The retreat took place from November 12 to 14 and counted on more than 100 participants and servants. The program of the retreat was filled with moments of praise and worship, fraternal meetings, talks, sharing in groups, adoration to the blessed sacrament, missionaries of Shalom praying over the participants, mass, confession, workshops, meals in community, games and dance.
The name of the retreat was Fully Alive based on the phrase of a famous saint who once said “The glory of God is man fully alive, but the life of man is the vision of God.”
Vanessa Emile, a member of the Shalom Prayer Groups in New York shares:
“This past two years has been a rough one for me. During the pandemic, I felt alone and was wondering why for many of the events of the year. My yearning to be close to God, led me to Shalom. This past weekend, during Fully Alive, my learning and love of God was fully alive! To attend different courses helped me to deeply think about why people suffer and how to love and live through the suffering. I was reminded of Christ’s suffering for the world. This topic was so meaningful to me as I felt a huge suffering and loss in my life. Shalom’s retreats also give me time to connect with people in conversation. I am grateful for the stories I heard and the encouragement I received, most especially from Barbara. I have so much gratitude to the Lord for placing me in places and among people that brings me closer to Him.”
It has been over 6 years that the missionaries of Shalom have been present in Boston and over 1 year the missionaries have been in New York. In order to “gather strength” and give more quality to the spiritual retreat the missionaries decided to organize the weekend retreat together.
Jacky Ha, a member of the Shalom prayer groups in Boston shares:
“I had doubts, fear and didn’t know what to expect before attending Fully Alive. The Shalom Community welcomed me with open hands and invited me to this amazing event. Fully Alive was a transformational experience full of love, dancing, praise, worship, and it was a great opportunity to deepen the relationship with God and the community.”
People from different ages and cities around the US have gathered to deepen their experience with the love of God. Among these there were people from over 20 countries. Most of the participants were catholic, but there were also people from different religions or who professed no religion who were participating in the retreat.
Marcos Rashid, a member of Shalom from Egypt concludes, thanking the Lord for all He has provided on his way back to faith:
“I was lost and god found me, I was in the dark and god gave me the light I was depressed and god cheer me up to a full of happiness he found me he changed me to a better person I thank him everyday and is not enough he flamed me with his Holy Spirit inside my heart he gave me a beautiful life and beautiful girl in my life and awesome church family.”
To know more about Shalom Catholic Community reach us at newyork03@comshalom.org
Instagram: @shalomnewyork
@shalom.boston