I had a wonderful experience this weekend at the Shalom Retreat last
weekend in Philadelphia and would like to share a couple thoughts.
The Conference: The Shalom Conference was organized for activists in Shalom
USA. It was probably just me and Julice who did not belong to Shalom in one
way or another. The rest were Catholics (Syro-Malabar & Malankara) who came
together from different regions of US, Canada and Mexico. It was basically
a leadership conference to equip and prepare their volunteers for Shalom's
mission in US. They have already established Shalom Times (bi-weekly
newspaper), a magazine and are planning to start an English spiritual
channel. It was amazing to see people willing to spent all their time for
the ministry. Many laymen even left their jobs for the ministry. Such a
blessing they got!
Praise and Worship: The conference was set up in a Charismatic way. I think
majority of our people thinks that Charismatism is wrong or not good, but
I'm not sure what the Church's official word on it is. I have heard that
Sukhada Retreat Center in Kandanad led by Dr. Mar Athanasius thirumeni is
Charismatic in all means, and Julice has been there more than once for
retreats. One of the claims I heard often was that their songs, music etc
raise people in to an emotional level where they start crying or laughing,
and that does not carry on to real life. But I know times when I became
emotional during the Holy Qurbana and I can't say that it was just an
emotional uprising! This could be clarified from an Achen. I would also
like to add that I enjoyed the times when I was by myself in silence,
reciting the Jesus Prayer.
Prayers: Each day started with the Holy Qurbana, and towards the evening,
there was Adoration, and later, Rosary. They managed to include all these
in the tight schedule, and still finished by 9PM. The day started at 6.30AM
and included three 1 hr breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They
managed not to skip these features of the Catholic Church for time
constraints or so, and still finished all the classes.
Dedication: One sure fact that I have seen in majority of the people there
was their dedication to the ministry. It is unbelievable how this ministry
came through during the past years, and during the meeting, they did not
mention big donations, did not pass sign up sheets, didn't even seem
bothered about money! They seemed to spent more time in prayers and in
trusting in God and His help instead of finding resources themselves.
What I think we should change: I think our biggest challenge is in prayer.
Instead of praying and asking guidance in many things, we often use our
brains to plan. There were times when I prepared speeches truly from the
heart after prayers, and completely from brain! The case is similar in many
other occasions in our lives and ministries. We all should spent more time
in honest prayers to have more and more people rise. We shall not stay
sleeping anymore. It is indeed time to work for the Kingdom of God and to
bring the Good News to each and every human being, before the demon of
Secularism swallows the rest of the world. We should start giving Christ to
the people first and then worry about the secondary options of community
life etc.
We are indeed soldiers CALLED to fight for His Kingdom.
weekend in Philadelphia and would like to share a couple thoughts.
The Conference: The Shalom Conference was organized for activists in Shalom
USA. It was probably just me and Julice who did not belong to Shalom in one
way or another. The rest were Catholics (Syro-Malabar & Malankara) who came
together from different regions of US, Canada and Mexico. It was basically
a leadership conference to equip and prepare their volunteers for Shalom's
mission in US. They have already established Shalom Times (bi-weekly
newspaper), a magazine and are planning to start an English spiritual
channel. It was amazing to see people willing to spent all their time for
the ministry. Many laymen even left their jobs for the ministry. Such a
blessing they got!
Praise and Worship: The conference was set up in a Charismatic way. I think
majority of our people thinks that Charismatism is wrong or not good, but
I'm not sure what the Church's official word on it is. I have heard that
Sukhada Retreat Center in Kandanad led by Dr. Mar Athanasius thirumeni is
Charismatic in all means, and Julice has been there more than once for
retreats. One of the claims I heard often was that their songs, music etc
raise people in to an emotional level where they start crying or laughing,
and that does not carry on to real life. But I know times when I became
emotional during the Holy Qurbana and I can't say that it was just an
emotional uprising! This could be clarified from an Achen. I would also
like to add that I enjoyed the times when I was by myself in silence,
reciting the Jesus Prayer.
Prayers: Each day started with the Holy Qurbana, and towards the evening,
there was Adoration, and later, Rosary. They managed to include all these
in the tight schedule, and still finished by 9PM. The day started at 6.30AM
and included three 1 hr breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They
managed not to skip these features of the Catholic Church for time
constraints or so, and still finished all the classes.
Dedication: One sure fact that I have seen in majority of the people there
was their dedication to the ministry. It is unbelievable how this ministry
came through during the past years, and during the meeting, they did not
mention big donations, did not pass sign up sheets, didn't even seem
bothered about money! They seemed to spent more time in prayers and in
trusting in God and His help instead of finding resources themselves.
What I think we should change: I think our biggest challenge is in prayer.
Instead of praying and asking guidance in many things, we often use our
brains to plan. There were times when I prepared speeches truly from the
heart after prayers, and completely from brain! The case is similar in many
other occasions in our lives and ministries. We all should spent more time
in honest prayers to have more and more people rise. We shall not stay
sleeping anymore. It is indeed time to work for the Kingdom of God and to
bring the Good News to each and every human being, before the demon of
Secularism swallows the rest of the world. We should start giving Christ to
the people first and then worry about the secondary options of community
life etc.
We are indeed soldiers CALLED to fight for His Kingdom.
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