“Be holy as I am holy” – 1 Peter 1:16

We came from the north, south, east, west and central. On the first weekend in Lent (Feb 23-25) the Trinity Prayer Group from the St Philip & St James parish of Chaguanas, led by Sr Daisy Best organised a successful retreat at the Charismatic Renewal Centre in Caroni.

Our retreat leader was Janet Chinnia, servant par excellence of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In her inimitable manner, she first presented a Word (1 Peter 1:13-16) to us from which we drew strength and inspiration for the weekend. The theme was Call to Holiness.

We shared other words from the Gospels, the Psalms and Leviticus. During the three days, we shared our failures and triumphs with each other. Our own life situations confirmed and encouraged each one of us in this journey of holiness to which we are called. We prayed and blessed each other, shared and drew experiences from deep within us, laughed and cried.

Warnings of oppositions to our service in the Lord woke us up to the wiles and dealings of those who would want to “put a spoke in our wheels” as it were. However, we are to be rooted in Jesus remembering that a “prophet is not without honour except in his own country.” A couple hours in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament gave us time for healing, loving, comfort and resting in the Lord.

On Sunday, Fr Joyeau celebrated Holy Mass. He reminded us to be cheerful and happy in our ministry. Many problems may arise but we must overcome those with the grace of God. He acknowledged that we would sometimes run into negatives but in time with prayer and God-given actions all can be overcome.

We share with our readers the words of a song we learnt over the weekend which we made our anthem:
Holiness, Holiness is what I long for,
Holiness is what I need,
Holiness, Holiness is what You want from me.
Take my life and transform it,
Take my mind and inform it,
Take my heart and mould it,
To yours, to Yours, O Lord.
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord.

Finally, we thank the Centre’s team of Germaine, Joanne and Selwyn for making us feel at home away from home.

In the end we know we have been empowered to strengthen our Faith by making it more Holy … and so we continue to journey to more Holiness.