The Family Camp set for August 8-10 at the Schoenstatt Retreat Center, Waukesha, offers an opportunity to spend time at a designated Jubilee Year pilgrimage shrine in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. (Submitted photo)
Want to retreat from the world with your family and deepen your Catholic faith?
Schoenstatt Family Camp will take place August 8-10 at the International Schoenstatt Center in Waukesha.
“We are excited to begin our Schoenstatt Family Camp during this Jubilee Year of Hope,” said Dawn Doll, a member of the Schoenstatt Family Movement.
Families are welcome to camp on the grounds or stay in the retreat center, and weekend meal packages are available. Registration costs vary based on lodging choices and the number of meal packages needed.
As part of the Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope visiting the Schoenstatt Shrine will join other Catholic families to find hope, experience unity with God and take in the beauty of the land.
“We have been led by the Blessed Mother’s promptings to bring families together for a weekend of discovering Schoenstatt and their focus in life, as families,” Doll said.
The Family Camp is a combination of other events offered in the past, she said, along with new options such as tent camping, RVing or staying in the retreat center.
There are retreat aspects to Schoenstatt Family Camp. Mornings begin with prayer and Mass is offered each day. Campers can visit the Schoenstatt Shrine for adoration, and each day ends in prayer.
After a Saturday night cookout, families can enjoy praise and worship before the Blessed Sacrament.
Formation talks are provided for all ages, as well as couples’ formation each day while children are playing organized games with young adults.
Through enriched and strengthened families, Schoenstatt helps renew the Church from within, Doll said.
“Schoenstatt itself is a family; it was founded on the premise that the family is the core of society. When we began planning the Family Camp, we wanted to welcome everyone, of all ages, to come together and experience Schoenstatt as a family. All are welcome to be part of the Schoenstatt family,” Doll added.
We draw strength from this place to be of greater service in our parishes and in our dioceses.
“An emerging vision through Schoenstatt’s Family Camp came into focus,” said Dcn. Henry Reyes, a member of the Schoenstatt Family Movement, in that “we are part of this great big family, the Catholic Church, through Schoenstatt.”
“This idea brought comfort to my heart and a sense that we could build a unity in Schoenstatt that is missing in so many parts of our society and world,” Dcn. Reyes said, “because the Mother Thrice Admirable unites us under her mantle and cradles us in her arms, and loves us with a pure love and shares her child with us. It is a real family, it is tangible and palpable, it is beautiful.”
To learn more and to register, visit: schoenstatt-wisconsin.us/event/family-camp/.
