Catholic Volunteers Winter Retreat in St. Augustine

We were together once again at Villa Flora, run by the Sisters of St Joseph. The Mother House is across the street from the guest  house/retreat center.  Both buildings were built in the early eighteen hundreds.  St. Augustine is layer upon layer of history; first settled by the French, then the Spanish, who were conquered by the English, whereas the colony was won back by the Spanish before being ceded to America.

The theme of the retreat was social justice.  Friday evening the Catholic Chaplin for Death Row prisoners in Florida's state prisons gave a very spirited talk on the conditions of most prisons (no air conditioning in summer, overcrowding, you've heard it all).  Florida has the greatest number of men on Death Row.  Only Texas has actually executed more.  More and more states are overturning their death penalty law; ironically, only those in the Bible Belt continue to hang on. 

Think of this, there is no constitutional right to not be executed if you are innocent.  Statistically, we all know that black on black murder might get you the electric chair, as well as white on white.  However, white on black murder rarely sends one to death row, but black on white murder will definitely get you there.  

The following day, we drove out to Our Lady of Hope/Communita Cenacolo, a movement started in Italy.  The young men, who live in community, have an abundance of fruit trees, grow their own vegetables and raise pigs for slaughter. They have recently begun wood working, making beautiful bowls and refinishing old furniture.  They also have an outdoor oven for making pizza. We were served lunch of pasta and garlic, home made bread and fresh squeezed orange juice.  While eating one fellow reads from his journal to the rest.  I thought it took great courage to open up his most intimate feelings before strangers. 

After detoxing, these young men come to Hope and pick up their lives without any medicines or professional support. They rely on one another and the Holy Spirit.  Mass is said every morning by a visiting priest and rosary four times a day.  They are some of the sweetest souls you'll ever meet.

One evening we had dinner with the Sisters, another time the women went out to Stogies (a beer and a cigar for $4.99), later the younger among us found live music to dance to.

A couple of us skipped the March for Life and visited the lighthouse, and crazy Chelsea went swimming in the 52 degree ocean water.  Another great retreat!