Memory - Family Retreats at La Salette

At this morning's 10:00 Mass at St. Maria Goretti, Father Lynch called the children present to come around the altar during the Canon of the Mass. For some reason, this brought a memory to mind.

A number of years ago (before I was first married), I helped out at a number of family retreats at the La Salette Retreat Center in Attleboro (MA). I was a youth counselor at these retreats, and our main ministry was to help care for children during the times when their parents were participating in adults-only sessions.  Sometimes this involved conducting youth sessions, and other times it involved assisting with recreation activities.

Most of the memories of these retreats are very hazy, but I do remember all of us counselors gathering together around an altar for Mass late in the evenings after the children were with their parents for the night.

These family retreats, I thought, were a great idea, and they seemed to have a positive effect on the families that participated. I don't know if any retreat houses still conduct this type of retreat (I suspect they could be a bit expensive), but I still think it could be a valuable experience.

On a personal note, it was at one of these retreats that I received stitches for the first time in my life (I was in my young to mid-twenties at the time.). I don't remember exactly what happened, but I was playing touch football with some of the older kids during a recreation period, and I got some type of laceration on my hand or arm.