Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Rest and Restoration for Balikatan retreat
On the morning of Saturday, October 23rd Balikatan members from our ministry in Montalban, came to our house where we hosted them for a weekend retreat, the theme being, “Rest and Restoration” focused on Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd.
The first day began with a time of praise and worship followed by the introduction of the theme of the retreat and getting the retreatants to identify where they were at in their fa
ith journey. The day’s second session touched on the topic of the Lord being their shepherd and elucidating the different qualities of sheep that the participants could identify with themselves. This was followed by a short time of ministry through song and music, a time where many experienced the Lord’s comfort as community members prayed with them. Later that evening, a time of Eucharistic adoration enabled some more to encounter the closeness of the Lord through His Eucharistic presence.
The second day, Sunday, Oct 24th, once again began with a time of Praise and Worship 
followed by the final teaching on what it meant to be the Lord's true disciples viz. the vices that one needed to leave behind and the virtues one needed to imbibe and mature in, so as to build one’s community. Each of the sessions had a time for sharing and reflection among their different groups.
There was also a time of sharing their entire experience. An opportunity to reconcile with God was made available by offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist culminated the two-day retreat during which each of them wrote down concrete steps they would take in building their community.
Finally, before their long 
drive of more than a 100 kms, back home, a short sight-seeing trip of Tagaytay was coordinated so that the retreatants could have a view of the famous Taal volcano considered to be the smallest active volcano in the world.
All in all, it was a time of blessing as the Lord met each participant and refreshed them through His grace and presence
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