Central Texas Holds Tri-Association Retreat

Central Texas members recently had the privilege of hosting their Texan friends and confrères for the 2024 Texas Tri-Region Retreat. More than 40 attendees listened to the words of our invited speaker, Sister Maria Miguel, O.P., of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. While Sister braved a blizzard en route from her home in Gallup, New Mexico, our Houston members faced a total highway shut-down on Interstate 10. Ultimately, nothing could stop us gathering for this powerful, prayerful experience.

Sister Maria Miguel has a deep personal connection with the Order, after traveling to Lourdes as a malade with the Western Association. She was able to draw upon her own experience to illuminate the charisms of the Order while tying in lessons from her vocation story and the lives of her patron saints, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Blessed Miguel Pro. Sister led a series of five talks reflecting upon questions that Jesus asked his disciples in Scripture:

• What is it that you seek?
• Who do you say that I am?
• Why are you so afraid?
• Why were you searching for me?
• Do you also want to leave?
• Do you love me?

With each question, Jesus led his followers deeper into the mystery of his unity with the Father, his Eucharistic presence, and how these truths shape our own earthly missions. Sister Maria Miguel offered wide-ranging connections between these Gospel moments and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, papal encyclicals, the work of powerful theologians and apologists such as C.S. Lewis and Bishop Erik Varden, and cultural touchstones from 17^th-century poet George Herbert to the modern TV series The Chosen.

The retreat was held at a new site for the Texas regions, the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. Providentially, this beautiful campus includes a Lourdes grotto and chapel, as well as a miniature "Tepeyac" with a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The weekend also included Liturgy of the Hours, daily Mass, Adoration, Confession and, of course, time for fellowship and renewal of friendships across the years and miles.