The House of St. Joseph the Workman Retreat

The House of St. Joseph arrived for their retreat on July 14th. A number of shocks disrupted the spiritual exercises. With the heat index of 105 degrees, the air conditioner in the conference room was not cooling, perhaps affected by the lightning strikes that knocked out our phones. Then Mother Jenny received word of her son's unexpected death in Colorado; she and Tom left immediately to be with his family.

The next afternoon the elevator stopped working - with one of the men caught inside on the third floor. The repair man came and released him, but could not restore the elevator to service. All the activities had to be held on the third floor, for the benefit of those who were not physically able to climb the stairs several times a day.

The retreatants responded valiantly and with supernatural grace, and drew much fruit from these tribulations. In the end, they all said it had been the best retreat they had ever had. Nevertheless, they requested that next year's theme be "Joy and Hope" (this year's was "Suffering"!).