Altar Server's Retreat 2016
Donation protected
Intro
The altar server's of St. John Paul II University Parish are planning their second annual retreat and we need your help! We will be returning to Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey for a four day spiritual retreat; May 16 - 19, 2016. Please continue reading to learn more about our wonderful little (but growing!) parish, our dedicated servers, and the Benedictine monks who would all benefit from your donation.
Below you can find out more information given in the following order:
Our Parish: St. John Paul II University Parish
Our altar servers
Where we're going: Our Lady of Clear Creak Abbey
Testimonials
Links
Allocation of funds
Keep scrolling, there's lots here!
JP2 Parish
Our parish serves the communities of the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University located in Denton, TX. Through the parish, the students and supporting community have access to the Sacraments, Adoration, Evening Prayer, and too many community events to list.
At JP2 the students are fed both spiritually...
and physically
Mass is provided for the students right on campus.
JP2 is a small community, established as a parish just 3 years ago. Yet we are growing quickly. We have outgrown the community center pictured above but work is underway for a new student center with a larger chapel.
Our Altar Servers
Also growing is a group of altar servers. Now numbering 23, we have a diverse group all dedicated to learning more about the Mass and assisting the parish. Their service during Mass helps our pastor and the community.
Our Easter Vigil Mass is 3 to 4 hours long,
but the servers remain alert
and it's always a beautiful Mass and many students are brought into the Church
The servers are, of course, present at many other Masses throughout the year
but unfortunatly(?) not many people bring their camera to Mass outside of the major feast days
Clear Creek Abbey
The servers are given the opportunity for further spiritual growth as well as getting to know each other better in our annual retreat. We are blessed to have a wonderful community of Benedictine monks less than a five hour drive away.
During their stay the servers can attend liturgy daily including Mass and the complete Divine Office
We join the monks for meals during which all eat quietly while Scripture and other spiritual works are read aloud.
The servers also get the opportunity to work alongside the monks in their manual labor. This is a photo of a construction project we helped with last year.
A donation to help us retreat here also greatly benefits Clear Creek Abbey. 90% of the goal goes directly to the monks as a donation.
The monks have their own construction projects
and are a growing commnunity who could use your help to continue their spiritual work
Please consider donating. This is a wonderful opportunity for our servers to grow spiritually and fraternally.
Testimonials
"The time at the Monastery was a time for great reflection and prayer. The location is beautiful and it was really fun to walk around and explore. But the most amazing thing about the trip was seeing the incredible devotion to God that these monks had. It was truly inspiring and I know it has changed the way I look at many things in my life."
"I learned a lot in a short time. It was a very humbling experience. "
"If you spend a few days at Clear Creek, you're experiencing what it is truly like to inundate your day with prayer. Seven divine office prayers a day. Mass twice a day. There's nothing like it I've experienced since converting to the faith last year. Clear Creek is an invaluable experience not just for someone considering religious life, but for anyone who wants to come away more familiar with everything that their Catholic faith is."
"I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this retreat to Clear Creek Abbey, I feel closer to God and to the Church then I have in a long time. It also gave me thoughts on what I feel I’m being called to do. The masses were a new experience and the prayers were beautiful and very peaceful and I loved being able to walk around on the grounds. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t find to be an enjoyable experience, working to help the monks was awesome and felt good, when we had free time that was also great and the monastery library had several interesting books which I enjoyed being able to look through. Having Father Jonathan with us was very pleasant and I enjoyed doing the talks he gave to us, they were very thought provoking. Of course the food was terrific and the gift shop was just as cool as everything else. I can’t wait to go back and hopefully see the completed monastery. All in all I would have to say this has been my favorite retreat I think I have ever been on."
"I received the Eucharist and listened to the monks chant the Liturgy of the Hours. While I didn’t always understand what the monks were saying, I could follow along and join my prayers with theirs. I didn’t have any dramatic experiences there, but I definitely felt calm and at peace while there. It was a very simple kind of living that the monks did and we were able to partially join in that life for the four days we were there. It really gave me a better appreciation of the importance of liturgy in the Church.
It also allowed the group of us to better understand each other. I think it would be a good experience for any altar server both for himself and for the altar servers come together as a group. I would recommend this retreat for any altar server. The monastery is a very unique experience."
Links
Parish - jp2denton.org
Clear Creek - www.clearcreekmonks.org
Questions can be e-mailed to
antitrades at yahoo dot com
Funds
The goal listed would allow us to take 11 servers and our pastor for a 4 day, 3 night retreat. While the monks do not charge a set amount for a visit, they do request a $45 donation per night. They have a group rate request of $40 per night. Whatever amount is given, they provide lodging and 3 meals a day.
We are planning to give $150 per person. For 12 people that comes to $1800. Last year we had 7 people, so 12 is a reasonable expectation and we could even have more!
The diocese of Fort Worth requires a 10% portion of funds raised for retreats. This brings our total goal to $1980.
Thank you for reading about our retreat. We hope you'll consider donating!
The altar server's of St. John Paul II University Parish are planning their second annual retreat and we need your help! We will be returning to Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey for a four day spiritual retreat; May 16 - 19, 2016. Please continue reading to learn more about our wonderful little (but growing!) parish, our dedicated servers, and the Benedictine monks who would all benefit from your donation.
Below you can find out more information given in the following order:
Our Parish: St. John Paul II University Parish
Our altar servers
Where we're going: Our Lady of Clear Creak Abbey
Testimonials
Links
Allocation of funds
Keep scrolling, there's lots here!
JP2 Parish
Our parish serves the communities of the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University located in Denton, TX. Through the parish, the students and supporting community have access to the Sacraments, Adoration, Evening Prayer, and too many community events to list.
At JP2 the students are fed both spiritually...
and physically
Mass is provided for the students right on campus.
JP2 is a small community, established as a parish just 3 years ago. Yet we are growing quickly. We have outgrown the community center pictured above but work is underway for a new student center with a larger chapel.
Our Altar Servers
Also growing is a group of altar servers. Now numbering 23, we have a diverse group all dedicated to learning more about the Mass and assisting the parish. Their service during Mass helps our pastor and the community.
Our Easter Vigil Mass is 3 to 4 hours long,
but the servers remain alert
and it's always a beautiful Mass and many students are brought into the Church
The servers are, of course, present at many other Masses throughout the year
but unfortunatly(?) not many people bring their camera to Mass outside of the major feast days
Clear Creek Abbey
The servers are given the opportunity for further spiritual growth as well as getting to know each other better in our annual retreat. We are blessed to have a wonderful community of Benedictine monks less than a five hour drive away.
During their stay the servers can attend liturgy daily including Mass and the complete Divine Office
We join the monks for meals during which all eat quietly while Scripture and other spiritual works are read aloud.
The servers also get the opportunity to work alongside the monks in their manual labor. This is a photo of a construction project we helped with last year.
A donation to help us retreat here also greatly benefits Clear Creek Abbey. 90% of the goal goes directly to the monks as a donation.
The monks have their own construction projects
and are a growing commnunity who could use your help to continue their spiritual work
Please consider donating. This is a wonderful opportunity for our servers to grow spiritually and fraternally.
Testimonials
"The time at the Monastery was a time for great reflection and prayer. The location is beautiful and it was really fun to walk around and explore. But the most amazing thing about the trip was seeing the incredible devotion to God that these monks had. It was truly inspiring and I know it has changed the way I look at many things in my life."
"I learned a lot in a short time. It was a very humbling experience. "
"If you spend a few days at Clear Creek, you're experiencing what it is truly like to inundate your day with prayer. Seven divine office prayers a day. Mass twice a day. There's nothing like it I've experienced since converting to the faith last year. Clear Creek is an invaluable experience not just for someone considering religious life, but for anyone who wants to come away more familiar with everything that their Catholic faith is."
"I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this retreat to Clear Creek Abbey, I feel closer to God and to the Church then I have in a long time. It also gave me thoughts on what I feel I’m being called to do. The masses were a new experience and the prayers were beautiful and very peaceful and I loved being able to walk around on the grounds. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t find to be an enjoyable experience, working to help the monks was awesome and felt good, when we had free time that was also great and the monastery library had several interesting books which I enjoyed being able to look through. Having Father Jonathan with us was very pleasant and I enjoyed doing the talks he gave to us, they were very thought provoking. Of course the food was terrific and the gift shop was just as cool as everything else. I can’t wait to go back and hopefully see the completed monastery. All in all I would have to say this has been my favorite retreat I think I have ever been on."
"I received the Eucharist and listened to the monks chant the Liturgy of the Hours. While I didn’t always understand what the monks were saying, I could follow along and join my prayers with theirs. I didn’t have any dramatic experiences there, but I definitely felt calm and at peace while there. It was a very simple kind of living that the monks did and we were able to partially join in that life for the four days we were there. It really gave me a better appreciation of the importance of liturgy in the Church.
It also allowed the group of us to better understand each other. I think it would be a good experience for any altar server both for himself and for the altar servers come together as a group. I would recommend this retreat for any altar server. The monastery is a very unique experience."
Links
Parish - jp2denton.org
Clear Creek - www.clearcreekmonks.org
Questions can be e-mailed to
antitrades at yahoo dot com
Funds
The goal listed would allow us to take 11 servers and our pastor for a 4 day, 3 night retreat. While the monks do not charge a set amount for a visit, they do request a $45 donation per night. They have a group rate request of $40 per night. Whatever amount is given, they provide lodging and 3 meals a day.
We are planning to give $150 per person. For 12 people that comes to $1800. Last year we had 7 people, so 12 is a reasonable expectation and we could even have more!
The diocese of Fort Worth requires a 10% portion of funds raised for retreats. This brings our total goal to $1980.
Thank you for reading about our retreat. We hope you'll consider donating!
Organizer
Trey Alley
Organizer
Denton, TX