Dare to be Dads

Retreat for Men at the Schoenstatt Center in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, USA

Conferencia: P. Gerold Langsch Conference: Fr. Gerold Langsch Vortrag: P. Gerold Langsch
Participantes Participants Teilnehmer
P. Langsch con José Barriga Fr. Langsch with José Barriga P. Langsch mit José Barriga Fotos © José Barriga 2008

USA, Jose Barriga. Between the 18^th and the 20^th of January, seventeen men gathered under the shadow of the Shrine at Schoenstatt on the lake, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota for the annual men’s retreat guided by Father Gerold Langsch. This year’s motto for the retreat was Dare to Be Dads in a desire to discover and understand the real meaning of being dads, which is an important role in every family, in the church, and in the whole of society.

The retreat started on Friday evening with Father Langsch, who provided a moving reflective ice-breaker, in which fourteen fathers and three young single men from all over Minnesota and one from Bolivia got to know each other. All of the fathers – even grandfathers and great grandfathers – were looking forward to spending a weekend in the Blessed Mother’s company and especially for some time in God’s presence. The three young men were seeking guidance on how to think and act when one day they become heads of their own family. As a matter of fact, there was one of the three who would be getting married in February. With fatherly care, Fr. Langsch focused on him. Father was guided to use him as an example to explain several circumstances of a holy dad’s life to the rest of the participants.

The daily Mass, and the night vigil of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was the spiritual food every man in the retreat needed, while the material food was well provided by the Schoenstatt Sisters.

Each and every man who participated in the retreat went back home on January 20^th, a special date in Schoenstatt’s history when Fr. Kentenich, the Founder, said yes to the most difficult of Schoenstatt’s testimonies, choosing to go to the Dachau concentration camp. Each and every man who received graces from our Blessed Mother during the retreat knew that by going back home, they were saying yes to the demanding tasks of guiding their families and being the human image of our Father in heaven. In so doing, they can dare to be dads.

Translation: Jose Barriga, Bolivia/amj, USA