As Lent is about to start, we are all thinking of ways we can live this liturgical season well by being generous with our prayers and sacrifices. Another great way to live Lent is by helping our friends get closer to God, and what better way to do this than by inviting them to a retreat?
A retreat allows you to engage in quiet reflection on your relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity to ponder what is going well and what is not going so well in your life. You will come away from your retreat with resolutions that will bring new light to your everyday life. Attending a retreat can be a life changing experience, as you can see from the following testimonial.
“I got to learn about the retreats from my beautiful girlfriend. We were going through a bit of a tough time when unknown to me, her mentor convinced her to attend a retreat for young ladies in Tigoni. That weekend, she didn’t answer any of my calls. When we met the following week, it was clear to me there was something different about her… something peaceful! And I wanted it! She told me about the retreat and what it is and why it is she was unable to answer my calls. I decided to find out when the next retreat for young men would be and signed up. It would be in June. And when June came around, I was in Tigoni for the first retreat of my life.
It’s very hard to explain what my experience was like. Tigoni is first of all a very beautiful compound! Trees! Flowers! Green grass! Beautiful sunshine and gentle breezes! At night it gets pretty chilly. But the food served at all meals leaves any young and perpetually hungry man like me, with a warm, fuzzy feeling in the belly. That food was excellent!
Then there were the talks facilitated by the priest in the Chapel or in the main house by one of the directors. I have to admit this is where a notebook came in handy! The number of ideas and ideals I discovered sitting through those sessions was certainly enough to fill my notebook – especially for a first timer such as myself. My biggest discoveries were most certainly the talk on the virtue of holy purity and on the Sacrament of Confession. The other great thing from that retreat was making friends with my mentor who even today – 4 years later – I still meet with regularly.
Needless to say retreats are now an annual fixture in my calendar! And it is easier nowadays since I discovered some two good friends from my parish who also attend retreats in Tigoni. So now we usually organise to attend a retreat together.” (the original story was published here).