Pat, Kevin and I, The Diocesan Trio, provided the music for a retreat the North Platte Catholic Offices conducted at Camp Comeca recently. Camp Comeca is located South of Cozad, Nebraska and is a beautiful and quite environment for a retreat. Pat kept us in time as the music was written and the other retreat participants rounded out the joyful sound. Live music does add an important dimension to an experience of prayer.

Forgiveness was the theme of the retreat. Lee Elliott from St. Francis Medical Center helped us understand the dynamics of forgiveness and identify skills to grow in our ability to forgive. We also reflected on forgiveness with the help of the book, Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.  Amish Grace exlpores all the dimension of the tragidy at the Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. We followed the four conversations prepared by the Fetzer Institute’s – Campaign for Love and Forgiveness. We ended the retreat with commitments to practice forgiveness.

Fr. Jim Golka joined us on Monday evening and lead our journey into the contributions the Catholic tradition makes to any discussion of forgiveness. Jim’s prayerful insights and story telling helped us experience the grace of God’s mercy.