Lenten retreat prepares diocese for Easter

Intermountain Catholic

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Prayer and silent reflection played a large part in the annual diocesan Lenten retreat, held this year March 10 at Saint Thomas More Catholic Church. See photo album on Facebook.IC photo/Marie Mischel

SANDY — Lent is a time for Catholics to get rid of the idols in their lives in preparation to meet the risen Lord, said Dominican Father Ray John Marek, who led the second annual Diocese of Salt Lake City Lenten Retreat in English on March 10 at Saint Thomas More Catholic Church in Sandy.

The Spanish language retreat master was Dr. Antonio Ramírez de León, development minister for the Congar Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

The retreat allowed Utah Catholics to "slow down a little bit; pray, reflect and get ready for Easter," said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City." He attended, he said, because "I am going to pray with my people. We will gather as a diocesan family."

About 240 people attended the retreat, which ended with a Vigil Mass.

"Lent is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to demand sacrifice. We’re to feel the pain," Fr. Marek said. "We don’t do Lent to lose weight. We don’t do Lent to improve our looks, because they’re going to go into decline. We don’t do Lent to wean us off caffeine or tobacco, we don’t do Lent to play makeup with God, and we don’t do Lent to earn God’s favor. We do Lent to improve the quality of our relationship with this God who is eternal love; to come to understand that God of love in new ways."

Jesus’ resurrection calls people to move beyond their own wounds and to trust, as Christ did, that new life will be brought out of sorrow, suffering and even death, said Fr. Marek, who presented three sessions during the day.

Surrendering to Jesus is not about giving up, but becoming someone new, Fr. Marek said. "We’re asked by the Holy Spirit to break out … to go forth, changed."

Many of those who attended came at the invitation of another, like Colleen Burdick, a parishioner at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in East Carbon County, whose friend Nancy LeBahn of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price suggested the retreat.

"I hadn’t been to a Lenten retreat in years and years and I felt like I really needed to come, and I have loved every second of it," Burdick said. "I don’t even know how to explain it. The feeling I have is just overwhelming."

Likewise, Pauleen Dolling encouraged others from Saint Henry Parish in Brigham City to attend to draw them into the season of Lent, listen to the presentation and to share their experiences, she said.

Gloria Winter was among those who accepted Dolling’s invitation. "I’m so excited that I was able to be a part of this," she said. "It’s helping me a lot to know how much God gives us in our daily lives."

Gerry Carvalho asked other members of the Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center in Salt Lake City to join him at the retreat; Scott Ahlander was one of them.

"There isn’t an opportunity every day to be inspired and renewed the way I have been today," Ahlander said.

Marisa Augustyn of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Salt Lake City said having time to reflect on her life was inspiring, and the retreat reaffirmed what she believes in. "What gets us through all the difficulties in our life is God," she said. "Without God we are nothing. That’s what I truly believe and that’s why I came."

Lent is time for Catholics to go into the desert to let God speak to them, Bishop Wester said, adding that those who weren’t able to attend the retreat have until Holy Saturday (April 7) to experience the Lenten season. "There’s a lot of time left to make the most of this beautiful, graced time of Lent," the bishop said.