow-up programs became popular in many Catholic parishes, and were a tremendous source of spiritual growth for many Catholic adults. The most popular of these weekend retreat experiences is called Cursillo, started in Spain in the 1940’s, and brought to the United States in the 1960’s.The popularity of Cursillo in the United States led to the establishment of many local and nationwide offshoots; TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) is one such nationwide offshoot that uses the Cursillo model, but geared to teenagers and young adults. TEC existed in my Diocese of Fall River (MA) in the early-mid 1980’s.

(As a side note, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement occurred around the same time, as a parallel spiritual movement within the Church. Many Catholics were involved with both movements simultaneously, and both movements shared many of the same traditions and practices)

Two other weekend retreat experiences based on the Cursillo model I experienced were GIFT (Growing In Faith Together), based out of St. Anne Parish in Fall River, MA, with separate weekends for teens and adults. Emmaus, for young adults, is based in the Fall River Diocese but with no specific parish affiliation. Two other weekend retreat experiences for teenagers in the Fall River Diocese are ECHO (Encountering Christ in Others), and YES!. Based on the research I’ve done, ECHO doesn’t appear to be based specifically on the Cursillo model; I’m not sure about the YES program. Today, ECHO is based primarily on Cape Cod; I’m not sure if YES! has any geographical base within the diocese. Like Emmaus, they have no specific parish affiliation.

Cursillo and its offshoots are basically set up this way. A Team of about 12-15 people who previously lived a weekend retreat are chosen to be group leaders, give talks, and facilitate group discussions and activities on the weekend. Those invited to come live the retreat weekend for the first time are referred to as candidates. The candidates are divided up into groups of 4-6 candidates each, let by two (sometimes three) Team members. In addition, Teams almost always consist of one or two priests who are available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (DON’T call it Confession!), and celebrate Mass at least once on the weekend (usually the last activity of the weekend). Retreats geared to teens and young adults have a married couple as Team members who give a talk on Marriage as a couple.

From my early teens until my mid 40’s, GIFT, TEC, and Emmaus were the source of much of my spiritual nourishment, and provided strong communities of people of faith who accepted me as I was. Though I always maintained a local parish affiliation, it was these weekend retreat communities that kept me grounded in the Church, otherwise I would have drifted away from the Church and stopped going to Mass as soon as I could have after I was Confirmed.

In my diocese, the TEC weekends ceased to exist in the mid-80’s, and the GIFT weekends stopped sometime in the late 1990’s-early 2000’s. Emmaus has been struggling to survive for the past 10-15 years, and even changed its age eligibility requirements. The age range used to be 19-30 (young adults), though today it’s open to adults of any age.

Weekend retreat programs that are faltering and struggling will usually adjust their requirements for candidates attending their weekends, like Emmaus did. In the case of Emmaus, weekends that used to draw 30 candidates (the maximum, AND all young adults), now draw less than 20 on average; 12 is the minimum needed to hold a weekend, and weekends have been cancelled due to lack of candidates! At the time I stopped getting the GIFT Weekend monthly newsletter in the late 1990’s, they had gone two years without holding a weekend, due only to a lack of candidates. TEC in my diocese fell apart due to internal politics, and egos among the adult leadership. ECHO and YES!, however, are still going strong, which begs the question “what are they doing that the others aren’t doing?”

I’m of the opinion that secular cultural issues, and internal politics, are the reasons why some of these weekend retreat programs have either ceased to exist, or are currently struggling to survive.

Today, I’m not involved in any weekend retreat program, and haven’t been for almost 10 years. Spiritually, I have no need for them anymore. They did, however, put me on a solid spiritual path that I’ve been on for over 35 years, and for that I will be forever thankful. I’ve moved on and have become active in my parish as a Lector; I participate in monthly Eucharistic Adoration; and I’m an active member in my local Knights of Columbus Council. So while I cherish those memories of retreat weekends and the friends I made over the years, my calling is now to my parish, and to actively participate in the life of my parish.