Lenten retreat focuses parish on reconciliation

"Retreats are done so people have the opportunity to encounter the Lord again," said Father Gustavo Adolfo Vidal, pastor of Saint George Parish. "We are doing this retreat during the Lenten season because we want people to think about reconciliation, forgiveness, coming back to the Lord and reestablishing the relationship that probably is broken, and this is an opportunity to re-establish that relationship with God."

Fr. Machado, now based in Rome, Italy, is a Canadian-born member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. He has presented television series on Saint Pio of Pietrelcina and Purgatory on EWTN, and he promotes healing of the whole person through intercessory prayer, the sacraments and use of sacramentals such as rosaries, holy medals and crucifixes.

"He’s an excellent preacher" as well as an exorcist, Fr. Vidal said, pointing out that these prayers can be for buildings, not just people.

The parish plans to dedicate its remodeled church in August.

"When there is a community in trouble, going through a difficult time, in division or anything like that, there are some prayers that are said to exorcise or to expel the demon or the demons," Fr. Vidal said. He added that he hoped Fr. Machado’s visit would bring peace and unity to the parish. "I think that those are the two most important things that we need at this time here in the parish."

In his homily, Fr. Machado said that the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, abstinence, mortification, detachment and sacrifice bring Catholics to the essentials of our faith: Christ and the Paschal Mystery. "As a Christian, your currency is your prayer life and the sacramentals of the Church and devotions and the blessings of the Lord."

He also asked parishioners how their Lent was going, and said the Word of God is the key to responding to the devil’s temptations. Sacramentals such as rosaries, holy medals and other religious articles "remind us of the Lord and we call upon the presence of the Lord. The more we do that, the more the Lord comes to us," he said.

Terry Wittry, a parishioner at St. George since 2000, said she attended the retreat because it was a way of deepening her spirituality during the Lenten observance. The message she took from Fr. Machado’s homily, she said, was "we need to get back to prayer in our lives."