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Allan Wright, a national speaker and author, leads a Lenten retreat at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Dupont on Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo\/Dan Piazza)<\/p>\nDUPONT \u2013 Two newly linked parishes in Luzerne County joined forces at the start of Lent to offer something they had not experienced in years \u2013 a parish mission designed to renew hearts and strengthen unity in Christ.<\/p>\n
From Feb. 26-28, parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Dupont, and Queen of the Apostles Parish, Avoca, gathered for \u201cReturn to the Heart of the Father,\u201d a three-day Lenten retreat led by national Catholic speaker Allan Wright.<\/p>\n
Allan Wright, a national speaker and author, leads a Lenten retreat at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Dupont on Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo\/Dan Piazza)<\/p>\n
Hosted at both parish churches, the retreat featured opportunities for Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Stations of the Cross, a communal penance service and multiple presentations \u2013 along with shared meals that gave parishioners time to connect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to begin Lent with three days of prayer to reflect upon God\u2019s love for us as we return to the heart of the Father,\u201d Father Thomas Petro, pastor of both parishes, said. <\/p>\n
This marks the first Lent the two communities are together in a formal linkage, and the retreat was planned intentionally to build a sense of togetherness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was our hope to allow the parishioners from both parishes to come together and get to know each other in a better way, but also find unity in Christ,\u201d Father Petro added. <\/p>\n
The mission was made possible through a grant from the Catholic Ministries Appeal.
Wright, an author, adjunct professor at Seton Hall University and Executive Director of the N.J. Family Policy Center, brought Scripture to life through real life stories. <\/p>\n
He encouraged participants to recognize the \u201csilent witnesses\u201d of the Gospel \u2013 figures such as the servants at Cana and the friends of the paralytic \u2013 who made a difference without saying a word.<\/p>\n
He also focused on practical reflections of family life and discipleship.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of what Jesus does takes place in the home \u2013 his teaching, healing, forgiving, sharing meals \u2013 it doesn\u2019t take place on the sandy shores of the Galilee or the bustling streets of Jerusalem but in the home,\u201d he added. \u201cHow can we bring our faith alive in the home?\u201d<\/p>\n
Parishioners said the retreat left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was fantastic,\u201d parishioner Gary Beccaloni said. \u201cI loved his presentation, his humor, it was an amazing three days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Hilenski, who attended all three days, appreciated the insights Wright provided.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a great way of portraying images through meditations that he\u2019s had from different parts of Scripture that you usually don\u2019t hear about,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
In the days since the retreat ended, Father Petro said it offered much more than simply words of positive feedback.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis retreat, for us, provided us with a great gift \u2013 inner renewal,\u201d Father Petro stated. \u201cI could really feel among our people a certain joy and lightness of spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUPONT \u2013 Two newly linked parishes in Luzerne County joined forces at the start of Lent to offer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-143398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}