Leaders discuss ‘The Four Signs’

The Evangelization Commission in collaboration with the Catholic Youth Commission held a Leaders’ retreat on February 15 – 16 at Mount St Benedict Retreat House on Matthew Kelly’s book, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic.

It was a weekend of praise and worship, communication, discussions and personal development.

Fr Mikkel Trestrail did the presentation on ‘Prayer and Study’. He said prayer required dedication and commitment.

Br Matthew Hall of the Companions of the Transfigured Christ enlightened us with his presentation on ‘Gratitude’—it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Dr Peter Timothy of the Evangelization Commission spoke about evangelisation and the passion needed to share the Good News.

We thank Fr Trestrail and Br Hall for giving of their time in assisting with this retreat.

Some participants offered their feedback:

“This retreat encouraged me to read the book in two days. I gained knowledge of having fixed times of prayer, studying the Word, its meaning in my life, almsgiving, talking about Jesus and the miracles He has done. It has broadened my horizons on life.  I’m now able to spend dedicated time and focus on Jesus and the beauty of things and people around me, interacting with my inner-self and in turn yielding positive results. More of these seminars are recommended to enhance and boost Catholic knowledge.”

—Our Lady of Guadalupe

“This retreat provided a great lead up to the start of Lent with respect to refocusing and reorienting us as participants. It was stimulating, thought-provoking and had the effect of shaking us from the ‘I know this’ mode to ‘I can do this’ and finally, ‘I MUST do this’, from head… to heart….to action!

Presenters engaged us through practical, down-to-earth explorations of the theme.

We heard how to build closer relationships with God through prayer, and study not only sacred and spiritual documents but also through study of the creative handiwork of God and the signs of the times.

To value adopting an attitude of gratitude that will automatically give rise to spirituality of generosity and will result in a burning desire to evangelise and share the Good News with others, as we live out our call to be missionary disciples.”

—St Dominic’s

“A wonderful, spiritual, stimulating and fulfilling weekend. With Fr Mikkel’s workshop on prayer and study, I appreciated the value of silence as a fundamental aspect for listening and hearing God. We were exposed to the various prayer pathways shaped by our personalities.

This retreat has encouraged me to persevere in prayer and have more communication with God. The same tension that exists in relationships would also happen in our prayer life and that through prayer I can better know and understand myself and become the best version of me. The session on gratitude touched me. I saw how gratitude conquers the negative and is linked to stewardship; it unlocks the fullness of life and changes what we have into enough and more.”

—Holy Cross

“It was an enjoyable weekend. The youths were present which will ensure continuity for generations to come.  I learned prayer can be different for the person who is praying. We must listen to God.  Study does not only mean reading from the Bible, but also reading from the ‘Book of Creation’. God has given us a beautiful world; we must appreciate and be thankful. Which brings me to generosity, it is the first step of thankfulness. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of Life.  Evangelisation can be as simple as greeting a brother or sister.  Evangelisation can happen through demonstration.  I will endeavour to be involved in engaging the next one per cent of Catholics.”

—St Philip and St James

For further information contact:
Evangelization Commission: 671-0133/671-4177;
Email: evangelization@catholictt.org;
FB: evangelization commission