Retreat At Stella Maris, Penang

          I attented the Parish Leaders Retreat organized by my parish - Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Ipoh for all leaders of the various ministries in the church. About 70 of us attended. I accompanied my BEC leader Lourdes for this retreat which was conducted by Dr. Steven Selvaraju (who has a doctrate in Theology) from the 19th to the 20th of April 2013 at Stella Maris (which means 'Star of The Sea' in Latin.  Our Blessed Mother is also known as Our Lady, Star of The Sea) in Penang, located just by the seaside in Tanjong Tokong . This retreat was focused on the theme: Discipleship Through Deepening & Sharing Our Faith with the objective: To Enter The Door Of Faith. On the first day we had 4 sessions, each  followed by sharing from a few members. The second day we went for a pilgrimage to The Assumption Church and Rev. Fr. Dominic Santhiyagu celebrated mass together with my Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Francis Andrew. We also visited The Little Sisters of the Poor. 

        
 I experienced the joy of sharing my views will my fellow parisheners. We shared our feeling and thoughts about Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Mother Mary. This retreat really opened our minds and heart, taught us about leadership and helped us to have a deeper understanding of our faith. Praise The Lord! Well, I really enjoyed myself, the retreat and the beach....... I walked along the beach in the evening picking sea shells on the seashore and the next morning we walked along the beach around 5.50am and when the clock struck 6.00 we said 'The Angelus'! We had to go to the beach quite early as our session started at 7.00 am.

 

           I am sure that this retreat would have refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated all of the participants. Praise The Lord!