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C'YA Declares Retreat, and Heads for the Hills by Dan Marsh

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Lewis and Clark wannabes.	Have we reached Oregon yet?	We're in Pennsylvania! That's why we can't find the Oregon trail!
Dan, Dan the Music Man!	What's for dinner?	A quiet evening?...
...that all changed with the discovery of a mischievous green ball!	The green ball continues to liven things up!	The retreatants
Bellarmine Retreat Center

C'YA Declares Retreat, and Heads for the Hills
by Dan Marsh

Fr. Jack Lombardi, who runs the shrine, generously offered the retreatants the sacrament of reconciliation at the Retreat Center. The next day, he worked the retreat into his homily, which was very touching, since the mass was for the hundreds of pilgrims at the Shrine. Although rain forced the mass indoors -- the glass church is a must-see anyway -- it wasn't hard enough to keep the retreatants from following the path up to grotto, where St. Elizabeth Ann Seton would pray weekly. I sort of enjoyed the rain-forest feel it lent. We said a special indulgence for pilgrims, and then received yet another special blessing from Fr. Lombardi, just as the sun struggled to come out.

The entire weekend up to then had been cold and drizzly. By Saturday evening, everyone had gotten slightly stir crazy, but stir crazy can be fun when surrounded by such good company. Several of us did manage to hike along nearby rapids. We all planned to visit the Grotto again, and looked forward to the possibility of another retreat next year.

A personal note: Planning this retreat was sort of a final big event for me as spiritual-events coordinator. But I am by no means going to become less active in C'YA. Although I got positive feed-back from this retreat, I learned much about how to do things better, and will be willing to pass that on and help make any future retreat a success. I am very pleased that several people have expressed interest in helping lead future spiritual events.

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Revised/reviewed August 11, 2003