7303 N 112th St, Waverly, NE, USA
October 24 - 26, 2025
About this Retreat
Ordained a priest in 1987 for the diocese of Lincoln, Fr. Barak is chaplain of the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph near Valparaiso, Nebraska.
Father Barak was raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and attended St. Albert High School there. He attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before enrolling at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia.
In his ministry, he served as an assistant pastor at St. Wenceslaus Church in Wahoo and Blessed Sacrament in Lincoln. He also taught at Pius X and Bishop Neumann high schools. He pursued post-graduate studies in Rome before being named pastor of St. Francis Parish in rural David City; he also taught at Aquinas High School. In 1993 Father Barak was named pastor of St. Leo Parish in Palmyra, St. Martin Parish in Douglas and St. Michael Parish in Cheney. He has also served as administrator of parishes in Aurora and Giltner
Fr Barak had served the Diocese of Lincoln as assistant director of the Family Life Office and director of religious education, he also helps with the Masses with Prayers for Healing ministry.
Matt and his wife Demetra have four beautiful children and are Catholics in good standing in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. With over twenty years experience personally and spiritually guiding others, Matt have worked with addicts, business leaders, clergy, house wives, and those simply searching for peace and intimacy with Jesus. He feels called to serve those who have suffered abuse and trauma. A former FOCUS missionary, Matt was the director of the Office of Spiritual Formation and the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Lincoln.
Matt offers Spiritual Direction, Inner Healing, Deliverance Ministry, and Ignatian Retreats
Details of this retreat
The Prodigal Retreat for Men
Oct 24-27, 2025
with Fr. Christopher Barak, Matt Simmons, and Fr. Ben Holdren
(Spiritual Direction Available)
Retreat starts Friday with rosary and Mass at 8:00pm, ends Sunday with Mass and Noon lunch.
Men's Retreat
Are you like the Prodigal brother, too angry to receive the Father’s love? Or more like the Prodigal son, too ashamed to come home? Or maybe you are like the Prodigal father, hoping and waiting for the conversion of a loved one? Many of us spend a lifetime avoiding or “going around” our most difficult feelings. To grow in our spiritual life, we must go through them to heal. The only way to truly heal from our wounds is to experience our anger, shame, sadness, abandonment, loneliness and more deeply with Jesus and allow Him to order the chaos and brokenness in our hearts.
The Prodigal Retreat will help men find rest in the arms of the Father; from sin, anxiety, fear and worry. This two-night retreat with other Catholic men will help you find or deepen your identity as a son of the Father and give you tools to know and experience God more intimately.
Time in contemplative prayer and honest conversation with God will be led by spiritual directors: Fr. Christopher Barak, Matt Simmons, and Fr. Ben Holdren who will help guide you through a process that will make lasting healing possible. Using “feeling prayer”, you will have time and space to experience God’s healing in a profound way, from the inside-out.
Though the Prodigal retreat is primarily focused on our individual interior life, we also recognize the need for community through vulnerability and true Christian intimacy as men. For this, we will also spend time in small groups engaging in fellowship and activities.
This is a space for men to be honest about their struggles, be authentic in prayer, better understand and navigate their own emotions and relationships, find healing, build trust, and discover God's presence and support in their experiences and emotions.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House offers a sanctuary of prayer and recollection on a spacious acreage near Waverly. There are 50 single rooms, each with a private bath.
We want our retreats to be accessible to everyone, please consider an additional donation, or contact the Retreat House to inquire about financial assistance or if your parish pays part of the cost. If the retreat you’re interested in is full, contact us to be put on a waiting list. A few double rooms are available upon request. Airport transportation to/from LNK or OMA is also available upon request.
In-person at the Retreat House, retreats include meditations by the retreat master, the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, the Liturgy of the Hours and other devotions, and opportunities for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
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