Greetings from the road!

We, Retreat Team 1, have been very blessed in the past few weeks of ministry! By the time you read this, we will have made it as far as Saskatchewan and will be making our way back to Ottawa for Christmas break! Most of the past month of ministry has been spent in Regina and filled with new types of ministry. 

During the month of November, our team had the pleasure of working in partnership with the Archdiocese of Regina to help run the retreats that they already had in place for the students in the Catholic high schools of Regina. It was a little different from what we were used to, but we embraced this change and wholeheartedly took on the challenge. We did retreats with the grade 9s about community and the communion of saints and retreats with the grade 12s about who (not what) they want to become and integrity. It was really nice to do something different and learn all these different activities and talks that went with these new types of retreats. These retreats took us right into Advent.

For our team, something that’s been really speaking to us for this advent season is the idea that Christmas is a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, and so we need to be ready and prepared for it. When we come face to face with Jesus, there is no more hiding. We are seen as we truly are and in our entirety. One of our retreat themes is called “Underlying Truth” and it is about identity and the core truth of Christianity that we are loved right now, as we are, and in our entirety. However, we often don’t believe that core truth and we don’t believe we will be loved when seen in our entirety. So this advent, we want to be strengthened in that truth and be ready to come face-to-face with our Lord and Saviour.

In November, we had an Underlying Truth retreat and one young man in Rachel’s small group said the prayer spoke to exactly what he was struggling with. He said that he felt very seen by God. He said that that day was just what he needed. He became a little emotional during prayer and said that he drew closer to God that day. When Rachel followed up with him afterward, he said that he was very moved by the prayer time and Rachel prayed with him again so that he can come to trust God more and draw even closer to Him. Even at retreats, the youth we meet are coming face-to-face with Jesus and experiencing that “Underlying Truth” and core truth of our faith. What a blessing it is to be able to witness that!

Outside of ministry, we got to go to a Roughriders game (Grey Cup Champions!!) and it was such a fun and novel experience for everyone on the team. We also watched the best movie ever made: The Sound of Music! All this to say, we had a great time these past couple of weeks and we hope you are as well! 

Happy Advent and God Bless,

Retreat Team 1 (Benedict, Serena, Ange, Marie-Anne, Moses, Peter, Rachel, Veronica)