Inevitable

  The title of this entry means a whole lot to me.  I helped put on a retreat this weekend, and I know many people who attended a different one.  In my earlier years of high school, I saw a lot of what I call the "post-retreat funk."  After a lot of thought spent on why this happens, I am going to share a little bit of what I think happens.  I am going to give a disclaimer with this one though.  What I say is just my thought process.  This is designed to provoke thought in your own life, I am not judging, condemning, or trying to poke fun at people, I am solely trying to provide thought points to help you on your journey.  With that out of the way, let me continue.
  A typical retreat tends to be a very emotional experience for people.  Emotion is overall a very good thing, however, emotions are far from stable.  All my retreat experiences (sans my three day silent one) was centered around the idea of group emotional response.  While this is a fantastic way to snag people initially, faith must quickly grow from this seed.  I see a lot of people stuck in their faith journey jumping from retreat to retreat hoping to catch that emotional experience that they had.  This is an incredibly dangerous way to live the faith.  If faith is based in emotion, than as our emotional climate deteriorates, we move away, as it increases, we grow closer.  With the exception of a very few people, this holds true.
  One of my best friends in the world is an amazing priest.  He does many great things, and one thing that he did is showed me where emotions exist in faith.  He is almost a charismatic, a person who has a very emotional faith.  Until this time, I was very angry about overemotional people.  He took me under his wing and showed me what emotion meant, and its true place.  As Catholics, we are a heart people.  We love.  However, our hearts cannot completely overrule our heads.  This is where this "post-retreat funk" occurs.  We let our hearts play our faith so much, that we lose what our heads say.  We let our belief swing two and fro like a pendulum based on what our heart feels.  The only way around this is to take the passion you have for God during and after a retreat, and apply that to furthering your knowledge in the faith.
  This is one of my more passionate subjects, and here is why.  Throughout my high school faith journey, I found myself doing this swing myself.  It got me irritated.  Why after every retreat do I feel further back from where I started?  It took me two years to realize it was because I was doing nothing but stoking my emotional fire.  The retreat did not help me be anymore Catholic per say, it just helped me feel more in love with God.  Which in itself is a good thing.  Don't get me wrong, that is a good way to feel, however, unless you do something with this, you are not helping yourself.  Apply your love to a love for the Church.  Learn about why the Church teaches that pre-marital sex is wrong.  Learn about why tradition in the Church is a crucial component of it.  Learn it, Live it, Love it in that order.  You cannot live what you do not know, and you do not love something you do not live out.  After retreats I commonly hear, I feel closer to God now.  Or, I love Jesus so much!  I never hear, the Church is amazing!  I have fallen totally in love with the Church!  This excessive, shall I call it abuse, of emotion is ruining our identity.  Our unique identity of being Catholic.
  I love Jesus, I love God don't get me wrong on that fact.  But boy o boy do I love me some Church.  The Bride of Christ as it is called.  Why do we not fall so thoroughly in love with the Church as we say we do with Jesus?  So, as I end this extremely long blog, where the message may have gotten lost along the way, I would just like to summarize my main point in one sentence.  In order to avoid this "post-retreat funk," take the emotional high that you experience and help it further your knowledge, understanding, and love for the institution that Christ left when he ascended.  Do not let your emotions control you, control your emotions into helping it fuel the passion for knowledge and learning.  I hope God blesses each and every one of you, and helps you along in your spiritual journey.