Hello,

I attended a Young Adults retreat this past weekend at the San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville, run by the Franciscans. I've undergone a painful month and the retreat allowed me to enjoy fellowship and the peace there to clarify things and I appreciated the experience overall.

However, a few things concerned me. One of the exercises was saying the "Our Father" aloud slowly, using various physical gestures. Then, the retreat leader substituted the words "Father" and "king"dom with the words "Mother" and "queen"dom. I thought that was waaay strange.

I questioned him on that in front of the group and he said that we call God many names, including Mother. While I understand that, I still thought it was inappropriate for him to use subsitutions for the Lord's Prayer. I hope I didn't offend him, as I know he was making the effort, but I wanted him and others to think about what he had just done.

In another post on this site, I remember reading someone discouraging participation at retreat centers, particularly ones run by lay people because they do some New Age practices or other things inconsistent with authentic Catholic teaching. Those retreat centers are a good place for peace and for reflection, however I think retreat leaders need to focus more on authentic Catholic teaching, rather than confusing people like myself (who are still learning more and more about their faith), with their "creativity." The "team-building" / "ice-breaker" format I could easily get from the corporate world.

Also, they held Mass outdoors on a Saturday night, instead of the chapel, since many of the young adults encouraged it. The water fountain and the crickets outside were so noisy that the priest was difficult to hear. Also, we couldn't be reverant (kneel or stand) because of the environment we were in. Should Mass be held outdoors?

Thank you and God bless,

May