Days 95-97: St. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton

I wouldnt say it was the earliest morning ever, but it sure felt like it based on last night’s arrival. The guys woke up at the rectory, but we ate breakfast at Sarah and Monica’s Host Home, who actually had a daughter moving out to Seattle for a job at Boeing! Another fun little connection being made on NET. From there, we picked up the rest of the gang, and headed to Damascus, MD, for a retreat at St. Paul Parish. This afternoon retreat was ok, the retreatants were pretty tough at the beginning, but eventually warmed up to us. They admitted that this retreat wasn’t a priority for them, hence why it was so difficult for us. But I did have a cool glory story. One of my retreatants, who REALLY didn’t want to be there, shared something with me before i prayed over him. When asked what i can pray for, he said that his dog died recently, and wanted me to pray for him. And while i was praying for him, i saw an image: a golden lab dancing in a beautiful grass field. I asked what kind of dog it was, and he said a lab, the same one in my image. I think something clicked for him in that moment, because once i finished, he began kneeling in the pew, and eventually went to confession! Definitely one of my best experiences yet on retreat. From there we went to host homes, where Nels and i stayed with the Ibacache Family. Their son was in my small group, and his dad is a very cool guy! Feed us some great spaghetti while we watched the Patriots vs. Eagles game. What got us though was our sleeping space. Their basement was a full on entertainment room! Big screen TV, for recliner chairs, surround sound that made the ground shake, an arcade system, and tons of memorabilia. I was fascinated, and actually got to play they Xbox One that night with their permission. It’s been forever since i played video games, and it was such a nice relief to do it again, even if i sucked. . . We got to sleep in on our weekly team day, but something happened in the scheduling and learned we had no place to go. So, we did team prayer in the van, and had to work on fundraising things at a library instead of at the facility we were supposed to be at. Once we finished, we headed to Emmitsburg, MD, since we had a retreat there tomorrow. Yet because we had a couple hours until we actually had to be there, we ended up going to the Shrine of St. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton! For those who don’t know who she is, she is the first American Saint to be canonized, as she started the Sisters of Charity in the US, and is the patron saint of teachers. Apparently Emmitsburg is where she did all of her ministry and teaching, which is why we got to visit. There was the main shrine, a graveyard where her stone lies, as well as a few historic buildings such as the White House, where she taught and lived. After an hour of exploring, we headed back to the van to get to host homes. Only, after 20 minutes we realized we didn’t have to drive far. In fact we were staying at the White House, where she LIVED! Apparently the first floor is a museum, but the second floor is where people can stay for certain activities in the area, which was the case for us. It may just be my team and I, but the idea of staying the night at a Saint’s home is CRAZZYYYYY!! That night, we had dinner with some sisters who worked in the area and at the school. We returned home and had dreams practice before heading to bed for tomorrow’s school retreat. . . Well, up until last night, i didn’t know i would have the retreat off, but lo and behold, i have it off with Sarah again! We had a few errands to run, so after we dropped the team off, we drove down to Frederick, MD, to make copies for letters and other things. Other things we did were Kmart runs, Famous Dave’s for lunch, and cleaning out the van. It was a very cool day, and i was really glad about it. When we returned, we did a divine mercy chaplet at the Grotto of Lourdes, as our was up the street. Let me tell you, if you’re ever in the area, hit up the Grotto, it is GORGEOUS!! So peaceful and so breathtaking. Anyways, we left immediately for Lancaster, PA, where i realized we finished all of our retreats in Maryland! I think. Hopefully. There was a word gap in between today’s retreat and our next one, so we spent it in PA since it’s in between our next two spots. We stayed with the Christensen’s, a family of 6 whose children were no more than 11. They were adorable, and wanted to hang out with Jakob, Adam, and I until we couldn’t stay awake no longer. We would spend the next 2-3 nights here, so there’s plenty of time to hang out and see what it’s in store for us.