New Year’s Retreat

Finding Your Everyday God

Begin the New Year filled with healing, hope, and promise.

Learn to see God in the good times and the bad.

Discover it’s not you finding God, but that God is finding YOU!

Two Nights: December 30, 2021 to January 1, 2022


Four Engaging Sessions

Our Retreat Master, Fr. John Michalowski S.J., loves to engage retreatants on various levels. He blends fetching presentations, guided private reflection, and community sharing to lead all toward discovering God in their everyday lives. Using a variation of the time-honored Examen technique, he will help participants come closer to the healing and loving power of God with a series of questions: Where in the past year was God the closest to you? When did God feel furthest away? Where is God in your life now? How might your life change if I fully grasped the realization that you’re not searching for God as much as God is searching for you? These questions will be explored in these four engaging sessions.

1st session: Finding God in the Past: Part I – In Times of Closeness

What better way to enter a New Year than to spend some time looking back over the past year and recount the many times God was especially close to you? In this session, you’ll spend some time considering the blessings you received, and call upon the healing power of gratitude and recall the graces that you’ve received. Recognize in a new way how the every day God has been ever-active in your life over this past year.  

2nd session: Finding God in the Past: Part II – In Times of Separation

It is sometimes easy to recognize the presence of your everyday God in times of closeness. It can be much more challenging to discover the same everyday God in times of separation. In those dark and despairing moments, we join the cry of the psalmist, “How long, LORD, will you hide your face.” After a careful review of the past several years, you’ll be invited to ponder those times when you felt cut off or separated from God and others. In the review, you’ll maybe discover that God was not only present in these times of isolation but might have been even more active than you could ever imagine.

3rd session: Finding God in the Present

More than anything, the New Year is a celebration of the present moment. It is a time to let go of the pain of the past. It is a time to cast aside the worries of the future. It is a time to heed the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (43:18) One place where the everyday God can be found is in the present. In a reflective retreat environment, you’ll be able to let go of the usual distractions and discover the everyday God in the present moment, and garner skills to draw you into the present moment everyday.

4th session: The Hope for the Future – How God is Finding You

What’s the Good News? The everyday God is searching for you. You are the lost sheep that the shepherd leaves the 99 to rescue. You are the lost coin that the widow turns her house upside down to find. You are the prodigal son who decides to finally seek out his father only to find his father awaiting his expected arrival. The everyday God is there in your past, there in your present, but most of all, will be finding you each and every day of the new year.


Exceptional Retreat Atmosphere

Indoor and outdoor reflection areas

In addition to the engaging sessions, there will be plenty of time to pray and reflect upon the words and upon God’s plan for you. For those who prefer doing this in a sacred space, there is a beautiful chapel and several indoor and outdoor reflection places. For those who are more active, there are trails cut through our 180 acres. The more ambitious can take a short drive or a long hike to Baker Mountain Park. Added to the outdoor space, there is a horseshoe pit, a bonfire, and even some corn-hole boards.

Nicely appointed rooms and fine dining

The lodging rooms were fully renovated in 2015. Each room has two full-sized beds and a private bath. Our dining area has an exceptionally qualified full-time chef with a wide range of culinary expertise. The dining room has also been recently renovated and has a 100% sanitation rating. The meeting room has cathedral ceilings and spectacular views.

Grace-filled encounters

For those who want to immerse themselves into the retreat, there will be several scheduled hours of Adoration, Mass, as well as time for confession, The chapel is open all night for those who want to have a more intimate encounter with the Lord. To break the ice, the retreat will begin with an optional social before dinner, where participants can bring a beverage of their choice.


A Retreat Schedule Just for You

Thursday, December 30
2:00 PMCheck-in, call ahead if you need an earlier check-in
5:30 PM“Director’s Welcome Reception” for those interested
6:30 PMDinner
7:30 PM1st Session: Finding God in the Past: Times of Closeness
9:00 PMFree Time, Social Time
Friday, December 31
7:00 AMAdoration and Benediction
8:00 AMBreakfast
9:00 AM2nd Session:  Finding God in the Past – Times of Separation
11:15 AMHoly Mass
12:00 PMLunch
1:00 PM3rd Session:  Finding God in the Present
2:30 PMConfession, Free time
6:00 PMNew Year’s Eve Banquet Dinner
7:30 PM4th Session:  How God is Finding You – Hope for the Future
9:00 PMFree time, Social, New Year’s Festivities
Saturday, January 1
7:00 AMAdoration and Benediction
8:30 AMHoly Mass – Solemnity, Mary Mother of God
10:00 AMClosing brunch

Meet your Retreat Master

Fr. John Michalowski, S.J. is no stranger to retreats. After a year of learning how to direct the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, Fr. John became the director of the Campion Renewal Center in Weston, MA. Originally from Connecticut, he began his career teaching high school after receiving a degree in philosophy from Holy Cross. Soon after, he entered the New England Jesuit Province. He completed his M.Div. in Chicago and obtained a Th.M with a concentration in liturgy and social justice at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge. In addition to teaching high school and directing a retreat center, Fr. John was a pastor of a parish in Salem, New Hampshire for ten years. Fr. John has spent a three-month sabbatical at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem. He is currently the Parochial Vicar at Saint Peter Catholic Church in downtown Charlotte.

Registration

Sorry, our registrations have closed. If you’re interested attending this retreat, please call 828.327.7441 or email info@catholicconference.org

The registration for the retreat includes two overnight stays, all retreat fees, full-course meals from Thursday dinner to Saturday brunch. As a special treat, there will also be a banquet dinner on New Year’s Eve and some traditional New Year’s Festivities. The commuter option includes all of the above except the overnight option. The retreat price is as follows:

Double, two persons per room: $260 per person.

Single, one person per room: $325.

Commuter price is $150 per person (includes all of the above except overnight lodging)