Philippine - Australia - Saipan Province
 

RETREAT IN DAILY LIFE:  “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20)

 

 

From 9-29 August 2009, thirteen people, Pauline Cooperators & Friends who collaborate with the Pastorelle Sisters in Adelaide, participated in a three week Retreat in Daily Life. For some it was their second experience of the Retreat and they were very much looking forward to be doing it again.
 

 

It was heartening to note how each person was keen to undertake the journey, desiring to deepen his/her knowledge and love for the Lord while coming to a greater understanding of oneself and developing some new ways of praying, especially using Sacred Scripture. Each participant was invited to make sure that every day 30-60 minutes was devoted to prayer using the method of the Lectio Divina. What emerged from this prayer experience was then material for the individual encounter.

 

The theme of the Retreat was: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20) and it was structured around a total group session at the beginning and at the end of the three weeks, and a personal encounter with Sr. Rita twice a week for individual accompaniment.
 

 

In order to have an inkling of the richness of the experience, the best way is to share with you some of the responses that the participants gave at the end of the retreat:

  • I am deeply grateful for having had this opportunity. I have deepened my knowledge of Christ and of my self, and feel freer as a person.

  • I used to   find it hard to relate to a given person and through the prayer and the accompaniment, I have come to see that I need to forgive, to let go, to love, not waiting for the other person to change but  rather I need to change my ways of seeing things and to withhold judgement. 

  • I have become more aware and conscious that Jesus is my constant companion in the life journey.

  • Sacred Scripture came alive for me, enabling me to discover a new way of praying beyond the constant use of formal prayers.

  • The retreat in Daily Life helped me to consolidate, reaffirm and renew myself in my faith journey. It makes me feel good to be aware that with all my imperfections I am loved by God and strengthened by his Spirit.

  • Now I know better what it means to die for Jesus - it is costly, but it leads to greater inner freedom.

  • I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to know and become familiar with the Lectio Divina as a method of prayer.

  • I felt challenged to examine how my relationship with Christ affects all my other relationships in life.

 

 

For the final prayer as a total group, Luke 24: 13-35 was chosen for the Lectio divina. Participants identified with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and like them, they too exclaimed: ‘Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures”.

                                                                                          Sr Rita Ruzzene sjbp