Jess, Area Director for the Wenatchee, Omak, and Yakima communities, just returned from her Fall area visit! She shares the following after finishing up the first retreat, which focuses on the value of Community.
“For the past two weekends JVs from around the Northwest have been gathering for their first retreats of the year! It has been a time for JVs to take a step back from the day-to-day issues of their houses and placements and reflect on the value of Community and how to more fully live it out in concrete ways.
JV’s from the Mountain West retreat region gathered near the Pend Oreille River in Washington for a retreat on right relationship facilitated by Joseph Carver, SJ. With the assistance of Don Clarke and the Mountain West Area Directors, Joseph made connections between four different forms of right relationship: self, community, creation, and God. Focusing on the unique aspects of each of these relationships, Joseph shared tools from his experience of living in community as a JV and a Jesuit.
While they enjoyed the fall beauty and took time to play and reflect, JV’s also had time to discuss the challenges of self-care in their particular placements and name the gifts and challenges that each member brought to their community. Through sharing meals, conversations, prayer, and reflections on right relationship, the JV’s returned to the JVC Northwest Covenant time and time again: ‘We come together to support and give life to one another; we are in JVC Northwest together, we are not alone.'”
