Retreat in preparation for confirmation

Twelve candidates, aged 12 and 13 years-old, all Hebrew speakers of Filipino origin, will receive the sacrament of confirmation this year and they participated in a retreat that took place on May 10th and 11th, 2019.

Four young women and eight young men gathered in the Guardian Angel House in Jerusalem on Friday. After a short prayer, Father David, the animator of the retreat and the teacher preparing them for confirmation, explained the goals of the retreat. This would be a time when each one of the young people could go to confession and, together, they could make a pilgrimage to the Holy Places to ask for the grace to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

On Friday, all the youth participated in the sacrament of reconciliation. In the evening, after dinner, they watched a thought-provoking film that facilitated a good discussion. The next day, and unlike the usual Saturday custom at home, they awoke early in the morning and prepared to go out. In an atmosphere of calm, they marched towards the Old City. As they entered the city, Father David asked that they continue in silence on their way to the Church of the Resurrection, asking for forgiveness and giving thanks for the graces already received. Reaching their destination, they spent time in prayer in a series of important places: the Stone of Unction, the place of the crucifixion on Golgotha, the tomb of Adam the first man, the crypt of the founding of the True Cross, the altar of Dismas the penitent thief, the altar of Longinus the confessing centurion, the altar of Mary Magdalen, the first witness and apostle of Christ and, finally, near to the empty tomb of Christ. At each place, there was time for silent prayer and together, they recited the prayer of Our Father.

After a short break in the courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection, during which there was a time of questions and answers regarding the Church, the youth continued in silence and prayer to Mount Zion. There again they prayed in silence and recited together the Our Father in the Cenacle, where Jesus had presided over the Last Supper and alongside the room in which the Holy Spirit had descended upon the apostles on Pentecost. Afterwards, they entered the Church of the Dormition, where the Blessed Virgin Mary had fallen asleep at the end of her earthly life and had been assumed into heaven. There too the youth prayed and asked her intercession.

Returning to the Guardian Angel House, there was time to laugh and enjoy the Jerusalem panoramas along the way. There was also time for games in Liberty Bell Park. In Guardian Angel House, Barbara, the director of the house, and Renza prepared lunch. After the meal, everyone thanked the team of the Guardian Angel House for the wonderful hospitality.

At the end of the retreat, the youth made their way to the house of the Jesuits where mass was celebrated. During the eucharist, the youth thanked God for the retreat and asked to be strengthened more and more as they prepare to receive the Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way.