The Mediterranean Province sponsors a retreat “at home”

Last May, the Mediterranean Province began to realise that it would be impossible for the projects planned for this summer to go ahead as in other years. One example was the retreats that, for brothers, or for brothers and laity, are usually held in July and August. Reflection began about whether an alternative might be possible so that we could still have a few days specially devoted to silence, prayer and the encounter with the God of Life despite the covid-19 pandemic. And so was forged the initiative to offer a retreat “at home”, taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the new communication platforms.

First contact was made through the email and social networks for laity and brothers of our Mediterranean Province. The invitation was made to: “to read with the eyes of faith the reality in which we are immersed, to listen to the voice of God deep down, and to develop an attitude of intuitive discernment in response to the challenges that we face as Marists of Champagnat”.  50 people signed up for the retreat held on July 10, 11 and 12.

Participants began the day with a half an hour input, animated by a different person each day and broadcast live via MS Teams. Later, a reading and support document was distributed by email and by WhatsApp. These were to nurture a personal time of silence and prayer that each person had to manage according to their life context. The themes for each day were: The Power of Hope, The Sign of Empty Churches and A Plan to Rise Again (from Pope Francis).

In the afternoon, opportunity was given for a time of small group sharing, organized using different Teams’ “rooms”. Then, at the end of the day, we shared a time of community prayer that different lay people animated from their own homes, with the possibility of participating through the Teams “chat”.

At the end of the experience, all the participants had the opportunity to make a simple evaluation of the “at home” retreat. Here are some of the aspects they valued:

“I would like to highlight the quality of the online moments, the effort and work of the people who have prepared it. I think that despite the difficulty of doing this, the result has been great. It has allowed me to pray, reflect, share with my group (exceptional, by the way). Thank you so much. The chosen texts, marvellous and the presentations of each day not only put you in tune, but also opened horizons to go further.”

“All three of the morning presentations seemed to me to hit the right note: very rich, juicy, there was something to draw from and moments to reflect on later. The afternoon group work has been very good. The texts helped a lot, as well as the final questions, they made you dig within. Having  6 participants in a group was a success, it gave us time to speak calmly and to be able to listen. I also very much liked the evening prayers, being able to share and the reflection helped to close the day as well as link to the next day.”

“The structure that was suggested is ideal so that each one can decide their personal rhythm of retreat at home. The moments of sharing, from my experience, have been very enriching. The timing, at the end of the academic year, has given a perfect opportunity to ensure we don’t miss the moments of reflection on what has been lived. Despite the confinement, they have been months of hard work, a lot to do and little reflection. THANK YOU.

“Managing to carry out the proposal is, in itself, an aspect worth underlining. There were enough reasons to “bypass” but you took up the task of making the project work. It is a way of generating synergies at the level of the entire Province. The quality of each of the moments. Care, prepared with care, with depth … The sense of REALITY, putting the focus on the experiential. The benefit of each moment through the videos sent gives an added value to the experience, which can be taken up again. ”