Easter Retreat for Single Young Adults

May 05, 2016

By Claire and Vincent
Friday, after work is, in general terms, famous for its horrendous traffic congestion. It did not, however, stop vibrant and young people from travelling, as far south as Kuala Lumpur and as far north as Perlis, to Domus St Anne, Bukit Mertajam for the Single Young Adult’s Easter Weekend Retreat last April 15-17, organized by Penang Diocesan Network. This retreat gave them the opportunity to experience the most conducive atmosphere for prayer and self-reflection, to find and recognize the voice of God. The participants were accompanied during the faith journey by Rev Fr David Reegon, OFM. Cap.

Retreat is a specific time when the person withdraws from the usual grind of life in order to reconnect with God in prayer. The inward journey began with the ‘Faithbook’ activity when the participants filled in significant data of their life of faith and later swapped booklets to write Easter retreat messages to one another. Some pointers were given on how to enter into prayer which was promptly followed by a moment of prayer. Each one was encouraged to be conscious of being present with the Lord, especially throughout the retreat. Participants shared their observations:

“Each and every time I step into St Anne, it brings me into a state of calmness almost immediately. I’m hoping that Easter Retreat would be able to heal not just my physical fatigue, but also my spiritual tiredness.”

“For a moment, I have forgotten everything else and reconnecting with the Lord was just what I needed.”

The second day was when the participants had the bulk of the sessions with Fr David and also reflected on the call of the prophet Jonah. In the evening, a prayer and healing session was conducted by facilitators of the programme, as well as Fr David. And to cap the day, the participants were sent out in groups to any place within the St Anne’s sanctuary for their “Fireplace walk” session. This gave them more time for deeper group sharing.

Upon completion of the subject of Jonah, the participants found themselves closely relating to Jonah himself. The discussion on the scripture passage on Jonah had, as one of the participants described it:

“After, I finished reading the Book of Jonah, I realized that it wasn’t as easy as I had thought. If I had not attended this retreat, I wouldn’t know nor understand that Jonah was as ordinary as I am, wanted to run away and escape. The Book of Jonah showed us, that all of us, are somewhat like Jonah; our thoughts and actions indicate escaping from our daily or spiritual life. I found new understanding towards the end, that Jonah, in his moment of despair, had no-one else but the Lord alone. That itself awakened me.”

“Died and Resurrected. In dying, we can Rise. Thus, just like Jonah, this has touched me, and through the series of discussions, I am able to relate it to myself and this has made my life clearer.”

Some participants, who were not Catholics, commented that the retreat had opened them up to a whole new journey: RCIA. They now are more interested to know the Lord and his love.

“I am happy that I attended the retreat; thanks for inviting me. It was good and I actually had some time to relax and do some personal thinking of my own faith journey.” “I am glad that I attended this Retreat. It wasn’t just about the spiritual journey, but growing as a person too. I met several new friends and the group sharing discussions opened us up to think about issues we had not thought of.”

“I like the concept of taking away our hand phones though some participants were not used to the silence. I found that the small discussion groups were actually good. We found ourselves on the same page, one way or another. It’s such a healing experience.”