New Retreat Center in Oxford
By Chaldean Catholic Diocese Staff
With great joy and excitement, the Diocese recently blessed the newly founded Mar Eliya retreat center this past Friday, October 28, on the Feast Day of Mar Eliya the Prophet. The occasion was marked by a Mass that was celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Francis Kalabat followed by a processional blessing of the center and its house chapels. The retreat center, formerly known as Our Lady Queen of the Family retreat center, was one of many in the Metro Detroit area that hosted a variety of retreats for decades. With a generous donation from the Boji family the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle was able to purchase this retreat center.
The retreat center will primarily be used to host retreats, where people are able to drop everything for a few days or so to spend time with Jesus Christ in prayer, reflection, solitude, and silence. It is a perfect way for one to get away from the distractions and busyness of life and to focus on one’s relationship with God.
The retreat center itself is quite impressive; able to host multiple large groups at a time, with two floors and two house chapels. Located in Oxford, Michigan, it is an ideal distance for many in the community – not too far and not too close – exactly what you would want in a retreat center. God-willing, after renovations, within a couple of years the retreat center will be fully functional and available for use once more.
The Chaldean Catholic Diocese and the Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center (ECRC) offer various types of retreats throughout the year, from marriage retreats for married couples to silent retreats for those who would like to pray in complete detachment and silence to healing retreats for those who are seeking the healing mercy of God in their lives. The Chaldean community now has the blessing to call this retreat center home, a place where the community can drop everything in order to ‘retreat’ and find God, a place where the future generations, our children, are able to know and encounter their Lord and their God.