From June 30 to July 26, nine priests (six from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, three from the Diocese of Winona-Rochester) attended the Alverna Priestly Renewal in Christ, a pilot, month-long program at the Alverna Center in Winona.
Offered by The St. Paul Seminary’s Institute for Ongoing Clergy Formation in St. Paul and St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, based in Winona, the program offered the participating pastors a “unique opportunity for priestly growth and renewal in their capacity as a pastor, as well as fraternal support, rest, healing, and spiritual formation.”
“The development of this experience for priests was truly providential,” said Deacon Dan Gannon, director of the institute. “It began with a conversation a couple of years ago with Father James Burns, president of St. Mary’s University, and Paul Ruff, assistant director of human formation and director of counseling services at The St. Paul Seminary, and myself.
“The driving force in our initial conversations and development of the program was the invigoration and renewal of priestly identity and well-being, especially for pastors,” Deacon Gannon said. “We know from experience in ongoing formation that many priests face challenges of overwhelming workloads in parishes and too often experience stress, anxiety and isolation as a result. The scriptural theme we chose in developing this experience comes from Mark’s Gospel, when our Lord invited his Apostles to ‘come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile (Mk 6:31).’”
The effort appears to have been fruitful for the pastors involved, and the hope is to offer a similar experience once or twice each year, Deacon Gannon said.
Father Dennis Backer, pastor of St. Luke in Clearwater, said he was drawn to the experience from the first e-mail he received.
“A priest can get busy and sometimes start to not take care of themselves. I was overdue for a retreat and this sounded like what I needed,” Father Backer said. “I spoke with a dear priest friend and he said, ‘Do it! I will cover your Masses.’”
Father Backer described the experience as far more than a typical retreat.
“For seven days we had an Ignatian silent retreat. During that time, you only spoke one hour a day with your spiritual director,” said Father Backer, who did four hours of contemplative prayer each day of that week. But the last two weeks were more seminar — focusing on other areas of a priest’s life.”
The benefit is that the nine priests bonded and were able to support each other, Father Backer said. “So often on a retreat, it takes a couple of days to get into it,” he said. “We went deep day one. We were encouraged to disconnect from all media, and that was very cleansing. I stepped back and my phone remained off much of the time there.”
In addition to Deacon Gannon, Ruff and Father Burns, the program was planned by Father Timothy Gallagher, an Oblate of the Virgin Mary who serves as the Ignatius Chair for Spiritual Formation at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. Together, they envisioned a unique, month-long experience that would result in each priest leaving “invigorated by the Holy Spirit, at peace and with clarity of priestly identity and pastoral focus at his parish,” early communications to priests about the experience said.
Presenters included archdiocesan Fathers Steven Hoffman and Leonard Andrie; Father Dan Barron of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary; and Father Martin Schaeffer, vice rector and dean of formation at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona. Father Brian Fischer of the archdiocese helped with spiritual direction.
The proposal quickly garnered the support of both Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester.
“I was delighted that six of our priests were able to participate in the inaugural program,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I knew that it would be difficult for them to be away from their parishes for a month, but I was confident that the Lord would bless their sacrifice and generosity.”
Father Gregory Abbott, associate pastor of St. Peter in Forest Lake, said the knowledge and skill of the presenters drew him to the retreat, and the opportunity to spend considerable time on each of the four elements of the renewal experience: spiritual, human and pastoral formation, and a silent, directed, seven-day retreat.
“Except for a sabbatical, it is an anomaly for a priest to have this much time to focus on renewal,” Father Abbott said. “I am so grateful for the generosity of our parish staff and priests that filled in so I could take this time away. I also felt invested in by Archbishop Hebda, the archdiocese, and The St. Paul Seminary’s Ongoing Clergy Formation Office. The length of time we spent together as brother priests helped us open up, gel and trust one another. This allowed us to look at ourselves honestly, with our strengths and need for growth.”
From focusing on spiritual formation to participating in the silent retreat, to addressing pastoral ministry and leadership, the retreat touched on all facets of the priestly vocation. At the same time, it offered an opportunity for the attendees to seek a deep, lasting renewal in Christ, several of the participants said. Each day began with morning prayer, followed by various sessions, Mass, recreation, Holy Hours, prayer, meals, social/personal time and night prayer.
Father Terry Beeson, associate pastor of St. Olaf in Minneapolis, said initially the idea of a month-long retreat was intimidating, since he would be away from his parish for four weeks, so he dismissed it immediately because of his sense of obligation to the parish. But he was reassured that the experience might do him a lot of good and that he didn’t need to worry about coverage at the parish, Father Beeson said.
Unlike a regular retreat, the Alverna Priestly Renewal in Christ dealt with more than the spiritual. As Father Beeson pointed out, it was also about human formation and pastoral formation. It was a time for all involved to grow together as human beings.
“Personally, it allowed me to challenge myself in ways I needed to be challenged,” Father Beeson said. “Above all else, this program encouraged healthy priestly fraternity.”
Many priests could benefit from this type of retreat — priests who need to parse out their life journey, to better know and love themselves, Father Beeson said. While most priests have a priest support group, a spiritual director and other means of support, they are only exposed to that in small doses. This priestly renewal program is more intense, Father Beeson said.
“After all, how can one love God, love the people of God, and love the Church if that person does not love oneself and know that God loves them as well as people surrounding them?” Father Beeson said.
When the invitation first came, Father Jim Livingston, pastor of St. Paul in Ham Lake, said he was in a slump in his prayer life. He felt he could use a boost.
“I hadn’t had a retreat planned for the year and we priests are eligible for a sabbatical every seven years and it’s been over 20 years since I had one,” Father Livingston said. “This seemed like good timing for a ‘mini sabbatical.’ When an overseas priest friend called to ask if he could spend the summer with us, it seemed like Divine providence.”
Father Livingston said he appreciated the chance to share from the heart with his brother priests.
“There is a special bond between priests but the never-ending workload of pastoral ministry and the drive to compete can often become barriers to honest, heart-to-heart communication,” Father Livingston said. “I also felt really blessed by the silent retreat portion. It was intense, searching and deep. I had the help of an experienced retreat director, and I was able to identify and overcome some obstacles that kept me from trusting and enjoying the love of God for me.”
Retired Bishop John LeVoir of New Ulm accompanied the participants the entire month, joining their conversations and meals and leading them at Mass and their daily Holy Hours and vespers. Ruff facilitated conversations around the human foundations of the priests’ spiritual lives and work as priests.
“We priests had a beautiful, challenging, and growth-filled experience,” Father Abbott said. “I learned more about myself and believe my relationship with God has deepened. God gives himself as a gift to us in his son. With God’s grace, I hope to more fully receive that gift into the uniqueness that is me and more fully give myself in return to God and his people.”
Father Livingston and others stressed the importance of protecting the special graces they received from the retreat.
“Among other graces, I treasure the bond I feel between my brother priests and the clarity of experiencing my Christian identity as another Christ,” Father Livingston said. “I’m not sure how that will translate into ministry yet, but I do believe that ministry flows from the person, not just from the work, and in some ways, I feel like a new man, so I’m sure this experience will impact my ministry.”
