Retreat Schedule
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Topeka Correctional Facility October 18-20, 2024.
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Lansing Correctional Facility, June 14-16, 2024.
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Negotiating with the three remaining KS Bishops.
Kolbe in Kansas Newsletters and other Publications
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Listen to Deacon John Stanley's homily, the day after his attendance at the Lansing Kolbe Retreat.
Listen to Lay Evangelist Michael Gormley, an eye-witness at a Kolbe Retreat.
What will a retreat be like?
The Holy Spirit, and Jesus will be in the Adoration Chapel. Thirty to sixty residents of various religious preferences will spend three days with a team of 20 Kolbe volunteers who will travel from Texas with trailers full of supplies. There will also be 20 -25 local volunteers, serving as table leaders, speakers, mentors. A praise band comprised of volunteers and residents will play spiritual music. Priests will hear Confessions and celebrate two Masses, and several Deacons will be present.
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Volunteers attend a Commission Mass the night before the retreat. The retreat begins by welcoming the residents to the retreat. The retreat begins by processing the Monstrance into the Adoration Room. The retreat then kicks off with a formal welcome, and a set of discussions about the purpose and objectives of the retreat. Much of the focus of the retreat is a discussion of a variety of Catholic topics in small groups at individual tables, interspersed with talks on testimony from residents who have had these retreats, and talks on the Sacraments and the Stations of the Cross. Music is integral to the retreat. Day two is concerned with forgiveness, praying the Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Reconciliation, followed by Mass and dinner, catered by the Kolbe team (pizza and the like). The third and last day has Adoration, Mass, testimony with group discussion on a variety of Catholic issues. The Kolbe retreat has a deeply moving foot washing ceremony, which typically transfixes the prisoners attending. There is a final talk that emphasizes forgiveness and reconciliation. Certificates of participation are distributed, along with letters of encouragement.