BLD-Detroit covenant community sponsors a retreat for young Catholic Singles in July 2008

With the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, more of the youth and young adults are set on fire to know and love our Lord Jesus.

This is an invitation to a formal retreat to encounter the Lord Jesus who is calling you and inviting you to come even closer towards Him. If you are single and Catholic - do you feel the Spirit moving you to find a venue where people of your age and conviction are gathered together - kind of hanging out with each other - in an intimate way - for the Lord? One of the venues that can help facilitate your responding to getting to know the Lord Jesus is the Catholic Singles Encounter Retreat - presented by the BLD-Detroit covenant community. This will be held at the beautiful, peaceful, contemplative grounds of the St. John Family and Youth Center in Plymouth, Michigan on July 11, 12 and 13, 2008.

Here, you'll meet singles who are being changed or already changed by the Holy Spirit even before coming to the encounter weekend. Some have fully accepted the desire to be with the Lord and some are just getting started in having attraction towards the Lord. The most difficult part of the retreat is to say ‘yes’ to attend a whole weekend dedicated to experiencing the presence of God. Most singles have multiple demands on their time. Some have colleges; some have work, some have both. There are parties to celebrate, cafes to meet friends in, basketball and football teams to cheer for, new-beer-tasting events at different pubs; laundries and chores to attend to reserved only for the weekend. In spite of all these heavy demands on your time – when you feel the tug of the Holy Spirit – do not resist. Resistance is futile. Come in obedience to the calling that is put deep in your heart. You are God’s chosen children and you are naturally drawn to the Heavenly Father. Say ‘yes’ to spending personal time with the Lord for the weekend. What time you give Him in a weekend – He will multiply it a hundred-fold in your lifetime. Here's the website for more information and to register. For more info and to register for the retreat, here's the address: http://www.blddetroit.org/links.htm.

Testimonial:

. . . I would like to give a concrete example, that being of my brother Ray, Singles Encounter #2 (SE2) graduate. My brother Ray had his calendar filled with golf outings...Even more resistant to the weekend than I was (who has graduate school to attend to), he was emphatic that he was NOT going to attend. I did not even imagine he would show up, let alone graduate from SE2...And though my mother tried her best, I really believed forces bigger than you and I made it possible for him to make his first steps toward St. John's Center that fateful Friday afternoon....During dinner that evening, I tried to gauge his mood and he was light as air, which if you know my brother, he is always 'on turbo boost', very serious, very business-minded...But his relaxed and happy mood during dinner told me that the job had already been done. My brother has been changed because he said ‘yes’ to God. Way before the encounter weekend, behind the scenes and without us knowing, the Holy Spirit had already penetrated the most vulnerable and sacred part of my brother that only God and HE alone had direct access to! HE changes hearts. HE changes souls. Because of this, my brother was open to a close and intimate encounter with God through a BLD Singles Encounter. Glory to God!

Yours respectfully, Claire O. - Plymouth, MI

Keywords= catholic retreat, catholic singles, meditation, contemplative, Holy Spirit, Glory to God, golf, beers, football, basketball, Jesus, friends, humility, resistance, lifetime, calendar, pubs, BLD, Detroit, singles seminar, St. John Center, Plymouth, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Westland, Garden City, Novi, Livonia, Troy, Southfield, South Haven, Michigan, Youth, Young Adults.