The first Gifted and Blessed Province retreat – 4 more to come
Photos, thanks to Kimi and Peter Hendriks
A beautiful sunny, pleasantly warm week at the Holy Name Retreat Centre, Anglican Sisters, at Cheltenham, in the middle of Melbourne suburbia, but beautiful parklike grounds for silence, reflection and walking. (The top temperature for Monday, the day after our retreat, is predicted as 41!)
Chris Chaplin led the directing and facilitating team, Krish Mathavan and Peter Hendriks, fine reflections and questions, time for ever-deepening group sharing, time and space for each of us and a quietly moving Eucharist each afternoon.
A wonderful opportunity for a communal MSC retreat, remembering the graces of our lives and moving with hope to the future, our Heart Spirituality and our self-giving in mission.
Krish
Peter
There were 16 of us, Ted McCormack at 91 the senior, Khoi Nguyen at 38 the youngest, 53 years between them. Then we were four in our 80s, 3 in our 70s, 3 in our 60s, 4 in our 40s. (Age checking if you wish from the group photo, though Peter Huan was missing for the photo.) Peter brought his Vietnamese heritage (and longtime NT experience) as did Khoi and, from Vietnam, Danh (who spent 2020 on the Tiwi Islands and 2021 in the Siloam Spiritual Direction program at Heart of Life).
We wish all well for the forthcoming retreats, starting at Kensington on Wednesday 18th, that they will be Gifted and Blessed.
