A while back, Dcn. Jay received a request for us to go down and lead a one day retreat to the staff of his former parish in the Lakewood Colorado area. Having an open widow and not wanting to turn down a good time, we headed south.
The staff retreat for St. Jude's parish was held at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, CO. I had been here years ago in seminary, so it was fun to go back.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was an Italian missionary nun who established some 67 charitable institutions around the United States in the early 1900's, including an orphanage here in the Golden area and discovered a spring on this land in the foot hills. Inspirational character.
I gave a handful of talks to the folks as well as celebrated Mass in this chapel. Pretty cool.
The big draw at this pilgrimage site is the trek up the mountain to the shrine of our Lord.
Some 350+ steps rise from bottom to top, which are lined with the stations of the cross. A workout with a cause.
On top is a 25' statute of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Which overlooks the Denver area.
Good stuff. It was fun to get out of town and see the country side. I have pretty happy memories of my fours years of seminary in Denver. Retreats like this are good and fairly easy to put together. They are always good experience for me of an area in ministry I don't feel real confident in. However, the only way to gain confidence is through experience. Hopefully the parish staff picked up a thing or two in the process. Back at the ranch now. Let us carry on.
