DELRAY BEACH | Participants at a May 15-17, 2026, retreat for adults with physical disabilities explored the Christian calling to be peacemakers and the need to rely on the love of Jesus — especially in the most difficult situations — to help bring about peace and forgiveness.
About 50 people attended the annual weekend retreat sponsored by the AIM Ministry of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Boca Raton. The retreat, held at the Amoris Christi campus at the Duncan Center in Delray Beach, attracted participants from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Father Kevin McQuone of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach addressed the retreat’s theme — Make Us Instruments of Your Peace, Lord — with talks about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, what it means to be a peacemaker and the need to overcome evil with good. A secondary theme came from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the peacemakers.
The weekend was designed to allow adults with physical disabilities and those with mobility issues due to aging to fully participate in a retreat experience. Participants included some who are legally blind, individuals with muscle coordination and speech difficulties due to cerebral palsy, and others with health conditions. They ranged in age from a 20-something injured in a motorcycle crash to a walker-using 100-year-old.
Each was paired with a buddy volunteer who provided whatever help they needed. Though based at St. Joan, the ministry currently has volunteers from St. Jude in Boca Raton, St. Lucy in Highland Beach, Our Lady Queen of the Apostles in Royal Palm Beach and Holy Name of Jesus in West Palm Beach.
One even crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend. Sister Josephine Sullivan, a longtime AIM volunteer who spent decades teaching at St. Joan of Arc School before retiring to Ireland five years ago, made a special trip back to be part of this year’s retreat.
Andrew Regnery of St. Therese de Lisieux in Wellington, who is legally blind and uses a wheelchair due to medical conditions, served as a co-director of the retreat. He emphasized in his talk to participants that they should live in hope and they need not fear being forgotten by God.
“God is relationship. God is personal. You are already loved, seen and invited,” Regnery said.
One of Father McQuone’s points on peacemaking included the need to admit responsibility in any conflict. Even if a person is only 2% at fault in a situation, they are 100% responsible for that 2%, he said.
The retreat, which concluded on the feast of the Ascension, was AIM’s 71st weekend retreat since its founding in 1979. Retreatants attended for free, thanks to donations from St. Joan of Arc’s Knights of Columbus Council 13051, the Notre Dame Club of Boca Raton and other generous individuals.
Dillon McDonald, a 2025 Florida State University graduate and first-time AIM buddy, said “it was wonderful being surrounded by such humble and grateful people” at the retreat.
“I was struck most by how appreciative the AIM participants are,” the new St. Joan of Arc parishioner said. “There was not a single time I wasn’t thanked after helping someone, retreatant or volunteer.”
More information about AIM — which stands for Achieve! Inspire! Motivate! — is available at https://aimretreats.org.
