Home From a Weekend Retreat

I am home from a very much needed weekend Retreat. I can't tell you how spiritually refreshed and rested I am. Not necessarily physically rested (but that's ok) what really matters is my spirit. This year's weekend winter retreat at Campos San Jose's theme was Alpha Omega - (the beginning and the end), a common reference to God. It's focus is on time, as God is the beginning and end of all time. Our Core retreat planning team was composed of 16 incredible faithful servants and the rest were teens. (An incredible group of teens at that). I can't go into any details about what happened at retreat but what I can say is that our Jesus is a miracle worker, a healer and a merciful God. I shed soooooo many tears, laughed my butt off and sang praise and worship songs until I was blue in the face. We partied, danced and had mass, we had devotional times and ate food like crazy. We participated in Greek outdoor games and I can go on and on and on but you all get it. The bottom line is that we had an incredible time and the Lord revealed his grace and his mystery upon each and every person there. It was just unbelieveable!!! This retreat allowed the teens to discover how God' time and our time are connected through the liturgical year. They have a better understanding of the church and the totallity of the Catholic journey as presented through the Liturgucal Year. Through the liturgical cycle, this retreat helped the teens encounter a timeless and eternal God who loves them in the present moment.

We stand by this saying "Either we live the liturgical year with it's varying seasons of joy and sorrow, work and rest, or we follow the patterns of the world" .

The Liturgical Year:

Advent (the goal of this session was to have the teens learn the importance of preparation. They understood that advent helps us prepare for the threefold coming of Christ (and not just his birth).

Christmas (the goal of this session was to show the teens that Christ's birth was not only an important event 2000 years ago, but just as important today in their lives. This session also allowed the teens to understand that we are called to make Christ known to the world (Mark 15:16) and that surrender and humility are necessary in order to do this.

Lent - we are actually in Lent right not (This session was to emphasize that Lent is about Growth, not just about giving up something but also about doing something. Sin is a reality but God's forgiveness is alot more powerful. Repentance is a twofold process: turning away from sin and toward grace . This session would concentrate on that there could be no resurrection without the cross. (In this session we did the 14 stations of the cross outdoors and then we had reconciliation, which was awesome).

Then we had Easter (this session gave the teens the opportunity to claim victory over death and sin won for them through the resurrection. It helped the teens understand that Easter is the feast above all feast in the Liturgical Year. Everything we are as Christians hinges on Easter. It also helped the teens experience the power of the Risen Christ through adoration as well as the power of the Holy Spirit.

And then we ended the weekend with Ordinary Time: (this session was to show the teens the splendor in the ordinary. Ordinary time does not mean boring or unimportant. The teens will think of Ordinary Time as an opportunity to strengthen their faith and work on fulfilling their specific vocation. They will come to appreciate the ordinary things and rituals they experience week after week because they will learn the meaning behind them. The ordinary will become mysterious and splendid.

and that pretty much summed up the retreat. I will post pictures of our retreat on my next blog. Hope you all learned something interesting, I know I did !!!! Blessings.