A Beer and a Retreat with Bob Rice

I got to see one of my favorite, musicians, speakers, authors, and all around awesome Catholic dudes I know, not once, but TWICE this past week! (I know, but remember, jealousy is a sin.) My husband took me into Boston Thursday night to see Bob Rice at Theology on Tap. We had heard of it before but had never been, we won’t be making that mistake again ;) We enjoyed a nice dinner and a beer while listening to Bob play some acoustic songs and give a talk on a great topic… “You are going to die, and other good news.” The section of the bar that we were in was packed but Bob’s voice and our applause could be heard all over. I never pictured myself singing “How Great is our God” in a bar full of people, but it was truly inspiring to see the eyes peering around the corners to see what we were up to. Bob’s talk was also inspiring (no surprise there) as he talked about the inevitable death we will all face and how it’s actually something we shouldn’t be afraid of. Here is a short video from Theology on Tap (please excuse the poor quality, it was a loud dark bar lol)

 
Friday morning, we went to a mini-retreat at the Marian Center, such a beautiful place!
It started with Mass at 9am followed by a talk from Bob and some time in adoration in
front of the Blessed Sacrament. Mass was great and Bob’s Mass parts were excellent (I
have always loved going to Mass when he is doing the music!) Bob’s talk was geared at
youth ministers and those who work closely with te youth at their church. Here are some
highlights from his talk, although I am doing it no justice what so ever!

• We need to allow ourselves to be surprised by Jesus. We don’t always know what he would say or do and if we pretend we know, we are missing out on His mystery.

• We don’t always completely understand ourselves so why would we be able to understand God? His Will is perfect, we just need to accept that we might not always understand what He is doing.

• Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us, so suffering is not a foreign concept to our religion and should not get in the way of our relationship with God.

• We can face the ugliness of Good Friday because of our hope in Easter Sunday. We should approach all of the pain in our life this way.

Bob read a few passages from his new book Between the Savior and the Sea, which you can buy here or here, and I highly recommend it! Not only is the book beautifully written but it opens up the Gospels and lets us look at the apostles in a whole new, more human, way. Excellent read!

Bob’s music during adoration set the tone for an amazing prayer experience and a real break from all the stress that has been going on. You could tell that the atmosphere in the chapel changed as people let their troubles go and relaxed in front of the Lord. It was a great “mini-retreat” and I am so grateful to have spent this time with Bob! The photo below is from the retreat and I give photo credit to my friend Joe Perry and his amazing iPhone ;)