The Schoenstatt Center in Waukesha will hold a series of Summer Retreat Days this summer. (Submitted photo)
Families are invited to discover faith, fellowship and fun at the Summer Retreat Days for Families at the International Schoenstatt Center in Waukesha. The first of this summer’s retreat days will be held Saturday, June 18.
The event, which runs from 2 to 9 p.m., will offer time for talks, testimony, prayer and community, said Terri Sanchez, who along with husband Edward and their nine children, have been involved in the Schoenstatt movement in Milwaukee for the past decade.
“It’s a great time to meet other families and be able to encounter the shrine and the sisters and the grounds,” said Sanchez.
The day will kick off with a talk for parents while children enjoy a separate program. Later, families will be able to tour the grounds of the retreat center, which boasts more than 200 acres of natural space. There will also be an opportunity for families to explore the center’s Schoenstatt Shrine, which replicates exactly the shrine in Schoenstatt, Germany, where Fr. Joseph Kentenich initially began the movement in 1914.
“It’s just a great environment and venue for this kind of event, so that while parents are listening to a talk and the testimony of other couples, the children will be participating in games and outdoor activities,” said Edward Sanchez. “The retreat center has some of the most beautiful and peaceful acreage in the county; the environment there is so peaceful and inviting and fun.”
The day will also include a picnic and family games, closing with Mass at 7 p.m., followed by a cookout — “the grand finale,” said Sanchez, “and a great time for fellowship.” Those who are staying the night at the retreat center will be able to participate in Eucharistic adoration.
The theme of the afternoon’s talks will be “The Ideal of the Christian Marriage.”
“It’s a reminder of what the sacrament of matrimony asks of us, and a reminder that every family is called to be a community of love and sacrifice,” said Terri Sanchez. The presentation will draw from addresses originally given by Fr. Kentenich to married couples in Milwaukee in the 1950s.
To view a complete schedule for the day and to register for the event, visit schoenstattfamiliesusa.org. A freewill donation is accepted. The next Retreat Day for Families will be held July 16.
