The Third Annual East/West Retreat was held August 17-20 in Sylva, N.C., at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church. The retreat brings together clergy of the eparchy’s North Carolina missions for a weekend of prayer, liturgy, fellowship, and evangelization of the Western Carolina mountain region.
Since its inception in 2014, the retreat has aimed:
- To provide clergy with the opportunity to pray together and to spend some time in prayer alone;
- To provide clergy with ongoing education and formation;
- To foster fellowship;
- To introduce Western Catholics and others in the region to Eastern Catholic spirituality and liturgy and the Ukrainian Catholic Church;
- To answer the call of Western Carolinians who hope the eparchy will one day establish a mission or parish in the region.
Throughout the weekend, clergy and laity prayed Matins, the little hours, and celebrated Vespers. As in the past, the capstone of the retreat was the celebration of Divine Liturgy on Friday evening at St. Mary, Mother of God.
This year’s retreat featured four ninety-minute talks by Very Reverend Mark Shuey, pastor of St. Nicholas mission in Cary, N.C., and dean of the Mid-Atlantic Deanery. Fr. Mark’s focused his talks on the book The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times by Jean-Charles Nault, a Benedictine abbot. All conference talks were free and open to the public.
Fr. Mark also drew on material from The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus, Sin Revisited by Solange Strong Hertz, and selections from Evagrius Ponticus, the fourth century Desert Father who developed a system for understanding and defeating acedia and the other seven vices.
Acedia is one of the eight wicked thoughts, or vices. Commonly known as sloth and the noonday devil, the demon of acedia prevents the faithful from experiencing the joy of God’s love.
Fr. Mark said acedia is the scourge of our times. Nault, he explained, discusses how Evagrius recognized that acedia causes interior instability; worry over your health; a desire to avoid work; a neglect of prayer and other duties of faith; and a general feeling of discouragement.
Three of the primary means for defeating the demon of acedia, Fr. Mark said, are prayer and work, which was emphasized by St. Benedict in his Rule; meditation on death, which reminds us of our end and the need to be watchful at every moment; and perseverance, or remaining faithful despite the attacks of the demon; you may not want to pray when acedia attacks, but you must pray anyway.
The Fourth Annual East/West Retreat will be held at St. Mary in Sylva August 16-19, 2017. The retreat will feature three talks and a panel discussion on St. John Chrysostom’s last work, On the Providence of God, which St. John wrote from exile in Armenia to his followers in Constantinople who were being persecuted.
Talks will be presented by Deacon Kevin Bezner, Fr. Mark Shuey, and Fr. Joshua Voitus, pastor of St. Mary, Mother of God. The three will participate in a panel discussion of the book to close the retreat.
Clergy and laity from throughout the eparchy are invited to attend. Those interested in attending can contact Deacon Kevin Bezner at [email protected] for information.
