“It was a good reflection for me in my personal life but also a motivation to be not just a good priest but a great priest,” said Father David Andel, Judicial Vicar of the Diocese and Priest Minister at St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, Yucaipa.
Held at El Carmelo Retreat House in Redlands, the retreat drew 60 priests, more than double the number from last year. Fr. Rolheiser’s presence was partly responsible, surmised Dr. Jose Antonio Medina, director of the Diocesan Office of Continuing Education of Priests. Evaluations of the retreat were overwhelmingly positive, Dr. Medina said.
Following the retreat, Fr. Rolheiser gave a presentation to the Religious of the Diocese on “Carrying the Tensions Inherent within Religious Life”.
While in the Diocese, Fr. Rolheiser also found time to be interviewed by Father Michael Manning, SVD, for the television program “The Power of Love,” which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. PDT. During the 20-minute dialogue, the two priests touched on a variety of subjects, including Fr. Rolheiser’s call to the priesthood, the centrality of prayer and what he considers the most challenging missionary territory.
Born into a large family in Saskatchewan, Canada, Fr. Rolheiser told Fr. Manning he felt from an early age that he wanted to be a priest. Though he often writes of the tension between the Catholic faith and secular themes, Fr. Rolheiser said, “I choose Jesus because, in the end, the truth of Jesus rings truer and deeper than anything else.”
On the subject of prayer, Fr. Rolheiser said that while formal prayer at appointed times of day is important it is also critical to pray “through the activities in our lives” and to recognize God in ordinary enjoyments like the Saturday evening barbecue (“That’s a foretaste of heaven,” he said).
Fr. Rolheiser offered during his interview on “The Power of Love” that increasing individualism in western society has changed the missionary focus of the Church.
“The most difficult places are not in Africa, they’re the suburbs of our cities, our own kids,” he said.
But he left the audience with some hopeful parting words.
“Hold your ground and hold your truth, and eventually your kids will be OK.”