Cornerstone retreats at Ridgewood church help attendees ‘strengthen faith’
Monday January 21, 2013, 11:15 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Ridgewood resident Frank Del Vecchio got word of his brother’s death from emphysema while attending the overnight Men’s Cornerstone retreat at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church last year. He left the retreat, helped his family settle some things, then came back to the church in the middle of the night.
The retreat, he said, “was a good place to be at that time.”
“Sometimes you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders,” said Del Vecchio, this year’s lay director of the men’s annual retreat, which will be held in the church from 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25 through 9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26. “The retreat offers a number of things. The central theme of the retreat is perspective, clarity and understanding your faith.”
Registration is still open to anyone age 18 and up for both the Men’s and Women’s Cornerstone retreat. The women’s retreat is being held from Feb. 8 to 9. The retreats, which tend to attract up to 50 participants each year, are planned for several months, and have grown in participation over the past decade, attendees said.
Several participants said the decision to sign up was one of the best choices they ever made.
Both Men’s and Women’s Cornerstone, a name referencing Scripture calling Jesus the “cornerstone” of the church, help people reflect on their faith, said Linda English, pastoral associate for Faith Formation and Women’s Cornerstone organizer.
“I think it’s one of the most effective ways of helping people who seek more in their life or are seeking God to help them,” she said.
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