Welcome to Friendship and Justice’s Online retreat program. We are happy you are checking out our program. As LGBT Catholics, we have a rich heritage of spiritualities and approaches to prayer that are ours to explore, adapt, or adopt as we feel drawn to a particular approach and prayer style.

Our goal is to allow you to taste and come to a deeper understanding of the many spiritualities our Church has to offer. Hopefully you will find a particular one you resonate with and works for you. Or again, you may find elements of several which are meaningful and helpful in deepening your own spiritual life and living out your call to discipleship and holiness.

This introduction is meant to offer some suggestions on how to benefit from this program. Keep in mind they are suggestions, not requirements. As you get involved and participate in one of the on-line retreats you are going to learn what works best for you. If you have never attended a retreat of any kind, these suggestions are meant to help you so that it is not overwhelming or even confusing.

The online retreats will vary in length from one school of spirituality to another. In general, they are organized that the week before the retreat begins, the particular person who represents a certain spiritual approach (i.e. Francis De Sales) will be introduced. We will learn a little about his/her life and some key features about the spiritual approach they have developed. We will also note any historical “adjustments” that may be necessary to benefit from a particular author and spiritual guide. Cultures and time periods can vary greatly from our own. We don’t want that to impede your understanding and approach to trying a particular spirituality. In the overview, we will let you know how many sessions a particular retreat involves.

After such an overview, the next week will begin the retreat. We will let you know if there is a particular book(s) a spiritual guide has written that we are using. However, the retreat is set up so you do not have to buy or read any particular book. The retreat will provide you with the needed information, i.e. excerpts from an author and Scripture to use for prayer and reflection. There will also be suggestions for incorporating the insights or practices to make your own for the week the material is covered.

To benefit from this program, we would like to make some suggestions that will assist you overall.

1. The benefit of an online retreat is that you don’t have to go anywhere, it costs no money, and you can go at your own pace. The draw back is you are by yourself and can get distracted. We suggest you read over all the materials for the week, and then set a specific time each day to work through the material. We will make suggestions on what material to cover per day.

2. Get a journal and write down both your insights and any questions or clarifications you might need. You can also post them on the retreat's blog to share your insights and things you are benefiting from. This will help others and create an online community while we are going through the retreat. Those of us conducting the retreat will check it daily. (Blog Registration Guide)

3. It can be very helpful to set up a space that you go to when doing the retreat. It should be a place where you can be quiet and comfortable as you reflect and pray over the materials. It can be a corner of a private room like your bedroom or a study. We encourage you to place things like a candle, an icon, and/or a symbol that speaks of your image/experience of God. It will help set a tone and create a prayerful atmosphere for you.

4. We will sponsor at least one get-together throughout a retreat. This will be a chance to meet others and share in person how things are going and make suggestions for improving the program and future spiritualities you would like us to provide.

6. Be aware that due to the current constraints of our website, we will not be able to archive the various retreats at this point. So if you want to retain material to return to after the retreat is over, it is a good idea to print out the material. We also will be doing so to provide print copies to others who may not have been able to participate in a particular program.

Again, we are delighted you are considering joining us. Next week, we will introduce our guide for the first retreat – Francis de Sales. We will also explain why we decided to begin with him. We look forward to getting together online with you next week. The first part of this retreat will begin with the First Sunday of Advent (November 29, 2009) and go through the Sunday after Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Family.

"Salesian Spirituality for LGBT Catholics" Based on the Teachings of Saint Francis De Sales Blog

Next: Retreat Part I