KERRVILLE • St. Peter upon the Water: A Center for Spiritual Direction and Formation, a new archdiocesan ministry located in the rolling Hill Country at Ingram, will receive a blessing by Archbishop José H. Gomez on Sunday, March 19. The 2 p.m. ceremonies will include a liturgy at the recently purchased site on 234 Indian Creek Road and will be open to all who wish to attend.
The date also marks the 30th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood of the center’s director and founder, Msgr. Michael Boulette, previously the pastor of Notre Dame Church in Kerrville for 12 years. Msgr. Boulette noted that St. Peter upon the Water, a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit trust of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, has been developed to meet the growing and important need for a ministry of spiritual direction in the archdiocese.

    “Spiritual direction, sometimes referred to as spiritual guidance, spiritual friendship or spiritual companionship,” said Msgr. Boulette, “is an on-going relationship in which one person (the directee), desirous of being attentive to his or her spiritual life, meets with another person (the director) on a regular basis, usually monthly, specifically for the purpose of becoming more attuned to God’s presence in order to respond more fully to God in all of our life.”

    Having served as director of spiritual formation for nearly 10 years at Assumption Seminary and done spiritual direction while pastor at Notre Dame, Msgr. Boulette is amply qualified to head this undertaking.
    Originally from upstate New York, his family moved to Fredericksburg when Msgr. Boulette was 9 years old and he went on to attend the old St. John’s Seminary High School and Assumption Seminary. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Mary’s University, his master’s degree in psychology from Trinity University and completed his theological studies at the University of Notre Dame.
    The center’s three-fold mission is to provide individual spiritual direction, develop a formation program for spiritual directors and offer writers a place conducive to writing and publishing in the areas of Christian issues and spirituality.

    Msgr. Boulette will also conduct retreats and parish missions at the facility. “Our calling card will be that there will always be somebody here to see someone,” he said, as opposed to retreat centers that typically offer the space for others to conduct their own retreats. “Here, if we accept your coming,” he said, “you will always have the opportunity to just spend an hour a day with someone to guide you.”
    While initial permission to begin developing this ministry was given by then-Archbishop Patrick F. Flores prior to his retirement, Archbishop Gomez later reaffirmed the permission with “great enthusiasm and support,” noted Msgr. Boulette.

    The 170-acre site on Indian Creek, a tributary of the Guadalupe River, was purchased by the archdiocese from the Armstrong family through a generous donation by Beverly Pevehouse of Midland and Kerrville. The property included a hunting lodge, which has since been remodeled into a 1,000-square-foot residence for Msgr. Boulette, and plans are to convert a barn on the property into an office for the center. At present, the office is located at 707 Hill Country Drive, Suite 104, in Kerrville.
     Future plans also include building individual private cabins at scenic points on the property (which rises to elevations of 19,000 feet), to encourage extended periods of reflection and prayer in the peaceful, meditative settings.

    The three-year formation program for spiritual directors will begin in September, hosted by St. Scholastica Monastery’s Omega Retreat Center in Boerne. Co-directing this program with Msgr. Boulette will be Sister Mary Agnes Zinni, OSB, of St. Scholastica Monastery and Dr. Eileen Barbella of St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston.
    The center’s name honors Msgr. Boulette’s spiritual director of 25 years, George Gannon, who founded St. Benedict’s Farm, a lay monastic community near Waelder, a mission of Msgr. Boulette’s first parish. Gannon, who passed away 10 years ago, had considered naming his facility St. Peter upon the Water, based on the text from Matthew in which Jesus calls Peter to walk across the water to him, a venture as risky as the founding of a new community.
    Msgr. Boulette noted that such a name did seem to call for finding land with water on it, and the property appropriately includes the winding, turquoise-blue Indian Creek, two dams and a picturesque lake.

    Ceremonies on the 19th will include special thanks to Beverly Pevehouse, whose gracious gift made possible the purchase of the property, and the unveiling of the center’s logo, designed by James Avery of James Avery Craftsman, whose gift of talent will also be acknowledged.