Checking in from Oconomowoc
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November 29, 2023On Saturday morning, November 4, volunteers started arriving on the Redemptorist Retreat Center property in Oconomowoc with their rakes. Others arrived by pickup trucks with their backpack leaf blowers.
The event was the annual property clean-up, concentrating on raking the leaves that fell from the many oak and maple trees that grace the property. Br. Mike Rhodes and Br. Bruce Davidson organized the project, and from 9:00 am until 12 noon, volunteers and friends of the retreat house worked diligently to clean the property.
As the 30 workers gathered and organized themselves, it reminded me, in a small way, of the Amish barn raising scene in the movie Witness.
A few years ago, I attended a Denver Province gathering at our retreat house in Arizona. I stayed on an extra day after the conference ended. There was also a large retreat scheduled to begin that same day. All seats in the dining room were needed for the retreatants, so I ate in the small dining room off the main room. During the meal, the lady next to me said, “I am very grateful that the Redemptorists have a place like this for us to come to.”
I believe that sentiment also applies to those who come to the Perpetual Help Retreat House. The retreat staff holds the preaching charism of the Redemptorists in trust and works very hard to ensure that those who are with us for any length of time find the inner peace and assurance that can only be found in a “place like this.”
The retreat program continues to offer the men’s and women’s silent weekend retreats. Other groups gather here as well, including the Deacons from the Green Bay and Milwaukee Dioceses, Kiros retreats for students from Marquette and Dominican High Schools in Milwaukee, students from Cristo Rey High School, various recovery groups, and retreats for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.