Sursum Corda Young Adults Camp - Part Three

Finally, we get to the actual camp!  I wonder if I have been putting this post off.  If so, it is partly out of a fear of being unable to do the wonderful weekend justice, and partly out of a “homesick” feeling, missing everyone and everything.  

  With a few exceptions it was a perfectly wonderful weekend.  I can’t decide if it was more retreat or more camp.  It certainly didn’t have the “roughing it” aspect of camp, but it was far too social to be considered a retreat.  All things considered, it was a lovely vacation.  I didn’t even check the weather while I was there, let alone email.  

  We stayed at Francis de Sales Seminary, in St. Francis, WI.  For all intents and purposes, it was Milwaukee.  I didn’t enjoy driving there, but we made it.  I am NOT a city driver.  Naturally, the route I chose to AVOID major traffic resulted in detours.  Thank goodness for GPS, or who knows when - or if - we would have gotten there!

  Our rooms were simple - bed, chair, and closet, basically.  My little group was split up, which was great, because we all got perfect roommates.  All of the rooms had an air conditioner (definitely not roughing it!) and most had a bathroom.  

    The first thing on the schedule was Mass, then a welcome.  I’m wishing now, of course, that I had taken more notes over the course of the weekend!  Of course, if it takes notes to remember, was it really learned?  Actually, in my case, yes, because I remember more with notes.  But I digress.  I’m sure we each came away from the weekend with something different, yet important for us.  For me, the important thing was the necessity of good friendships.  

So many times in my life I have found myself feeling more or less friendless.  For one reason or another, through one trial or another, my friends have been distant - either geographically, personally, or both.  I’ve questioned whether or not friendship really was an important part of a Catholic life.  After all, if we have family and faith, maybe friends are just one of those nice luxuries we sometimes just have to live without.  I don’t know if I’ve ever actually believed that, but I’m sure the thought provided some sort of consolation during long weeks when it seemed like I never talked to anyone outside my family!  I’ll be the first to admit that I am horribly shy, until I really get to know someone.  On top of that, I’m terrible at small talk.  I like discussions more than conversations, I think.  Am I starting to ramble?  Sorry.  Back to camp. It was awesome to not only hear about the importance of good Catholic friendships, but to also have people around looking for the same thing! 

  I’m not going to mention any names in this blog, partly because I don’t want to spell anyone’s name wrong or misquote them, and partly because you never know how much people will want about them on the internet.  So from now on, I shall refer to the brilliant individual who put the weekend together as Master of Ceremonies, or MC.  WE know who he is, and HE knows who he is.  I’m sure I could get enough out of this weekend to write a whole book, but most wouldn’t be true, so don’t take me too seriously - now or ever.  If or when I do write the book, I shall have to put in a disclaimer to the effect of “all people, places, and events in this book are fictional, unless proven otherwise.  Any resemblance to real people, places, or events is purely incidental and born of the overactive imagination of the author.”  Of course this is a blog account, therefore I shall portray things as accurately and vaguely as I can recall.  Please don’t hold me entirely responsible.  It just isn’t fair.  

  After Mass and the welcoming speeches by MC and Fr., we had about an hour before dinner.  MC had mentioned a grotto, so a few of us set out in search of it.  I was especially interested, due to a project at church.  We wandered around the grounds a bit, venturing into the woods and out again, but we searched in vain.  Some of us were of the opinion that the grotto was perhaps a myth, contrived by MC to get us all out of his hair for a bit before dinner, plus to allow us to get to know each other a bit.  This theory was proven wrong the next day, of course, but it was fun while it lasted.  

  After dinner, we had ice cream and a nice ice-breaker.  We had a sheet of paper with 20 questions, and had to find people who could answer “yes” to the questions.  And each question had to be answered by a different person.  Looking at this now, I can put a face to nearly all of the names (there were 28 of us,) when at the time I know next to no one.  I came in handy for question 6: Find someone who makes rosaries. :)  Actually, I could answer yes to 5 out of 20 questions, and could have made a couple more (like owning both a black and white Mantilla) at another time in my life.  Lots of fun. 

  With another couple hours of free time (perhaps the last of the weekend!) a group of us walked down to the lake, just across from the seminary.  It was so beautiful at sunset!  I love the water, be it stream, river, lake, or ocean.  The sailboats are always so neat to see.  Ever since reading Swallows and Amazons I have wished I could go sailing.  Someday.  

  The day ended with evening prayers.  I think everyone was pretty tired Friday night, after the long drives most of us had.  I for one was in bed early. 

 

Mass was at 7:30 the next morning.  Did I mention how nice daily Mass was?  I should also mention that it was the Extraordinary Form (aka Latin or Tridentine) Mass.  After Mass, of course, was breakfast, then a conference by Mr. and Mrs. Chaperone (still not using real names, to protect the innocent.)  After their excellent talk on marriage, myself and two others set off to find the elusive grotto.  My friend had been there the night before with the MC, so we actually found it this time.  It was tucked away in the woods, near the cemetery.  Although the mosquitos insisted on biting us, both were lovely.  There were many priests and nuns in the cemetery, with some stones dating back to the 1800’s.  We weren’t able to stay there as long as we wanted, however, because my friend got a call from the MC saying we had to come back for volleyball.   

 

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 I could go through a play-by-play of the weekend, but I won’t.  Our adventures included volleyball (which I not only hate, but am apparently allergic to,) a boat ride out on the lake, a delicious grilled dinner, a square dance (which was awesome because for once I didn’t feel like the only one hopelessly behind,) rosary in the beautiful seminary chapel, an unexpected tour of the seminary, including a late-night bit of bowling, an hour long walk after Mass on Sunday (at a rather brisk pace, I might add,) a couple of hours at Milwaukee Public Museum (the coolest museum I’ve ever been to,) delicious Pizza, an awesome talent show, and lots of great times with great people.  Oh, and some really good conferences, too.   Did I mention the great people?