Spirituality
The mission of the Peace Huts is to serve the Catholic Church by providing a retreat environment that enables people to deepen their relationship with Christ.
At the Peace Huts, there is an environment of applied Christianity - the focus of retreats there is not to go on retreat and talk about prayer - but to go on retreat to live a life of prayer'. This is fulfilled by providing a retreat environment Simplicity, Silence, Prayer and Community.
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Simplicity
Peace Huts is intentionally simple. It was designed to be without the conveniences of modern technology in order to lead people to dependence on God. This simplicity of life allows one to become detached from their wants, and to learn to cling to God for ones needs. Simplicity is the challenge to surrender our lives to Christ.
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Silence and Solitude
Peace Huts is built in the middle of the prairie because the plains are a visually "quiet" place. On the prairie, there are no awe-inspiring mountains or other structures to distract the eyes. Retreat participants are provided with ample time of silence and solitude so that they can be like the prophet Elijah and hear the "Still, Small Voice" of Christ in their lives. The goal of the silence at the Peace Huts is to provide an environment where it is possible to learn to listen to Christ.
Community
St. John Chrysostum said that every serious Christian is a monk. While on retreat, community life is encouraged in the monastic sense, both "monos" - alone with Christ (See Silence / Solitude), and "monos" - one, as in community. Retreatents are split up into groups that work inter-dependently with each other. One group might walk to get water, while another prepares the meals, and a third collects cow-pies for the cooking fires. As our society becomes more disconnected and polarized, this interdependent community reminds Christians that they are the Body of Christ (cf St. Paul) |
Prayer
The Catholic Church is God's tool box. The tools in the box are the various ways of communicating with God. When at the Huts for retreat, many different forms of prayer may be introduced and practiced. The establishment of a chapel for the Blessed Sacrament enhances this by allowing retreatents to be in the presence of Christ while on retreat. Currently, most retreats include the Rosary, and Divine Office as the staple forms of prayer.
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