Encounter. This word, in many ways, expresses the goal of spiritual retreat. In spiritual retreat, one has the opportunity to go into the silence, and for a little while, get away from the many distractions that fight for our attention every moment of our busy lives. Going into the silence has been often compared with going into the desert, and the use of this imagery is quite apt, for retreat often feels like a being in the desert. Nonetheless, there are such tremendous wonders awaiting us in the silence. There, in the quiet of our hearts, God’s voice is heard. In the stillness of prayer we can encounter our Creator and our Father, we can encounter our Savior and our King, and we can encounter the Living Spirit of Love moving within us. In the silence we can truly encounter God.

          Every time I am able to go on retreat I try to remember how many people are not able to set apart the significant amount of time it takes to enter into silence, and spend time “apart” with the Lord in prayer. One of the tremendous opportunities that the Catholic Studies Rome Program offers is the chance to go on a weekend retreat. A retreat is a gift amidst the business of anyone’s life, but to be able to experience quiet was especially refreshing after the chaos and noise that is Rome.

          Our retreat house was on a beautiful volcanic lake to the south of Rome (the same lake upon which the Pope spends his summers), and it was a truly beautiful setting. For a country boy like me, it was wonderful just to be able to sit outside and drink in the beauty of creation—to see the lake in all its serenity, to see the stars at night, and to hear the wind in the leaves instead of cars honking. For all the wondrous things that man has made, I still testify to the incalculable superiority of God’s creation. He still does it best.

~Burton, Catholic Studies student currently studying at the Rome campus