TYME OUT Blogs

Men's Prayer Breakfast

2012-04-03T13:47:00-05:00

On the first Tuesday of every month from September through May, TYME OUT is pleased to welcome men of the community who come together for prayer, breakfast, and some spirituality.

On Tuesday, April 3rd, the men gathered to listen to the words of Father Marty Pable, as he spoke about St. Joseph and how he may have appear to have had it made, living with the two holiest people in the world. However, upon closer look maybe he did not have it so easy.

A very interesting topic for Holy Week. We are almost half way through Holy Week, what have you been reflecting on this week. The Triduum is almost upon us. Are you ready to walk that holy journey to Easter? Hope to see you along the way.

Individual Retreatant Retreat 2012

2012-03-20T13:18:00-05:00

This weekend I had the privilege to be on an amazing retreat. We had 19 individual retreatants. Individual retreatant simply means that they could not come with their own parish so they are coming by themselves. 3/4ths of them came not knowing anyone and ¼ came with one or two people they knew. As retreat directors and small group leaders, we can only do so much to encourage the retreatants to open up. As I tell every group when they come in, your attitude towards this retreat is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think the retreat is going to stink … it will. If you come into it with an open heart and mind, I promise you will get something out of it. This group of young retreatants, wowed me. By the end of the retreat, I can absolutely say that I saw a unique part in all of them. Their souls are some of the sweetest and most profound souls I have ever met. To wrap up the retreat we had each retreatant talk about one thing they enjoyed and one thing they will take back with them. These are their profound answers.

I will take with me:

-That you can always retreat back to your faith

-That you don’t have to have someone you know with you, to have a great time

-That you should be able to open up to anyone and to keep being this open about my faith

-To incorporate what I believe into my everyday life

-To remember the great experience. Don’t go into things with a bad attitude because this one turned out good.

-To Facebook all of you.

-To be more comfortable with people.

-What will stay with me for a long time is how you all opened up. Now I’m friends with you.

-How we are all going through the same things. (Although we say we are worried about being confirmed,) Everyone really does want to be confirmed.

-How different people’s faith experiences are and how now I’m able to see God in everything.

-How I made friends and I hope to keep them.

-How I didn’t have to be someone I’m not

-How you’re not going to be able to understand everything right away. God is proud of you for trying your hardest. I honestly forgot I came here alone.

-How at school you see people the same way. I realize you can get to know people deeper … through faith.

-The conversations, they were all very special.

-The idea and fact that you can share these things with anyone and people do care.

-That I need to smile more at people

-The examples set by people in my small group and the leaders. I want to mirror that and strive for that.

-To not be afraid to open up to people you don’t know. You may become really good friends.

-To listen to other people’s faith journeys.

The end of the retreat was full of hugs and laughter. These individuals have touched my heart immensely. It was a blessing that they opened themselves up to me. In two and half days I feel like I could call them my brothers and sisters … through Christ.

TYME OUT at Holy Hill

2012-03-13T13:02:00-05:00

The 7th and 8th grade retreat of St. John, Rubicon, was at Holy Hill, one of the two basilicas of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. It is a short 5 miles from my house, so there wasn't a long drive involved in that off-site retreat. I did a Growing up Catholic retreat for these youth and challenged each youth to be a person of character, which is influenced by our Catholic faith.

By talking about it together they were able to begin to realize that saying you are a Catholic is not enough. You must act as a person of character.

So how does a person of character who has been raised a Catholic act? Well, we try to make them think about acting responsibly, with respect, prudence, fairness, justice, self-control, discipline, caring, compassion, faithfulness, honesty, truthfulness, etc. Does the retreat change their life? All we can do is give them the message and then it is in God's hands, and actually, I am perfectly comfortable leaving it to God.

TYME OUT goes "Off-Site"

2012-03-06T13:54:00-06:00

For the last 2 years TYME OUT has been taking their programming on the road. We realized that with the present economic atmosphere, in order to fulfill our mission of providing a retreat experience for all youth, we would need to go to some of the parishes instead of them coming to us. We are going off site 5 times in the month of March, so we will get to see much of the archdiocese.

The first weekend of March, I had the opportunity to travel to Mt. Calvary and work with 30, 7th & 8th graders at St. Isidore. I did a Growing up Catholic retreat with them and explored the characteristics that a person of character needs. At first they were not sure if they fit the descripton of a person of character, as this picture shows.

However, after a short time they were able to identify how understanding our Catholic faith makes it easier for us to be a person of character. Of course, there is still work involved but as these charts show with the colorful dots, a person of character is responsible, respectful and faithful.

We ended the day playing some of the Faith-a-thon games which gives us the basis on which to make those decisions which impact our character. It was a great way to spend a snowy morning.

On March 10th, I will join St. John, Rubicon, at Holy Hill for a similar retreat to the one I did for St. Isidore. On March 17th, Joe Nettesheim, our Executive Director, will travel to South Milwaukee to lead a Confirmation experience for Divine Mercy parish. On March18th, Amy Kroll, one of our retreat directors, willl join St. Patrick and Our Lady of Guadalupe at Marquette, for their Confirmation retreat. On March 19th, Joe and I will go to St. Anthony on the Lake in Pewaukee, and play some of the games for Faith-a-thon with the 6th-8th graders. On March 31st, Joe will do a Sacrament of Initiation retreat at the Cousins Center for the youth and adults of the RCIA and RCIC progams of all the parishes of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. We will be on the road and ministering to those we meet. And, by the way, besides these retreats there are 3 retreats each weekend at TYME OUT going on. See you somewhere this March.

A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR 2012

2012-01-04T19:27:00-06:00

A New Year’s Resolution for 2012

I jokingly told a friend that my New Year’s resolution was to be perfect. In 2012 my temperament, decision-making skills, exercise and eating habits, and of course morality would be appropriate for every situation, and every occasion. My children would receive the proper nurturing and boundaries that would help them grow and thrive. My staff at work would be provided the encouragement, direction and guidance empowering them to do their jobs in the most productive way. Wouldn’t life be easier if we were perfect? There would be no need for second-guessing, no apologies and no guilt. Of course the desire to be perfect may come from the reality that so much of my life has not been perfect. If only I was cured of the human condition.

Fortunately, it is not necessary to be cured of the human condition. If our celebration of Christmas should teach us anything, it is that being human is good. It is so good that God became one of us. As a human being, Jesus experienced everything that we do (except sin). Jesus would have had emotions, worries, doubts, hopes, and dreams. Even though he was God, Jesus entered into the full messiness of our human existence—even suffering and death. In spite of his participation in humanity it has not cured us of our weakness or shortcomings. In other words, we have not become perfect. We live in a world that remains broken. We are surrounded by poverty, violence, addiction, illness and broken relationships. We are not immune from making poor choices. The incarnation has not prevented us from being sinful. Perhaps what we need isn’t perfection, but forgiveness.

The appeal of a New Year’s resolution is that we are given a second chance. Growing up my parents and Catholic education did a phenomenal job of teaching right from wrong and emphasizing the need to make good decisions. Unconsciously we were taught that these good decisions would help us earn redemption. Forgiveness seemed to get second billing. Needing to be perfect seemed far more important than being forgiven for our mistakes and sinfulness. Sadly the pursuit for perfection can prevent us from being open to the grace of God. In fact perfection is arrogant in that it promotes our human status beyond what we are created to be. Accepting forgiveness begins with humility and standing before God as we are—people created in the image and likeness of God, but also people who need the unmerited grace of God to heal us of our sin and brokenness.

I am sure that whatever feelings of wanting to be perfect, jokingly or not, is rooted in some poor choices I have made in my life. The consequences of those actions are complicated and long lasting. Guilt has a life of its own. It has the ability to paralyze and impact self-esteem. Perfection is not the answer –forgiveness is. Jesus’ life demonstrated a total surrender to God. If we surrender our lives to God and trust in God’s healing presence, we are delivered from the need to be perfect and we are offered that second chance we seek when making a New Year’s resolution.

Today we live in a world in which there is little tolerance for mistakes. We live in a world in which people find reasons to be critical of one another. As brothers and sisters in Christ perhaps our New Years resolution for 2012 could be to offer forgiveness to one another and to accept God’s forgiveness. By doing so we will become the embodiment of the incarnation and make the presence of Christ real in our daily lives. What a wonderful way to make the world a better place. Happy New Year!

Some changes to TYME OUT

2011-12-30T11:42:00-06:00

I am sure at times that you are wondering what a retreat center does during the Christmas season. Even if you are not wondering, I am going to tell you!

We decided to make some changes to the main meeting room in TYME OUT I. The meeting room is where the vast majority of the retreats occur. The room gets a lot of use duing the retreat season, and usually we wait for the summer to make some of these changes. But we got inspired and decided to make the changes during the down time that occurs around Christmas.

Brenda Benishek, our housekeeper/maintenance engineer, Margie Lang, the Program Administrator, and Jessie Williams a very willing volunteer picked up some paint brushes the week before Christmas and got busy. It took two days for the three of us to paint the walls, and six more hours of Jessie coming back to put her artistic touch to the room and this is what the finished product looks like.

(The west wall with the logo painted on it)

(The wall with the TV, and a scripture passage)

I hope you all will like it as much as we do. Watch for more pictures next week when the room is put back together.

(Special thanks, as always to our Tuesday guys, Lou French, David Jones and Jim Janette, who work tirelessly to help us throughout every Tuesday of the year. In TYME OUT I, they installed new backs to the benches and installed a new wall brace for the flat screen TV. We couldn't have done it without them.)

A year and a day!

2011-12-01T14:43:00-06:00

(The other day I sat down with Keith Bartley, our maintenance engineer, who has been out on sick leave for a year and a day. Keith suffered a very serious injury to his leg on November 30th, 2010, while working at TYME OUT. He has been convalescing at home since. Besides being a great maintenance engineer, Keith is an artist. Recently he took pictures of his art and wrote about what the last year has been like for him. Here is what he had to say. Margie Lang)

It’s October 2011, and it’s almost a year since my accident. I made one stained glass window all year. The window is called “Going with the Flow.” This last year seems to have been like that.

I’m on the couch watching the leaves fall as my wife is raking, a job I cannot do right now. Well the year has been like that. You know people ask me, “What happened, and what are you going to be able to do?” I always answer, “I don’t know. I’m not in charge of what’s unfolding. Ask HIM up there.”

Sometimes when I’m confused about a problem, I ask for legal help. Then everything becomes “Hush, Hush.” People stop talking to you anymore. It’s like the “Plant Detectives” are watching, and of course their mouths are closed.

During this year and a day, I have had a lot of time to think. I am not sure that has always helped me. In fact, sometimes I feel fragmented, like an old sandman.

I woke up one day in intensive care with a catheter stuck up the back of my left leg. A blood clot had been found. Little did I know, I was a walking time bomb. I turned on the flat screen TV in the intensive care room, and a Tsunami had just hit Japan and the nuclear power plant on the shore line. The plant was leaking radioactive material. I thought to myself, “Things can always be worse. I am alive and I should appreciate it.” The Tsunami would affect all life including the fish in the ocean.

Questioning my faith one day, a bad science fiction monster came into my mind and then materialized in my art. (Picture to come soon)

I spent a lot of time on crutches this year. My goal was to get to the day that I could use a cane. So I made myself a cane holder to house my goal. Art should be functional sometimes.

While I don’t know what the future holds, it’s not here yet, I am not going to pull my hair out and imagine the worst. My art does that for me.

This last year has given me time to think about these things. I’d much rather be working, but I have learned a lot about myself.

How to explain what I do?

2011-10-29T07:52:00-05:00

When you go on retreat it is always hard to explain to those who haven't gone on retreat just what has happened. It almost becomes one of those, "You had to be there," moments. The presence of God is hard to explain to someone who wasn't there to experience it. Well, it is doubly hard to explain what it is that I do when I am on vacation and people ask me what it is that I do. That is exactly what I am experiencing this week while I am in Florida.

When I tell people I work at a youth center and that we do retreats, they immediately jump to the conclusion that I work with troubled youth. I immediately tell them that is not the case at all. I explain we do religious retreats for youth preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation, or we do relationship retreats, or character retreats, or retreats on topics that youth ministers or teachers would find helpful for the youth with whom they work; they nod but I get the feeling they do not really understand what I am talking about.

It is hard to explain the spiritual journey that occurs every time a group of youth come into our building. It is hard to explain the transformation that can occur in one weekend or one night. It is mostly hard to explain the blessing I feel to be the person who gets to walk with these individuals on this most sacred journey.

Yes, we play games with them. Yes, we share meals with them. Yes, we do a little bit of teaching with them. But mostly we allow them to be in the presence of God.

Just a week ago, I was honored to walk with the 8th grade of St. Joseph, Wauwatosa, as they explored their role as the leaders of the school. I also was privileged to journey with the freshmen of St. Anthony, Pewaukee, as they explored what Growing up Catholic has meant in their lives. There really is no way to explain that to someone who has not been there.

I know people think they can do that while on vacation. I am on vacation right now, and I do not think you can. Maybe it is because I have experienced a youth retreat and the blessing it has brought to my life. However, I pray that everyone will be able to experience that walk with God and then maybe they will understand the joy I feel being a part of a youth retreat center.

Remembering Sister Benet

2011-10-14T14:26:00-05:00

It has been a week since we lost Sr. Benet. Our hearts are heavy from that loss. We have prayed together, cried together, and remembered together. The hole still exists for all of us.

Sr. Benet will be missed for her innocence, kindness, and gentleness. She radiated the love of Christ and was good to all she encountered. Around TYME OUT she was willing to do anything although her primary focus was housekeeping and caring for the gardens around the retreat center. A few years ago she received the THANK YOU award at SPRINGTYME. Accompanying the award was a gift of a tree. It became known as the “Benet tree.” She told Sr. Kieran as they drove to TYME OUT on Friday that she wanted to see the color of “the Benet tree.” This tree will be a memorial to the love Sr. Benet shared with us all. It was a treasured moment to have Sr. Kieran and Sr. Benet at TYME OUT on Sunday for the installation prayer service and again Friday as they dropped in for a visit. We are going to dearly miss our good friend, Sr. Benet. We know that she is interceding for us in heaven.

As we were leaving for the funeral, we saw a clematis which was growing in the garden, draped over the shoulder of the statue of Bernadette. The flower had found its way to the very heart of Bernadette. We all marveled at the beauty of the site. We also thanked Sister Benet for her final gift to all of us. There was a peace in knowing that Sister Benet was still working with the flowers around TYME OUT.

TYME OUT GOES INTERNATIONAL!

2011-09-26T14:27:00-05:00

As a retreat director at TYME OUT, I have been fortunate to work with many youth from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages. I enjoy coming to work and learning from and growing with the youth that we serve. I also have the pleasure to work in a Christian environment that supports my personal endeavors and missions. For four years, one of my missions has been working on the island of St. Lucia, located in the West Indies. With the TYME OUT staff supporting my mission, this October, I have been blessed with the opportunity for the fifth time to travel to the island to continue my work. I feel incredibly fortunate that my work environment is encouraging my mission and allowing me to take time off to pursue my passion.

When I am in St. Lucia, I work closely with a Catholic youth group known as the Youth on Fire. The group is comprised of approximately 100 members between the ages of 13-25. While I am there for my two week mission trip, I will have the chance to actually lead two TYME OUT retreats. I will be leading an all day relationship retreat and a night seminar on leadership. I am looking forward to bringing our resources down to the Caribbean and to take TYME OUT international. I am looking forward to working with the group in many capacities as well as spending time at the Holy Family Children's Home (an orphanage).

While I am in St. Lucia I will be blogging! Tyme Out will post some of my blogs, but you can also follow my adventures at http://lucia-island-of-love.blogspot.com

If you would like more information about the Catholic youth group, YOUTH ON FIRE, that I work with, please check us out at www.youthofm.com

Irie (peace)

Amy