Seek and ye shall find
March 27, 2012
HOUSTON — Young adults can sometimes have difficulty finding parish events and activities that are tailored to their unique stage in life, but the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is offering a new retreat this spring designed precisely with their demographic in mind.
The Seekers’ Retreat, April 27 to 29, is meant for adults from ages 20 to 39 desiring to renew and deepen their faith and build Christian relationships with other adults in the Houston area.
Based on the Ignatian Spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, the retreat will include talks and small group sessions led by other young adults, as well as spiritual direction, time in silence and the sacraments, said Roberto Navarro, Director of the Young Adult and Campus Ministry office for the Archdiocese.
There is space for roughly 30 retreat participants, so he encouraged those interested to register early. The retreat will be held at the Christian Renewal Center, 1515 Hughes Rd. in Dickinson, which is a suburb of Houston.
Navarro said the Archdiocese recently sent a team of six young adults to Chicago to be trained in leading the retreat. The intent is to offer an experience that can guide young adults with more mature needs into deeper reflection and prayer.
“There aren’t many Ignatian retreats for young adults in Houston, meaning men and women from college-age to mid-thirties,” said Josh Parker, a thirtysomething who works for an oil company in Houston and will be one of the retreat facilitators.
“There will be small group discussions and we’re going to give people a little more quiet time,” he said.
The retreat, hopefully the first in an annual series, is being organized in the Archdiocese to directly serve young adults, which is often a tricky population to minister to at parishes, Navarro said.
Since many people in the age bracket are moving for new jobs, getting married and going through other life transitions, it can be challenging to form stable parish communities. Few parishes have full-time staff members dedicated to young adult ministry; and volunteer-led groups can easily dissolve when a disruption in leadership occurs.
Navarro lamented the situation, pointing out the vital need to continuing nurturing the faith of young people throughout early adulthood when many of life’s momentous decisions are being made and many people can lose their way.
Hopefully, the Seekers’ Retreat will lead to more such events and encourage young adults to get involved, he said.
Registration for the retreat costs $125 through April 17 and $200 until April 23, but financial assistance is available. For more information about the Seekers’ Retreat, visit www.charisministries.org or contact Roberto Navarro at 713-741-8780 or rnavarro@archgh.org, or Elda Skrehot 713-741-8778 or yacm@archgh.org. †