18 March 2024 · 2024-03 newsletter
Our Schoenstatt Marian Lenten Retreat Weekend (2-4 MARCH 2024) was held at the Vincentian Retreat Centre in Karrakup (15 minutes south of our Shrine in WA). It’s a lovely tranquil place out in the bush which allowed us time away from our everyday lives.
We had 18 people stay, over the two nights, and 11 others who came for two or three days as day-trippers.
Everyone eagerly participated in our four sessions over the weekend, which were very well presented. Session one was ‘Walking together – Loving the Church’. This included a pilgrimage walk, ‘journeying together’ along a track, with prayers and hymns.
Session two was ‘Encounter with Christ’ and included looking at the change that took place in Saul, who then became St Paul. This was followed by a ‘Penance Reflection’ and allowed time for participants to go to Reconciliation with Fr Varghese.
In the evening, we had a shared dinner. Everyone was very generous in bringing food to share. We had lots of food left over for lunch the next day. After dinner we had various games and got to know one another more.
Session three, on Sunday, was ‘With Mary Listening to the Holy Spirit’. For this we had a ‘listening and discernment’ session, looking at the Scripture passage, Luke 2:43-51 ‘His Mother treasured all these things in her heart.’ A lot of good discussion came from this. Afterwards we had Stations of the Cross in the Chapel.
After getting back to the Vincentian Centre it was time to organise our BBQ dinner. Here again lots of delicious food was prepared and enjoyed, with enough for Monday lunch. The evening was then handed over to a young man named Karl who led us in two fun games which we all enjoyed.
Session four, was on Monday morning and it was on ‘Encounter, Listen, and Discern’. We looked at these three words using part of Fr Pawel’s talk from the last National Conference. Afterwards, we had testimonies from four people. They were Abby, Karl, Sr Thomasine and Sandra.
The testimonies were very inspiring and the highlight of the weekend. They reminded us that Mary is always there for us. When life gets tough, just remember, “Do not forget the surest and easiest way, do not forget Mary!”
Then in the afternoon, we all travelled to the Shrine for Holy Mass which included five women making their Covenant of Love. These women had been prepared for this official acceptance into our Schoenstatt Family by Sr. M Luka. Fr Joseph Rathnaraj was our celebrant. It was a very special occasion for all of us to celebrate, and of course was followed by fellowship.
A big thank you to the Retreat Co-ordinating team, all those who presented on the weekend, our facilitators Angelique and Ida, and our musicians. Everyone really enjoyed the weekend. It was at a good pace, and good friendships were formed, so I am sure that we will see everyone at the Shrine again in future.
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