FEBRUARY 27 - ARIL 10, 2023
Deepen your relationship with Jesus this Lent by prayerfully considering a number of questions that he asked of others during his public ministry. Commentators say that Jesus asked over 300 questions that were recorded in the gospels. How would you answer him if he asked you some of the same questions? For instance: What do you want of him? Do you realize what he has done for you? Can you drink the cup that he is to drink?
Join with other parishioners by spending time during Lent contemplating selected questions asked by Jesus as if they were asked of you. Then meet once a week to share your prayer experiences with others.
Objective: This Lenten experience is designed to help you deepen your relationship with and commitment to Jesus. You will be asked to imaginatively contemplate selected questions Jesus raises in the gospels and to share the fruits of your prayer with others who will do the same.
The dynamic of the selected questions: The retreat will begin with questions that ask you to consider what you seek from Jesus and the depth of your faith in his willingness to respond; then it will move into a consideration of God’s generosity and your response even in the face of life’s challenges; and it will conclude with your accompanying Jesus in his passion and celebrating with him in his resurrection.
There will be two parts to this retreat. Firstly, you will spend at least 15 minutes each day contemplating the selected gospel texts that are the subject of the retreat and keep a simple prayer journal. Secondly, if you would like to share the fruits of your prayer with others, you can attend an optional faith sharing gathering. We will meet for seven weeks (see details below).
Retreat materials: At the beginning of the retreat, you will receive two handouts. The first will offer suggestions about how to approach your individual prayer during the retreat. The second will briefly summarize how to approach spiritual conversations. Additionally, throughout the retreat, you will receive a copy of the Scripture texts that you will contemplate during that segment of the retreat. We will publish the prayer materials for each week on this webpage. At the conclusion of the retreat, you will be offered ideas about how to follow up on the retreat.
Each optional faith-sharing gathering will be structured as follows:
· Welcome and introductory information
· Opening prayer
· Check in (one or two sentences about how you’re feeling at the time)
· Round 1: Sharing of that week’s prayer experiences
· Pause: Quiet time to reflect on your reaction to Round 1
· Round 2: Sharing any take aways from Round 1
· Pause: Quiet time to reflect on your reaction to Round 2
· Round 3: Sharing of any action you may take following the session
· Wrap up and closing prayer
There will be two gatherings of faith sharing:
For young adults who are 25-40, you will meet on Monday evenings from 7 pm to no later than 8:30 pm in the parish office starting on Monday, February 27 and ending on April 10, Please register here.
For those who are older than 40, you will meet on Tuesday evenings from 7 pm to no later than 8:30pm in the parish office starting on Tuesday, February 28 and ending on April 11. Please register here.
If you're not available to join us in person, we invite you to download from this page and do the retreat on your own.
Please download and read the following two documents before the retreat:
Prayer Material for the First Week of Lent:
Prayer Material for the Second Week of Lent:
Prayer Material for the Third Week of Lent:
Prayer Material for the Fourth Week of Lent:
Prayer Material for the Fifth Week of Lent:
Prayer Material for the Six Week of Lent (Holy Week):
Prayer Material for Easter: