Members attended an all-day retreat at Providence Renewal Centre, a peaceful environment where people are invited to come and “nourish their soul”. Providence Centre, in the central and west wing of the facility, is home to four of our Ursuline Sisters- Hazel and Pilar, both involved in several ministries, and Marjorie and Connie, who are cared for in the infirmary.
This was an annual retreat for Edmonton Charism Friends. Each year, close to the Solemnity of the Incarnation, we take precious time to slow down and dig even deeper into how we can live the miracle of the Incarnation.
This year, Lucie Leduc lead us through a scholarly, deeply moving, examination of the Beatitudes, “rooted and grounded in the Word of God and the writings of Louis-Marie. Lucie is the executive director of Star of the North, another wonderful retreat centre in the greater Edmonton area. Lucie did quite a lot of research, reading several books about the Beatitudes, to prepare for our “encounter”. Everyone greatly appreciated the depth of our exploration of each of the Beatitudes. The afternoon included time for individual prayer as we took time to process our deepened understanding of the Beatitudes. We considered their meaning given the original context in which Jesus shared the Beatitudes with the disciples, and what the Beatitudes could mean for us in today’s world. Everyone came away with a renewed understanding of the Beatitudes and hopeful determination to live God’s new covenant as revealed in Jesus, the Word Incarnate.
After enjoying the company of our Friends and invited guests over dinner, we returned to our retreat room to witness the public commitment of three of our members who asked to be welcomed as associates as a further expression of their desire to live the Charism of the Incarnation in daily life. Gerald, Dave and Helen made their commitment supported by the prayers of all their Charism Friends. A candle emblazoned with the words, “The Word was made flesh” and a copy of our Congregation Prayer, were given to them as a reminder of their commitment. A wonderful ending to a spiritually fulfilling day.
(Lorelei Hironaka, Charism Friend)