Recently, all three Amate House communities braved the beginnings of a winter storm and traveled to Jones, Michigan for a much-needed winter retreat. In the days leading up to the retreat, my housemates had expressed a variety of reasons why they were looking forward to spending a full three days focusing on prayer, reflection, and fun. I personally was looking forward to the opportunity to rest, “unplug” from technology, and renew my commitment to this year of service.Upon arriving at Bair Lake Bible Camp in Jones, we participated in a Taize prayer and read the gospel passage in which Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. This time at the beginning of the retreat for listening and prayer helped set the stage for the entire weekend. One of the main themes of our reflections and discussions during our time on retreat was thinking about how our lives relate to this story of “the well,” especially in light of the Lenten season.
On Friday, we started the day with a beautiful prayer and reflection from the Little Village community. This activity allowed us the opportunity to write down something that we hoped to be able to gain or work through while on retreat. It was incredibly comforting and unifying to remember that not only is everyone facing their own issues, but also that we can all be there for each other as a larger Amate community. I appreciated the opportunity to have a fellow community member pray for me as I also prayed directly for another community member’s concerns.
The rest of Friday included additional time to reflect and consider how the story of “the well” can relate to us individually as we, like the Samaritan woman, also work toward healing the broken areas of our lives. We were also given a fair amount of unstructured time to simply reflect and recharge in whatever way worked best for us. It was nice to have such an opportunity to just sit and "be," as it can often seem difficult to find time in our busy lives to truly rest our hearts and minds.
There were a variety of activities available for us at Bair Lake Bible Camp on both Friday and Saturday, from a pool hall to a tubing hill to an ice wall to an indoor basketball court. The free time we were given on retreat was a wonderful chance for us to reconnect with our community members and take the time to simply have fun.
We began the day Saturday morning with a thoughtful reflection and relaxing Tai Chi activity led by two of my North House community members, Andrew and Ali. This time allowed us all to begin our second full day of retreat with calm and peaceful hearts. Saturday included a session on “burn out” and self-care. The timing of this discussion seemed especially appropriate since we are at a time of the year when many of us have felt ourselves “burning out.” Furthermore, with all of our various daily commitments, self-care can often be the first thing we eliminate from our lives. Between the frequent gray days and often frigid temperatures, I’ve personally found that February in Chicago can sometimes feel like the longest month of the year. Therefore, it was even more important as a community to think about how to minimize burn out and renew our commitments to self-care so that we all can be the best possible community members going forward.
Saturday evening included a small, intimate mass led by Chicago priest Father Ed Shea, and after dinner that evening we had the opportunity to participate in reconciliation. Later that night, we sat down for the “2013 Amate House Film Festival.” During that time, we watched the videos that each of the three houses had created as a way to showcase what makes each of our communities so special. At this point in the year we have all had the chance to get to know each other fairly well as both individuals and communities, so it was a lot of fun to see what each group chose to highlight in their video. Although it was pretty hilarious to create our own house skit, it was even more fun to see what the other houses had done for their videos.
Our final morning of retreat opened with a meaningful and inspiring reflection prepared by South House before we began our last session of the weekend. Our closing session allowed us to spend some time talking with the prayer partner that we had met with at the Amate fall retreat. We concluded the session by offering both a blessing of the body and a prayer for our partner. There was something simple yet powerful about reaching out to bless our partner’s forehead, ears, eyes, feet, and hands, then receiving such a blessing in return.
Between the treacherous snowy travel conditions and a sense of restless anticipation, our drive to Michigan was somewhat reflective of how we felt going into the retreat that weekend: tired, weary, and maybe even a little anxious. However, the ride back to Chicago seemed quieter, relaxed, and more peaceful—similar to how we all felt after a weekend of prayer, rest, and fun.
Even though we still faced a heavy downpour on our drive back from the retreat, the fact that the snow had changed to rain reminded me that both our literal and spiritual “winters” will always prepare us to welcome the renewal and promise of spring. The time we spent on retreat allowed us to replenish our own personal “wells” in the same way as the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus. Even more than that, our time away helped us to prepare our hearts and minds so that we can wholly embrace the Lenten season and final weeks of winter, ready for all that God has in store for us.
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