Hi I am Reshma Monachan. I live in a small city called Belfast in Northern Ireland. I just want to share my experience when I attended the Christeen retreat which was held on 14th, 15th and 16th August 2015 in St Louise School, Belfast, UK. This year we got the privilege to have the Christeen retreat team members here in Belfast and I have to say that I had such a remarkable experience. We had Rev Frs. Anoop Joseph Mundackal CSsR, and George Puthuparambil, Marykutty teacher and a wonderful friend from Austria, Elisabeth.
Our talks were mainly focused on Confession and how important it is to confess our sins to God, to respect our parents and be obedient to them, as the words of parents are the same words spoken by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We were also taught about two spirits – the spirit of the world which contains jealousy, anger etc. and the spirit of the Lord which contains love, patience and self-control. What I enjoyed learning the most is the five finger prayer which Fr Anoop taught us. We also had the inner healing session for every teenager who had fear and anxiety. Eucharistic Adoration was the most powerful healing time. It was a profound experience between Jesus and me, even though there were around 200 other youth in that retreat hall.
The video of Maria Goretti shown to us by Fr. Anoop was really a great eye opener for me. St Maria Goretti touched me the most as she is one of my favourite saints now. Her life taught us that it’s better to die than commit a sin. She teaches us the lesson of purity. Besides these we also had action songs which helped us to relax and enjoy in between.
This retreat was a unique experience and I thank God for changing and enriching my life spiritually. It helped me to grow more in Faith and to have a good personal relationship with God.
Reshma Monachan
Comments are closed.