Lenten recollection day
On 23rd March, the second Saturday of Lent, fifteen youth groupers gathered at St. John's, Dun Laoghaire, to attend a Lenten recollection preached by Fr. Griego. During Mass, Father reminded us of the importance of profiting from the time of Lent to reflect and spoke of the benefits of silence during the recollection in helping this.
After a silent lunch, in keeping with the spirit of the mini retreat, Father's first conference reminded us that Lent being a time of conversion. It is during this time that we must develop a spirit of compunction for our sins and those of others, especially through confession and penance in reparation. Our conversion can be due to the prayers of others, hence the importance of apostolate within the setting of the young adults group. After this, we had the opportunity to avail of confession and spend some time in silent recollection.
Father's second conference presented the two standards that St. Ignatius of Loyola preaches of in his Spiritual Exercises and how to mediate on them. Father helped us consider the two camps, that of Christ, and that of Lucifer, with his skills in acting coming in to play in such a way that we will never forget how easily one can be led astray into the opposing camp. Certain people in the audience were even brought to tears of laugher! Father closed by recalling the fact that we must choose to give all or nothing to God and that we should trust Him and ask for the grace of being received under His banner.
The recollection concluded with a meditation on the two standards, followed by Benediction and Rosary. On behalf of the members of Comhaltas Chríost Rí, I'd like to thank Fr. Griego for facilitating this mini-retreat for us.
Summary by Therese McKeown.