Mid-retreat week

Our retreat is going along very well. The temperatures are holding so we're able to be outside quite a bit, but storms are predicted for tomorrow--our desert day. The "desert" may be in our rooms amidst rainy skies.

Abbot Paul Mark is presenting conferences rather creatively, as he has developed a background story around the stories he's chosen from the gospels. We are meeting wives and friends and learning what may have happened leading up to the encounter with Jesus that the gospel tells us about. It's quite creative and comes, he says, from his own lectio.

I have read books that do this, too, as you probably have--filling out a possible scenario that is "unreported" by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It's a very helpful technique especially for expanding our understanding and view of Jesus, his message and his times.

I also had the thought this week that I might approach a techie friend to see if it would be worth considering live-streaming our retreat conferences next year. I've seen some websites that have live-streaming from their chapels and we already have a camera set up for an internal TV channel. Since we have more than 250 oblates, the majority who do not live in Erie, it might be worthwhile. We'll see.


This is the week of our roses. Here's how they start out, outdoors and how they end up, indoors.