Silent Retreats: Making Time for God

This year at St. Al’s, Sr. Jacqueline Spaniola and Fr. Tom Merkel adapted silent retreats to be online and included introductions to prayer on Zoom and spiritual direction. Below you can read how students, Keira and Josh, drew closer to the Lord during the retreat.

KEIRA WRIGHT, a fourth-year mechanical engineering major, says attending the silent retreat was a way for her to slow down and listen. “Silent retreats are a way for me to refocus on God and put my life into perspective again. During the retreat, I was graced with a spirit of quiet, which allowed me to calm my mind and spend time listening to the Lord. God always gives you what you need in the moment and what is best for you.”

Keira is continuing to discern whether she is being called to the religious life. “I am like a child hanging onto the bottom of the Lord's robe, asking where we are going and when will we get there. Discernment isn't a fast process. I have been discerning since I was 11 years old, and God has slowly been leading me to where he wants me to go. Going on a silent retreat is turning back toward God, allowing us to see Him working in our lives and gives Him more opportunities to impact our lives.”

JOSH GOLIMBIESKI, who is studying mechanical engineering, said he thought attending a silent retreat would help him to get back with the Lord and give Him the time He deserved. “I felt as if I had lost touch with God and my joy since the beginning of the fall semester. I was just too busy to give my time to God.”

As a recent convert to Catholicism, Josh says he knew the Holy Spirit was important but this retreat helped him to learn more. “We are called to see God in all things and within all people and that is where we find our true joy, in the Lord and what he has done. I lost my joy because through school, family, and Covid I forgot about God and that He was always there even when I didn’t think He was.

Josh and his wife, Jess, who also attended a silent retreat this year, have three children. “God is greater than our worries and if you truly want to become closer with Him, He will help you make a way and this retreat is a perfect opportunity to become closer with our God.”