2008 Woodie Awards
Retreats Provide Spiritual Strength
Dana Mannino
Issue date: 12/27/05 Section: Faith
THROUGHOUT CHURCH HISTORY, "the retreat" has been a key strategy to winning all kinds of spiritual battles. It started with the greatest battle of all times: our salvation. Jesus set us an example by spending 40 days praying and fasting in the desert before He started his public ministry. Deserts are scarce in these parts. So how can a Gonzaga student follow the example of Jesus and take time out purely to pray? The Witness endeavors to answer that question with a run down of the retreats available through University Ministry.
University Ministry offers four major retreat programs: Freshman Retreat, Search, Cardoner and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. According to Fr. Rick Ganz, "Each retreat teaches a specific set of spiritual habits. These habits help students advance on their spiritual paths."
Fr. Ganz describes the environment of the freshman retreat as one of "playfulness, humor, and just the right amount of seriousness." The goal of the Freshman Retreat is to help students understand the mission of their university with its Jesuit, Catholic and Humanist aspects, in hopes that they will develop habits which will help them live that mission in their daily lives. "It also teaches habits of openness and listening which help freshmen to get to know members of their class." The aim of the retreat it that "students leave saying 'I get it. This is what Gonzaga is trying to be. And I love being with these classmates of mine who are trying to be this too.' "
The Search retreat is the next developmental step. Junior Nick Paradis first experienced Search as a junior in high school. "As I look back on it, I really see how much Christ cared about me and how he led me to the retreat to shape me and make me aware of His presence in my life." Now a student leader of Search retreats at Gonzaga, Paradis attributes Search's continued success to the environment it creates. "It brings people to a real experience of Christ. You don't read about Christ's love for you, or hear it from a talk; you actually feel the warmth of Christ's unending, unconditional love for you in a real tangible way." As Fr. Ganz puts it, "Its spiritual habits, taught and demonstrated by the student leaders, create a communal experience of grace like the outpouring that caused the people present at the first Pentecost to say 'let's create a set of habits that will make sure this extraordinary grace keeps happening in us.' The magic and importance of the Search is that it lets students experience that." Paradis couldn't agree more. "Search is truly an unforgettable experience and my life has been forever changed by it. If you have not yet experienced it, I would highly recommend it."
University Ministry offers four major retreat programs: Freshman Retreat, Search, Cardoner and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. According to Fr. Rick Ganz, "Each retreat teaches a specific set of spiritual habits. These habits help students advance on their spiritual paths."
Fr. Ganz describes the environment of the freshman retreat as one of "playfulness, humor, and just the right amount of seriousness." The goal of the Freshman Retreat is to help students understand the mission of their university with its Jesuit, Catholic and Humanist aspects, in hopes that they will develop habits which will help them live that mission in their daily lives. "It also teaches habits of openness and listening which help freshmen to get to know members of their class." The aim of the retreat it that "students leave saying 'I get it. This is what Gonzaga is trying to be. And I love being with these classmates of mine who are trying to be this too.' "
The Search retreat is the next developmental step. Junior Nick Paradis first experienced Search as a junior in high school. "As I look back on it, I really see how much Christ cared about me and how he led me to the retreat to shape me and make me aware of His presence in my life." Now a student leader of Search retreats at Gonzaga, Paradis attributes Search's continued success to the environment it creates. "It brings people to a real experience of Christ. You don't read about Christ's love for you, or hear it from a talk; you actually feel the warmth of Christ's unending, unconditional love for you in a real tangible way." As Fr. Ganz puts it, "Its spiritual habits, taught and demonstrated by the student leaders, create a communal experience of grace like the outpouring that caused the people present at the first Pentecost to say 'let's create a set of habits that will make sure this extraordinary grace keeps happening in us.' The magic and importance of the Search is that it lets students experience that." Paradis couldn't agree more. "Search is truly an unforgettable experience and my life has been forever changed by it. If you have not yet experienced it, I would highly recommend it."