Retreat offers respite in the hectic holiday season

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SALT LAKE CITY – The holiday season approaches, bringing the scurry of shoppers scrounging for the best bargains, the need to have the exact right clothes for the party and of course the desperate search for the presents the kids have to have. It leaves most people exhausted and ready to fall asleep at Christmas Mass.

"Our faith is getting weaker in … the face of consumerism, getting people to buy, buy, buy," said Father Javier Virgen, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City vicar for Hispanic Affairs and associate vocations director. "The focus on material gifts misses the point, when the major gift is Jesus Christ, who gives peace, love and healing."

To help local Catholics focus on the true meaning of the season, the diocese is offering a one-day Advent retreat.

"It provides an opportunity for the diocese to come together, slow down, step back and try to help focus us in our celebration of the season so that we’re not so overwhelmed and busy with all the Christmas hype that the secular world is giving us," said Timothy Johnston, liturgical director for the diocese. "It’s an opportunity for everyone in the diocese to gather and have the opportunity to pray, to reflect on the season and to prepare their heart and their mind for the coming of Christmas."

All Catholics in the diocese are welcome. Dominican Father David Caron from the Congar Institute will lead the retreat for English-language speakers; the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, and Fr. Virgen will lead the Spanish-language session.

Both groups will focus on the Collects for Advent: the prayers that open the worship each of the four Sundays of the season.

"In a sense the prayers set the stage" for the worship with words of praise and imagery specific to the season, Johnston said.

During the retreat there will be opportunity for silent prayer and group discussion, he said.

The retreat will help "prepare ourselves to receive Jesus in this very special time of Advent and to be ready to embrace him at Christmas," Fr. Javier said. "Everyone in the Catholic diocese is welcome to help them realize the presence of Jesus among us as our savior and our redeemer, to raise an awareness that Jesus is present. More than ever we need to be dependent on him because he is the foundation of our happiness, peace and freedom."

The Diocesan Advent Day of Prayer and Reflection English language session will be Saturday, Dec. 4 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Skaggs Catholic Center. Cost is $25, which includes lunch. RSVP to 801-328-8641 x 363. The Spanish language session will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Saint John the Baptist Church. The $10 cost includes lunch. RSVP to 801-328-8641 x 332. (The cost difference between the English and Spanish sessions is to help defray the cost of the outside speaker.)