Women planned – and planned again – for retreat, but God had other designs

“Seeing with the eyes of faith” was more than a retreat theme for a group of deacon wives.

The women had to practice that vision when their retreat plans fell through twice – with one on extremely short notice.

Originally an archdiocesan priest had been scheduled to lead the retreat, said Angie Rosales-Luna, wife of Deacon Steve Luna. The two serve at St. Gerald Parish in Ralston.

The priest, though, had been assigned to a new parish and could no longer lead the July retreat. So the women scrambled, reaching out to several priests and female spiritual directors. 

The Benedictine Retreat Center in Schuyler offered to help, with one of the monks from Christ the King Priory, who serve at the retreat center, to serve as a retreat director.

But two days before the retreat was to begin, the women learned that the monk had fallen ill.

“But God was already at work,” Rosales-Luna said. That same weekend, the diaconate community of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, was holding its annual retreat at the Benedictine Retreat Center.

“On being advised of our predicament, their retreat leader (Deacon Matthew Halbach) and their bishop (Bishop John E. Keehner) generously invited us to join their retreat conferences, Masses, and discussions,” she said.

“The Omaha archdiocese women were open to receiving whatever God had in store for us,” Rosales-Luna said. “Their retreat theme, ‘Seeing with the eyes of faith,’ was what we were stepping into.

“It was a beautiful retreat and the graces poured into our hearts.”

The shared retreat was a blessing for the Sioux City diocese deacons and their wives, too, according to Lumen Media, the media and communications office for the diocese. The guests from the Omaha archdiocese provided an opportunity for networking, Deacon David Penton, coordinator of formation for the diaconate for the Diocese of Sioux City, said in an article about the retreat.

Deacon Paul Kestel, of the Sioux City diocese, also appreciated the guests. “It was nice having them so we could get some different insights.”

Joanne Frankenfield, wife of Deacon Tom Frankenfield, of Mary Our Queen Parish in Omaha, told Lumen Media that she was not sure what to expect from the last-minute change, but the retreat was “amazing.”

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