Father Kilcawley to present ‘Surrendering Your Heart’
WAVERLY (SNR) – Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House will hold a virtual retreat via live-stream April 3-5.
Father Sean Kilcawley said he hopes a wide audience will be able to learn more about surrendering to God’s plan for their lives on the weekend retreat entitled, “Rend your Hearts: Living a Spirituality of Surrender.”
The theme comes from the words of Joel 2:13: “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
At this virtual retreat on Palm Sunday weekend, Father Kilcalwey invites men and women of all ages to learn how real repentance and prayer takes place when surrendering one’s heart to a God who is loving and merciful.
“The theme I chose for the retreat this year was ‘Surrender,’” Father Kilcawley said, “and I’m in awe how appropriate that really is because we’re all learning what it means to surrender. The fact that we can’t go to church on Sunday, some can’t go to work, and our lives have been really turned upside down.
“It can be very tempting to focus on anger or frustration or negativity,” Father Kilcawley continued. “What I hope is that the retreat conferences will help us to focus more on the ways that our Lord is with us in this time, the ways that he’s continuing to love us with his relentless love at this time.”
He said, “Lots of people are asking questions like ‘How is that going to work? How can I do a silent retreat at home with my six kids and changing diapers and being busy?’ And that’s totally understandable. It’s probably going to be more like a busy person’s retreat, where we go about the normal things of life, and then take some dedicated time to just listen to some talks and hopefully be able to set aside some portions of quiet time.”
Father Kilcawley serves as director of the Diocese of Lincoln Office of Family Life, and as theological advisor for Integrity Restored. A nationally-recognized speaker, Father Kilcawley’s assignments have been in Lincoln: an assistant at St. Joseph and North American Martyrs, a teacher at Pius X High School, and in residence at the parishes of the Cathedral of the Risen Christ and St. John. He did advanced studies at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Rome.
The virtual retreat can be followed on any computer, tablet or phone with internet. Retreatants will receive instructions on how to create a place for prayer and retreat at home. The suggested donation is $35 (or $50 for a family/multiple devices), which will include recordings if a participant misses a session. Registration is required to receive the live streaming, but a donation is not required. All free-will donations support the Retreat House mission to create a place of sanctuary for people to encounter Christ.
Father Gary Coulter, director of Good Counsel Retreat House, spoke about the changes there.
“Our March Engaged Encounters and large retreats have been cancelled,” he said. “Meanwhile, we plan to hold virtual retreats and also possibly more directed retreats, where retreatants meet one-on-one with their director, but otherwise have no social contact with other retreatants.”
To register for the virtual retreat, or a directed retreat at Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly, go to www.goodcounselretreat.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 402-786-2705.
There will be a full refund (always transferable to another retreat) for those who signed up for a retreat that was canceled or they were unable to attend.
