Young Adult Retreat: Late Have I Loved You
St. Thomas More Center, Panora, IA
2021 Young Adult Retreat
Come away for a weekend of prayer and relaxation with other young adults from around the Diocese. The weekend begins with dinner at 6pm on Friday, 9/17, and ends with lunch at 12pm on Sunday, 9/19. Between these two opportunities to break bread together, look forward to a weekend of Perpetual Adoration of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, a series of talks guiding your prayer for the weekend, small groups with your peers, and opportunities for recreation such as canoeing, high ropes, volleyball, and more!
2021 Retreat Theme:
"Late Have I Loved You"
“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient ever new, late have I loved you!” St. Augustine pens of his astonishing conversion to a fulfilling love that he spent most of his life seeking. All of us, like St. Augustin, have a deep longing for something that only can be satisfied by Jesus and His love. Yet all of us try to satiate this infinite appetite with finite things and wonder why at the end of the day that we simply haven’t been filled. This weekend retreat seeks to examine our human condition, our desire for the infinite, and our hope at joining St. Augustine in exclaiming, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient every new, late have I loved you!”
The 2021 retreat will be led by John Huynh, Director of Faith Journey for the Diocese of Des Moines.
If you and some friends would like to request to be in a small group together, email Justin White at jwhite@dmdiocese.org
Cost is $150, includes lodging, meals, and all activities. For financial assistance, email Justin White at jwhite@dmdiocese.org
Here's what some of your peers who went on the 2020 retreat had to say about it:
2021 Retreat Schedule
FRIDAY
5:30 PM Retreatants arrive (St Thomas More Center)
6:00 Dinner (Dingman Lodge)
7:00 Session 1 (Charron Hall)
7:45 Exposition & Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Charron Hall)
9:00 Small Groups (Various)
10:00 Compline (Charron Hall)
SATURDAY
7:00 AM Lauds (Charron Hall)
8:00 Breakfast (Dingman Lodge)
9:00 Session 2: (Charron Hall)
9:45 Small Groups (Various)
11:00 Rosary (Marian Shrine)
12:00 PM Lunch (Dingman Lodge)
1:00 Session 3: (Charron Hall)
1:45 Recreation Time
6:00 Dinner (Dingman Lodge)
7:00 Session 4: (Charron Hall)
7:45 Small Groups (Various)
10:00 Compline (Charron Hall)
10:30 Bonfire (weather permitting)
SUNDAY
7:00 AM Lauds (Charron Hall)
8:00 Breakfast (Dingman Lodge)
9:00 Session 5: (Charron Hall)
10:00 Benediction & Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament (Charron Hall)
10:30 Mass (Charron Hall)
11:30 Lunch (Dingman Lodge)
12:00 PM Retreatants depart (St. Thomas More Center)
COVID Update
With the recent uptick in cases of COVID-19 in our communities, there's an understandable concern about hosting retreats. Similar concerns were taken into consideration last September with this retreat, and praise be to God we were able to host a safe and joy-filled weekend of young adults encountering the Risen Lord on retreat. While always discerning the situation on the ground and staying in line with Diocesan COVID-19 guidelines, we plan to implement similar mitigation protocols in 2021 as in 2020, including but not limited to:
- Required masks when gathered indoors in Dingman Lodge and Charron Hall
- Assigned seating for meals and Sessions, based on cabin groups
- Social Distancing at all times between cabin groups
- Frequent sanitizing of all high-traffic areas and surfaces
- All participants will be required to sign a Risk Acknowledgment Form indicating that they are COVID-19 symptom-free and have not had a positive COVID test, are not awaiting results on one, or been in close contact with anyone who has had a positive test in the previous 14 days.
Plans can always change between now and the weekend of our retreat, but for now these are where things stand.