A good retreat in ‘God’s Cathedral’

Diocesan priests share time of prayer, relaxation and reflection.

Father Thomas Morrette

The week of Oct. 14 was one that saw daily Masses canceled in most parishes in our Diocese, a rare occurrence. That was because priests in the Diocese were invited by Bishop Scharfenberger to a retreat, with him, in Silver Bay on Lake George for three days. The Bishop, no doubt, wanted to gather his priests for a time of prayer, ­quiet, relaxation and reflection. Good mo­rale, comradery and mutual support are critical in these difficult times.

The Bishop led the retreat and gave a series of talks on the priesthood and his own call to service in the Church. His positive and open style made it easy to listen to insights and experiences he had in his many years of service to the people of God. The retreat center, owned by the YMCA, was a stunning setting. It sits on the northern tip of Lake George, with access to the water. In autumn, it’s particularly beautiful. Nothing helps slowing down and reflecting more than the beauty and quiet of the astounding world God has made around us. There is much truth in nature being “God’s cathedral.”

Sixty priests attended our retreat, some for the full three days, others for a day or two. There was no TV and limited Wi-Fi access. The meals were good but simple. Many of us were confronted with our own thoughts and aspirations, uninterrupted, for the first time in a long while. A great bonus of the retreat was that we were given an opportunity to bond again with our priest-brothers. The breakfast, lunch and dinner tables were filled with catching-up, laughter, concerns and hope among our outstanding band of brothers that make up the Albany presbyterate.

The retreat also gave older priests the opportunity to be among younger priests and vice versa. A young priest asked me, one evening, if I was going to join him and the other younger priests for a bonfire by the lake that night. It was a cold night and we all had a long day. Respectfully, but with the crustiness that comes from age, I responded that the only bonfire a 70-plus-year-old priest was looking forward to on a cold autumn night was an electric blanket!

Many of my thoughts went back to former retreats with diocesan priests that I attended in the past. (We have a long history of diocesan priest-retreats.). I couldn’t help but think of the many now-deceased priests who joined and enlivened our annual get-togethers in the past — Fathers Jay Rooney, Tony Chiaramonte, Tom Powers, Bill Ryan, Dom Ingemie, Mike Farano, Joe Estabrook — to mention a few. It was a time of giving thanks for these men, for our current presbyterate, for the donors who underwrote the retreat, for the gift of the priesthood, and for rekindling our commitment to God’s people here in our historic Diocese. It was also heartwarming that ailing Father Tom Holmes and Father David Hammond, Navy chaplain, were in attendance and welcomed with open arms.

And … none of us forgot about you — “our” people! You were all prayed for every day at Mass and in formal prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours and, in a real sense, which brought you with us during the time there. For, after all, the greatest blessing for a priest is his people, the flock he has the privilege to shepherd.

Father Morrette is pastor at The Catholic Community of Our Lady of Victory in Troy, Our Lady of the Snow Mission in Grafton and Christ Sun of Justice Parish in Troy.