Waverly (SNR) - Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly will host nationally-known speaker and author Dan Burke of the Avila Institute for a retreat and conference this month.
Burke will lead a weekend retreat at the retreat house Feb. 25-27. “Holiness from the Secrets of the Saints” begins Friday with a 7 p.m. rosary and Mass, concluding Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Talks include “Secrets of the Saints” and “The Paradigm of Ascent,” and Burke will lead an extended evening of prayer and praise with the psalms on Saturday evening.
Registration for the weekend retreat with Dan Burke includes attendance at the “Setting the Captives Free” conference at St. Patrick Parish in Lincoln Saturday, Feb. 26.
Burke will be at St. Patrick Church in Lincoln’s Havelock neighborhood from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 26 for “Setting the Captives Free,” a conference on discernment of spirits. Talks include “The Battleground and the Mind,” “Discernment and Freedom – Rules of Discernment and the Examen Prayer” and “Never Ending Journey – The Necessity of Prayer.”
The day conference includes 8 a.m. Mass, a light breakfast, lunch, Eucharistic adoration, confessions, and a question-and-answer session with Burke on the spiritual life.
Burke is founder and president of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation (www.avila-institute.org) and has written more than 15 books on authentic Catholic spirituality. In his ministry, Burke stresses the importance of every Catholic engaging in daily mental prayer.
Quoting St. Teresa of Avila, Burke describes mental prayer as “two friends meeting and conversing,” with the most common approach Lectio Divina, “a conversation based on the reading of the Gospels in order to get to know the person and work of Jesus.” His 2017 book, "Into the Deep: Finding Peace through Prayer," details the method.
Perseverance in mental prayer is crucial, he noted, “as it keeps us nearer to Christ, on the narrow way following him. We will come to know Him, and He will reveal to us things in our lives that need to change so that we become better disciples.”
Despite difficult times, a follower of Christ should have “peace and joy,” and if not, “there is some healing that needs to occur through deeper immersion in the sacraments and the Catholic mystical tradition,” he said.
Burke invites all who desire to be “deeply grounded” in their relationship with God to the events. He explained, “Many ‘devout’ Catholics don’t practice mental prayer and fail to see the spiritual life as one of constant growth and learning. In contrast, those who have a healthy view of what it means to be in relationship to God are constantly growing. They devote themselves to daily mental prayer – getting to know Jesus in Scripture.”
The suggested donation for the weekend retreat is $180, and for the Saturday conference is $50. Livestream and recordings are available for the day conference, but not the weekend retreat. Register for either one at www.goodcounselretreat.org, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 402-786-2705.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House offers a sanctuary of prayer on a spacious acreage near Waverly. The facility includes 50 single rooms, each with a private bath.
Other upcoming retreats at Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House will be held Feb. 12, “Holiness for Moms” with Father Benjamin Holdren; March 2, an Ash Wednesday reflection, and March 4-6, “Inner Healing Prayer” with Father Stephen Graeve.
