A Ministry and a Book 17 Years in the Making

by Dan Masterton

Anytime you have an opportunity to talk about something you love, something you know well, something you're itching to share about and engage in with others, it's exciting. Sometimes, it's a casual, spontaneous conversation; sometimes, it's a speaking engagement to share thoughts with others in your area of interest; sometimes, it's the chance to write an article, or even a book.

From my own freshmen retreat at the start of high school, I've long had a passion for retreats. It's a passion that propelled me to attend or lead a dozen retreats in high school. It primed me to savor and delight in the monastic experience of two long weekend retreats at the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky during college. It was part of the motivation to hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, first with friends and then leading young people.

As a teenager, retreats are where I felt I could be my honest self, and in doing so, share myself, get to know others authentically, and set an attractive example of faith for others. As an adult and a professional pastoral minister, retreats are where my gifts and passions took strongest root and blossomed most fully, from planning retreats to forming student leaders to directing retreats. For all the beauty of prayer and liturgy, for all the truth in accompanying people on the margins, for all the growth found in justice ministry and service-learning, I have found my greatest professional vocational passion in directing retreats.

So far, working in several faith communities, alongside countless colleagues, I have been able to dig deep into retreat ministry, to dialogue and learn, and to see the impact and benefit of thoughtfully envisioned and carefully implemented retreat programming. With gratitude to so many colleagues, student leaders, and participants (both the earnest and the indifferent!), I was excited to plug into an opportunity with the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) to synthesize my experience into a guide on retreat ministry with young people.

My second book, Exploring Faith, is available now through NCEA. I had the chance to present a live session at the national conference, NCEA 2021, in April, where we first publicized the book, and now orders have begun shipping.

A second volume on retreats, exploring the history and academic underpinnings of retreat ministry is in the works, and will hopefully follow in the next year or two. (My solo book is sort of a follow-up to my book with Cari White on Campus Ministry, also available through NCEA entitled Cultivating Faith.)

The book is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive, for no two retreats or retreat programs are identical, no two faith communities have identical contexts or needs. The book is an earnest guide, a good-faith, thoughtful, experience-driven effort to cover most of the important bases, talk through crucial areas, and identify many of the major ideals that ought to anchor faithful retreat ministry.

The dedication and acknowledgements tip my ministerial cap to many of my closest teammates. But here, in an extension of that gratitude, I want to shout out the many, many, many people with whom I've partnered in retreat ministry over the last 17 years:

• to Mr. Paul McMahon, who as one of my campus ministers at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, IL, was the first person to take me on and form me as a retreat leader, for Quest XII in Fall 2004 -- his advice to the student leaders to "go on a retreat for yourself next" spurred me to love retreats as a participant as well as to pursue further leadership
• to Ms. Betsy Fons and Ms. Lara Denise Lynch for having me as a freshmen retreat leader and student retreat director
• to Br. John Eustice, CSV, who selected me and formed me as a Kairos leader, the basis for my future as an adult and/or director on 11 (so far) subsequent Kairos retreats
• to Steve Warner, Karen Kirner, Michele Warner, and Folk Choir Interns Joe Nava and Jessica Mannen Kimmet, who brought me to a Cistercian abbey and, with the monks, taught me the power of routine, structured prayer, communal chant, and building community while retreated far from everyday society
• to Lenny DeLorenzo, Megan Shepherd, Aimee Shelide Mayer, Tim O'Malley, and my Vision 2010 & 2011 peers, who grew my seeds of call to retreat ministry from mild high school ponderings to real skills and joyful practice
• to Jessica, Molly Mattingly, and Kurt Nowak who tolerated my retreat antsiness, welcomed my disruptions, and encouraged me to try my hand, even and especially with Irish pre-teens
• to Jimmy Tricco, who with prophetic trust and/or desperate need, invited my critical thinking, empowered my desire, and lovingly propelled me into vocation
• to Steph DePrez, Erin Conway, and Dave Gregory, who forced me to dig past eye-rolls at Ignatian Spirituality and strive to emulate their ideal examples as educators of the whole persons of our students, as well as always spoiling for a fight via a good argument
• to Melissa Cedillo, whose receptivity to my faith-sharing and mentorship showed me I could do this ministry well, and whose growth and dialogue has made her one of my most needed teachers
• to Fr. Kevin Scalf, C.PP.S., the interlocutor who my heart of faith always wanted and needed, the model of strict expectations and theological substance as well as indefatigable humor and joy
• to Kim McMillan, Maggie Deady, and Megan Hersey Evans, the ones who welcomed the order I offered amid previous vestiges of chaos, who showed me how to meet students with different needs and still bring them what I thought they needed and what God wanted to show them
• to Paul Bubash, the model of meeting young people where they are, and bringing to the office a whiplash-inducing mix of productive work binges and unbelievably funny and informative tangents (and to Rex and Dennis for their companionship and partnership)
• to the dozens of student leaders who have stepped forward, invited formation, dedicated their time and their selves, and offered themselves to their peers
• and again to Br. John, who over the last 15 years has become a close friend, welcomed me as a peer, and challenged me to be inclusive, collaborative, and growth-minded
• finally, to my family -- my parents who first formed my heart and faith and made space for me to learn and grow in faith communities and through expensive but integral Catholic education, and Katherine, my wife and best friend, who affirms and encourages me (and covers me in my temporary familial absences) in this ministry

If these are tributes of the first few years, I can only imagine what else may be waiting in years ahead... All of my teammates and colleagues make their own mark on me, marks which can be seen in the way I strive to serve and lead and marks that can be seen in the book as well!

I hope anyone who ministers with young people, from middle schools to high schools to colleges to parishes, might consider grabbing a copy, if not for themselves then for the bookshelf in their community library room or departmental office. You can always start by borrowing a copy from me!