As I recently gazed upon the myriad of stars reflecting off Buffalo Lake, I felt deeply blessed. After years of archdiocesan retreats and programs at Christ the King Retreat House, I’ve come to experience that setting as a privileged place for encountering our God at work. This past weekend, I was there for the annual Archbishop’s Discernment Retreat for men. It’s a tradition that began decades before I arrived here, and I feel privileged to carry it forward.
The past few years, we’ve divided that retreat into two events each year: one for men who have graduated college and another for younger men. There’s also an annual discernment retreat for women. All three are excellent opportunities for those desiring to see the Lord’s will for them more clearly. Each event has a distinct feel.
I immediately knew that I was at the retreat for high school and college men when I spotted two skateboards at the entrance to the chapel. With 21 young participants, most in their teens, the energy level was refreshingly high. They played hard and prayed hard, and never hesitated to enter into robust debates: Is applause ever appropriate at Mass? Should Origen be canonized? How do you distinguish consolation from desolation when discerning? Is it OK for a guy to date in high school if there’s even a chance that the Holy Spirit might be leading him to give seminary a try? Does seminary formation really make a man a better husband and father? Why would anyone settle for a Church “founded by a dude” when they could belong to the Church established by the Son of God?
I was inspired as I heard of all that these young men were pursuing to learn more about the faith, and all that they were doing to put their faith into action. They gave me both some great podcast recommendations and mission trip suggestions. They were clearly serious about their prayer, and I felt privileged to pray with them — and for them — at Mass. While some of those men may find their way into a seminary or religious community, most will hear the Lord calling them to serve his Church as engaged laymen excited about being leaders and selfless laborers in the vineyard of our parishes. I slept well at the retreat house, not because I was exhausted from the pace of questioning but rather because I had experienced such a strong sense that our Church will be in good hands as these young men embrace their vocations.
It never ceases to amaze me how God provides just what we need in every age. On my way to Buffalo, I was privileged to participate in a ceremony that celebrated the legacy of the Sinsinawa Dominicans at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault. While we were marking a transition in the canonical sponsorship of the academy to Dominican Veritas Ministries, a structure created by the Sinsinawa Dominicans and four other congregations to perpetuate the Dominican charism in their schools, the event highlighted the singular contribution made by the Sinsinawa Dominicans to Catholic education in Faribault, beginning with the decision in 1865 to send 20% of their sisters to the wilds of Minnesota to establish what was initially an academy for girls. It was the congregation’s first venture outside of Sinsinawa. Those early religious sisters were nothing short of heroic, and the continued existence of Bethlehem Academy has to be attributed to their perseverance and to that of their successors, as well as to their commitment to collaboration with the laity and clergy of Faribault.
I detected that same sense of generosity and perseverance on a recent visit to the Benedictine community at St. Paul Monastery in Maplewood, as the religious sisters celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their monastery. It would be difficult to measure the enormous impact that the Benedictines have had on our archdiocese since the arrival in 1948 of the 178 founding sisters from the Monastery of St. Benedict’s in Stearns County. What a gift to our schools and parishes just as the Catholic population in the archdiocese began to experience its post-war boom! I am grateful that the Benedictines — and the Oblates associated with them — continue to have a meaningful impact on our local Church through their retreat ministry, their apostolic presence and their other efforts to share their Benedictine heritage of hospitality, work and prayer.
As we profit from these occasions to congratulate the Sinsinawa Dominicans and Benedictine sisters, let’s be sure to pray for them — and for the many young “discerners” of our archdiocese. May our provident God continue to prepare, inspire and raise up young women and men to meet the unique challenges faced by this local Church in every age as we strive to make the good news of God’s love known and felt.
