Retreats

The word retreat is used as both a verb and a noun. As a verb, retreat means to pull back as in an action of withdrawing, particularly for reasons of safety, security and well-being. As a noun, retreat refers to a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy. In all religious traditions, as well as increasingly being adapted to the corporate world, the notion of retreats primarily refers to an individual or group engaging, alone or with others, in a process of rest, renewal, and recreation.

Retreats include the component of rest, meaning a withdrawal from and suspension of regular daily activities for the purposes of renewal and recreation. Renewal implies recuperation of energies—physical, emotional, and spiritual—in order to experience a rejuvenation of body, mind, and spirit. Retreats generally embody a withdrawal-and-return motif. Retreating, in this sense, is the change of pace that enables an individual immersed in solitude and silence or with others in a community atmosphere to experience restoration or revitalization of creativity and purpose through various practices, disciplines, meditation, and contemplation. This purposeful withdrawal from workaday life is temporary and leads to a return to daily living with renewed vigor, enthusiasm, and sense of direction.

Western religious understandings of the notion of retreats have their source in Jewish and Christian conceptions of the Sabbath. Most likely, the Sabbath is a prebiblical notion that holds the day of rest as a literal and metaphorical command of the importance of hallowing the gift of time and releasing men and women from the tyranny of production-oriented tasks to remember to make holy a day of rest, prayer, and fellowship. Therefore, Sabbath celebrated in Jewish homes from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is an illustration of the retreat theme of withdrawal from labor and return to labor after Sabbath.

The B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) is an example of the variety of retreat experiences available to Jewish youth. BBYO is the largest Jewish youth organization in the world with over 20,000 members worldwide. A diverse range of opportunities provides Jewish youth with a deeper appreciation of their religion and culture, as well as community service known as the practice of tzedekah.

Observant Muslims—those who practice Islam and follow the teaching of the Koran—similarly to the practice in Jewish households, celebrate the home as [Page 384]the primary venue for faith formation. It is not uncommon for Muslim families in the United States to have a room in the home dedicated as a sacred space where prayer can take place five times a day as believers face Mecca. The two principle elements of Islamic religious practice takes place in the home: prayer and the fast associated with Ramadan, an annual season of prayer, fasting, family unity, and pilgrimage. Beyond the strong influence of the home on the faith formation of children and adolescents, the Muslim day school, Sunday school at the Mosque, Muslim youth camps, and the extensive opportunity to attend Muslim “conferences” are the principle means for deepening the faith for Muslim youth.

Making an annual retreat is a common spiritual practice among vowed religious, clergy, and many laypersons in Catholicism and various other Christian denominations. There are a variety of styles and formats to these retreats. Most people will withdraw from home and go to a retreat or spirituality center to experience this kind of interior renewal. Some retreats are done on an individual basis, whereby the “retreatant” is guided by a spiritual director and follows a certain pattern of spiritual practices for a weekend, 8 days, or 30 days, which is a particular kind of retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The patterns of prayer and ritual used on a retreat vary greatly and are influenced in both the West and the East by the spiritual legacy of the specific religious tradition as well as the great spiritual masters.

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