Diocesan Advent Retreat to focus on hope and holiness

Friday, Nov. 14, 2025

SANDY — This year’s Diocesan Advent Retreat at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on Dec. 6 will focus on the theme “Heroes of Hope and Holiness: The Saints of Advent.”

The retreat follows up on last year’s event, maintaining the theme of hope as the diocese continues to observe the Jubilee Year of Hope.

After a year of activities such as pilgrimages and works of mercy aimed at incorporating hope into daily life, there are still ways to deepen this practice, said Lorena Needham, director of the diocesan Office of Faith Formation.

 In particular, Bishop Oscar A. Solis suggested focusing on saints of the Advent season to find additional insights on how to “find, maintain and grow hope,” Needham said. 

This year’s retreat will have the Spanish session in the morning and the English session in the afternoon. Bishop Oscar A. Solis will celebrate a bilingual Mass at noon. The retreat will place special emphasis on the concept of anchoring hope, a theme inspired by a question from last year’s retreat: “Where have we anchored our life?”

“One of the most important things we can do during Advent is to stop for a moment and reflect on how God has been working in our life and how we can strengthen that relationship with the Lord,” Needham said. “Advent is the perfect time for that as we open our hearts to his second coming and renew that feeling and that faithfulness in our lives.”

The retreat’s Spanish session will be led by Father Andre Sicard, parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Madeleine and assistant to the judicial vicar. It will include music, prayer and time for reflection. Fr. Sicard will play the piano and sing Advent music that is connected to each saint being discussed.

The reflections will focus primarily on Mary and Saint Juan Diego, with possibly another saint as models of hope, Fr. Sicard said.

He hopes to reflect on Mary’s Magnificat “as a prayer of hope for us today and sort of to reclaim the Magnificat as our own, especially in these moments that are going to be sort of divisive in our polarized world,” he said. He will examine how her song of trust came “out of this uncertainty, out of this excitement.” 

Fr. Sicard will also share St. Juan Diego’s story, and will explain how the Blessed Mother appeared to him in 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac in what is now Mexico City “in the midst of uncertainty ... and yet she appears as a messenger of hope.” 

The true meaning of hope is “not just an optimism that things will be okay tomorrow, but that it’s a present reality of God’s kingdom breaking in right now, and offering us the hope in Jesus Christ,” Fr. Sicard said.

The retreat should be  a time “of using, of taking advantage of the season of Advent to truly rest and [ask] ‘What is the promise of God in our life?’” he added.

Fr. Sicard encourages those in the Hispanic community who may be hesitant to attend public gatherings to participate in the retreat.

“If they feel open ... and the Spirit calling them to attend this retreat, they should feel that as a sign of the Holy Spirit to come and ...  really get their hope realized,” he said.  

The afternoon session, which will be conducted in English, will be led by Father Anthony Shumway, parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hyde Park and chaplain of St. Jerome Newman Center in Logan.

Fr. Shumway’s presentation will be split into two talks. The first part will be a guided reflection on the meaning of Advent as a season of hope that will allow participants to explore how they can embrace the trust that Christ offers to everyone, he said.

It will also address “how we are people of hope, and we inherit this from our forefathers who came before us as being people of hope,” he said.

In this part of his presentation, Fr. Shumway also will examine the liturgical seasons and suggest different things participants can do during Advent to prepare themselves for the celebration of the coming of Christ. 

The second talk will focus on Saint Lucy and Saint Nicholas as examples of hope. Fr. Shumway will share the saints’ stories and encourage retreat participants to “emulate different characteristics of different saints to be able to help us celebrate Advent together,” he said.

Fr. Shumway invites all Utah Catholics to attend the Advent retreat, “focusing on our hope and the coming of Christ in the Christmas season, to experience hope in a time where hope can be a struggle and where trust can be limited, to come and experience the hope and the trust that Christ gives each and every one of us,” he said. 

WHAT: Diocesan Advent Retreat

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 6 9-11:30 a.m. – Spanish presentation with Fr. Andre Sicard

 noon – bilingual Mass with Bishop Oscar A. Solis presiding

 1:30 -4 p.m. – English session with Fr. Anthony Shumway

WHERE: Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 9800 South 1700 East, Sandy

There is no cost to attend the retreat. Call 801-456-9357 to reserve a place.