DavidGervino.com

Another Retreat

Sorry for not posting for a little while.... 

I got to participate in another Christ Renews His Parish retreat.  Those of us who participated in the last September's retreat got to lead the weekend.  We had been told that hosting the weekend is even better than going to one as a participant.  I found that hard to believe because I had gotten so much out of the retreat that I participated in last year.  But just as we had been promised, putting this weekend on was an incredible, life-changing experience. 

There is no better feeling than to hear someone tell you that you had a positive influence on his life.  And that's what happened at the end of the retreat.  I was just one of many people who helped out, but to be even a small part of something so powerful was exhilarating.  This experience really encourages me to seek out more ways to be a positive influence on people -- not just at church, but in my everyday life.

Mere Christianity

I just picked up Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis last night.  I was actually looking for some other items (See next post) when I came across it.  I've heard people mention it for years but I never really felt drawn toward reading it.  When I would flip through it at the bookstores, the material seemed kind of dry to me.  Maybe it is one of those "When the student is ready, the teacher will arrive" kind of things.

As I was at the bookstore last night, I saw this book and "knew" that I should get it, despite the fact that I was already familiar with it and had dismissed the idea of reading it several times before.  So I got it and began reading it earlier this morning.  What an incredible book! I will probably pick this book back up after lunch and read it straight-through to the end.  I can't recommend this book highly enough.  I think anyone, whether he is strong in his faith, weak in his faith or he has no faith at all, can benefit from reading this.

Retreat

I'm attending a Christ Renews His Parish retreat at my church this weekend.  I haven't been on a retreat since college, so I'm looking forward to this a lot.  I don't know exactly what to expect, but I'm looking forward to spending some quiet time away from TV, cell phones and email. 

Blaise Pascal once said that "Most of man's misfortunes are derived from not being able to sit alone in a room quietly." I've been trying  to spend some quiet time each morning over the course of the past few weeks.  I used to just mutter a quick prayer in the morning and rush off to work but I recently realized that I was doing that out of habit and a sense of obligation, rather than a genuine desire to seek God and let Him speak to me.  I mean, if you're "praying" but not really being genuine about it, what's the point??? You can fake an interest in a person.  You can "pretend" to listen when someone is talking to you.  But my guess is that God probably knows when we "fake an interest" in Him by just going to church or praying out of obligation, rather than a desire to genuinely seek Him.  Right??? So anyway, I can't wait to go on this retreat tomorrow.  I'm excited about the more contemplative person that I see myself becoming and I think this retreat will be another step in the right direction for me.

New Church

I found a great new church.  St. Isidore Parish is just around the corner from my new place.  It is a HUGE church, with six Masses on Sunday.