Lenten retreat and the pitter patter of tiny feet...

One of the things that most parishes and church groups here do at this time of the year is a lenten retreat. For some, this will be a weekend retreat (I will be giving such a retreat to one of the Augustinian parishes at the end of the month) while others go for a day's retreat. Today I was giving a day's retreat to a group from one of the parishes here in the city.

I was collected at 06.45 - I still don't dare to drive in this city: I think it would be suicidal! and we went to the parish to collect the group of 15 people. These form the group in that parish that takes responsibility for, and organises, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Each parish here has many groups and people are often members of more than one. I have heard some of the parish priests comment that it would be better to have fewer groups and to concentrate the energy to avoid, as happens in relation to these retreats, a lot of duplication of both scarce resources and energy.

We set out from the parish of St. Jude to go to a place called Cerro Azul (the Blue Mountain) and, after about an hour and a half's drive we arrived at a very remote house in the mountains which belongs, as a type of weekend/ summer house, to one of the group.  The whole mountain is dotted with such houses and, in some parts of the mountain, there are even streets of them. This is not a place for the very poor but, in the group that went this morning, it is probably true to say that there was quite a variety of people, including all social groups.

Today's group was mostly female - only 5 men. This would not be surprising in Ireland where there is huge disproportion in the gender divide when it comes to those who go to church - women probably make up 80% at least of most parish congregations. In Panama it is noticeable that there are more men: women still make up the clear majority, but men are probably better represented than in Ireland.

When we arrived there was a simple breakfast and then I was asked to give a talk for about an hour which then continued in a discussion-style format. After this we had Mass and then we had lunch which they had brought with them. Probably the most important element of the day is the time that the people spend chatting and sharing with each other. While people were relatively quiet on the way out, on the way back there was a notable increase in the level of chat.

The group seemed to enjoy the day but I have to say that I was very tired when I got back. In fact, I was so tired that I decided I would have an early night so I went down to have supper on my own, a little bit early. This seemed like a great idea until a big black rat ran across the dining room while I was eating - it's amazing how quickly you can lose interest in food!!!