Fr. Byron Haaland, SCJ, is in love, and it is that love which drives his ministry.
“I love the Bible; I love Scripture and I love playing with Scripture,” he said. “I don’t know any better word than that – I love to play with Scripture.”
He said that he learned “Lectio Divina,” a form of prayerful meditation on Scripture, years ago. “Mulling over Scripture is good, but now I take it to another level and just PLAY with it.”
However, the Bible isn’t Fr. Byron’s only love. He also loves SCJ spirituality. “Welcoming the spirit, responding to Christ’s love, seeking union and communion with Jesus, and cooperating in the work of redemption. That is SCJ spirituality in a nutshell. That is the base for all of my retreats.”
Fr. Byron has worked with these two loves — SCJ spirituality and Scripture — in developing retreats since he was a deacon.
“I led my first retreat when I was a deacon at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in St. Louis,” he said. “The principal asked if I would give a graduation retreat.”
That initial retreat was the start of a journey that seems to have no end in sight.
For many years Fr. Byron’s retreat ministry was based at St. Joseph’s Retreat Center in Baileys Harbor, Wis. He developed and directed retreats held at the center, but also traveled the country, as he still does (and internationally), giving retreats for a wide variety of groups and organizations.
In the 1980s and 1990s Fr. Byron served on the Wisconsin State Board for Adult Children of Alcoholics. “We focused on getting information to teachers, administrators, counselors and parents to help them understand how alcohol and drugs affect children.”
Out of that experience came a retreat series that Fr. Byron developed for adult children of alcoholics. He spent eight years presenting the retreat around the country, including Sacred Heart School of Theology, where it was done as a part of the continuing education program.
He has also presented retreats to participants in Alcoholics Anonymous. “There are many similarities in 12-step programs and SCJ spirituality,” he said. “I think that SCJ spirituality kind of ‘catapults’ you into a poverty of spirit that helps you to see your powerlessness.” And from that sense of “powerlessness,” said Fr. Byron, one realizes that it is only through God that “we can do anything.”
Supported by friends –– the Bible and SCJ spirituality –– Fr. Byron is rarely unnerved by his “audience.” He loves what he does and he loves working with people as they join him in playing with Scripture.
But there have been a few retreats that have given him pause. One was a day of recollection given for the administrative council of the Diocese of Green Bay. He wondered if he had connected well with Bishop Robert Morneau. “I was nervous, and then left the day not knowing how well I had been received by the bishop,” said Fr. Byron.
Evidently there was a good connection because a month later Bishop Morneau wrote in his newspaper column that he “was refreshed and enlightened by Fr. Haaland’s presentations.” The bishop then went on to base the rest of his column on what Fr. Byron had presented, namely one’s faith journey.
And what was the base for Fr. Byron’s presentation? The spirituality of the SCJs, a spirituality that focuses on a person’s ability to answer the invitation to friendship and intimacy with Jesus.
When asked about favorite retreat experiences, Fr. Byron notes several, including one for people living with HIV/AIDS.
“We [he and another retreat leader] facilitated the retreat but the participants really took it over and owned it,” said Fr. Byron. “It was an incredible experience. They talked and shared with each other their experiences. We then asked them to reflect theologically on what it meant to be living with HIV/AIDS…
“Some expressed gratitude. They had this horrible disease but through their reflection they became grateful. Through their reflection they came to know God and their own goodness. To see them celebrate this was incredible. They were able to do that through SCJ spirituality. In seeking union and communion with Jesus and in the Eucharist there is a union and communion that takes place within us. We realize that what we experience, God too experiences.”
Fr. Byron hears many stories in his ministry. “Wild, wild stories,” he said. What is exciting for him is when people come to the realization that “God wants to be a part of everyone’s story… it’s an honor to be with people as they come to that realization.”
Fr. Bryon’s retreat schedule also includes fellow SCJs –– in the U.S. Province and internationally. He said that there is a comfort in being among “family,” but it can be unnerving as well. It would be similar to a teacher teaching fellow teachers or a carpenter building a piece of furniture for another carpenter.
But since Fr. Byron’s retreats are all based in SCJ spirituality he said that it is “wonderful in that I don’t have to teach the language. With non-SCJs there is more time spent in explanation. With the SCJs I can cover ground faster and get down to the nitty-gritty.”
Outside of his retreat ministry, Fr. Byron works with the formation department at Sacred Heart School of Theology and is very active with St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care in Milwaukee.
“St. Ann’s is a place where many of the forgotten of society come,” said Fr. Byron. “There are people there with incredible disabilities.”
Fr. Byron celebrates Mass at the center and participates in ecumenical prayer services. He noted that on Holy Thursday the caregivers –– both those who work at the center and in-home caregivers, including family members –– were honored. “What they do,” said Fr. Byron, “is what Holy Thursday is about. They serve, and they do it well. We are called, as a church, to serve everyone.
“That is the work of the SCJs; the spirituality of the SCJs. You, as a follower of Christ, serve people where they need to be served and their story is honored and embraced no matter who they are and no matter where they come from. People are to be accepted, honored and affirmed.
“That is the spirituality of the SCJs, and that is what I base my retreats in. You can’t get any better than that.”
