Fatima retreat to explore ‘Joy—The Gigantic Secret of the Church’s Survival’
By Mary Ann Wyand
“Joy—The Gigantic Secret of the Church’s Survival” is the theme of a May 20-22 retreat to be presented by Father John Catoir, a retired priest of the Diocese of Patterson, N.J., at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis.
The author of 16 books, Father Catoir said his latest book, Joy—The Gigantic Secret of Roman Catholicism: How the Church Has Survived 20 Centuries of Scandals, has been accepted by Alba House and will be published soon.
“It was written in the wake of the [clergy sex abuse] scandals,” he said. “The subtitle is How the Church Has Survived 20 Centuries of Scandals, and it has. Nations and empires and civilizations have fallen, but the Church still carries on in spite of internal corruption here and there. The question is why and how. The Lord said, ‘I will be with you at all times, even unto the end of time.’
“I believe the secret is that, with all the human faults and foibles of churchmen, there is an incredibly deep and profound joy,” Father Catoir said, “that comes to us from the Eucharist, from the community which is the body of Christ and from the divine element of the Church.”
Father Catoir also is the founder and president of St. Jude Media Ministry, a nationwide radio ministry dedicated to helping people grow closer to God.
“We’re now on 1,050 stations from Hawaii to Maine and Alaska to Florida,” Father Catoir said during a May 8 telephone interview to discuss his retreat at Fatima.
It’s important to take time away from the busyness of life to pray and focus on growing closer to God, he said, and the Church’s retreat ministry helps Catholics do that.
“It’s very important in two aspects,” Father Catoir said. “One is to pray and … be with God. The other is clarification. … Where are you on your level of faith? Where are you on your level of hope? And to what degree are you advancing on the level of charity? … If you want to improve yourself and have a true spiritual life which looks toward growth and sanctity, then you have to tend to the spiritual garden, so to speak.
“Prayer is essentially giving yourself to God in whatever form it takes,” he said. “Vocal prayer, mental prayer, contemplation, the rosary, private devotions of any kind, the Stations of the Cross, even spiritual reading are all an attempt on our part to give ourselves to God, and that’s what pure prayer is. It’s in the will. It’s not in the feelings, the emotions, the words you use or the intellectual content. It’s in the will and the pure intention to give yourself to God, so it’s very simple.
“And, of course, the Church survives because of prayer, because we human beings of the family of God, the people of God, give ourselves to God at Mass every day and even privately individually,” he said. “And God gives himself right back to us. … The Holy Spirit is described as joy, peace and love. … Joy is the other side of the coin of love. Jesus established his purpose in coming to us. He told us what his mission was at the Last Supper. At the very end, his last words to us were ‘I have told you all these things’—like ‘love one another,’ ‘forgive one another’—‘I have told you all these things that your joy may be full, that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.’ ”
God wants people to be joyful, Father Catoir said, but that doesn’t mean people won’t experience longings, adversity or grief in daily life.
“I just wrote a Christophers News Note on ‘Living in God’s Love,’ ” Father Catoir said, “about how when bad things happen to good people, how do you survive it? Bad things do happen to good people. Jesus was the first one to know that.”
Father Catoir also writes the “Spirituality for Today” column for Catholic News Service. He formerly served as president of The Christophers ministry in New York and as director of Eva’s Village, a homeless shelter in Patterson.
A popular retreat master, Father Catoir presented a retreat for two parishes and spoke to a number of deacons last month in Honolulu. He has presented retreats at the archdiocesan retreat center about every two years for the past decade, and said he is looking forward to returning to Indianapolis to lead the retreat and celebrate eucharistic liturgies.
He said the Year of the Eucharist is a reminder that “Jesus Christ, true God and true man, comes to us under the appearances of bread and wine, and that it is a real presence. He is really and truly present to us. This is a revival of our faith in the central doctrine of the Eucharist.”
(For more information about Father John Catoir’s retreat, on May 20-23, call Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House at 317-545-7681.) †