Woodstock Report | The "Good Fire"

“Within each of us burns a fire that drives us.”

So began an invitation to business and professional people, announcing the third annual Woodstock Business Retreat in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, held September 22-24.

“People of faith recognize this fire as God’s life force and acknowledge that it is our mission to honor and channel this dynamic power,” the announcement continued. “Given our massive investment of time, energy and effort at our work, it is there, in desiring to do the right thing at work, that we experience many of our successes and shortcomings in this mission.”

About 40 people – managers, investment advisers, business consultants, attorneys, physicians, teachers, academics, small business owners, and others – accepted the invitation.

Gathered at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, the retreat goers “tapped into the fire that drives them, and they identified instances of ‘good fire’ and ‘bad fire’ in their lives and in the world,” said James L. Nolan, one of the retreat leaders, recounting the weekend and its burning metaphor. “Together, they sought the graces needed to stoke and harness this drive for good in their sometimes very challenging situations at work.”

In addition to Nolan, author of Doing the Right Thing at Work and coordinator of the Woodstock Business Conference, retreat leaders included Father Gasper Lo Biondo, S.J., Woodstock’s director, and Sister of St. Joseph Catherine T. Nerney, a theologian at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia.

Titled “The Fire at Work,” the business retreat was structured in a way to make time for quiet reflection and fellowship as well as prayer and worship. Central themes came forward in Sister Nerney’s talk about the human person’s place in God’s creation and Father Lo Biondo’s explanation of the particular call to be companions of the Risen Lord at work and in our lives.

Participants reflected on a five-point program of integrating faith and work, as presented by Nolan. Those points are: self-awareness; expanding our horizon to include concern for all in God’s creation; engagement in our work and our world; community; and prayer.

“This is a program to channel and focus the fire that drives us at work every day,” Nolan said in his remarks at the retreat. “There is no order of preference here. Each is essential. When each is attended to, healthy growth results. We are better in tune with the mind and heart of Our Lord.”

The previous retreats have dealt with such themes as the blessings of work (2005) and business as a calling (2006). A fourth annual Woodstock Business Retreat has been scheduled for the same time next year, at the Jesuit center in Wernersville. More information about the business retreats is available at woodstock.georgetown.edu.