Fears and Tears

The past weekend was Pentecost Sunday, where God sends the Holy Spirit down upon the Apostles in the Upper Room, fulfilling the promise spoken by Jesus, that the Advocate will be sent by the Father.

The Holy Spirit shows up in a strong driving wind and in tongues as of fire, and comes upon the Apostles in the Upper Room. It is a beautiful display of God giving us the gifts we need to do His mission on earth.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

A part of this past weekend, I attended a women’s retreat entitled, “The Upper Room,” held at my home parish, which also is my workplace. The inspiration for this retreat came after a parishioner attended a similar retreat elsewhere and wanted to share it with the women of our Parish along with women from other Parishes. I was asked to help in the planning process, which I agreed to, along with a few others from our parish.

The date of the retreat was uncertain as it was put on hold for a year due to the pandemic. Not knowing what God had in store for us for this day, we prayed and waited and planned as much as we could, trusting in Him. Once we were a go, we moved forward in 2021, and began an amazing journey, which took many hands to bring it to fruition. This was a great testimony to how we are the Body of Christ with many gifts to share.

Over sixty beautiful women attended the retreat and it was a time filled with God’s grace. The setting was perfect and we couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful and dynamic retreat leader. The retreat began with Adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, which gave us silent time to sit with Him, to be still, and to quiet our minds in order that we might receive His love. The music ministry was superb and provided lovely music, which carried us into the Upper Room, prompting deep thought and emotions.

The retreat consisted of five talks, each of which felt to be driven by the Holy Spirit. The topics that came up were personal, real and spot on. Gina Bauer, who led this retreat, first had each of us share with our neighbor a word that the Lord had given us about how we felt about the retreat. I turned to my friend and said the word “peace,” which was the word she received from the Lord as well. We smiled, because as women we are connected with each other.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. John 14:27

Over the lunch hour there was time for a nice lunch with socializing, time to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and time to spend in quiet prayer. Our back gardens were also welcoming with all the rain we had received prior in the week. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and everything was green and alive with the feeling of summer.

As we came back together for the afternoon sessions, the music drew us back into the “Upper Room” and it felt truly as if the Angels were singing along. The music moved us toward the Lord and helped us to surrender and open our hearts to His Most Sacred Heart.

I could also feel the Blessed Mother Mary with us throughout the entire day as she covered us with her mantle and gave us her Motherly blessing, a blessing of protection and pure love.

It was an intense, emotional day for me and I feel that I have been drawn closer to God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. I feel that I received the breath of the Holy Spirit, who brings forth life, and the healing that I needed. I am grateful to God for this gift.

I want to offer great thanks to all those who have helped with the retreat: the Priests who heard confessions and prayed for us, the Deacon who did our opening prayer and blessing, the Knights who provided the prayer teams to pray for us and to have our lunch ready, the music ministry who shared their beautiful and inspiring music, the church staff and volunteers who did so much behind the scenes, and our retreat leader, Gina Bauer, who led us in this wonderful day. Most of all, I would like to thank Almighty God, who in His perfect love saw fit to draw us women together, touch our hearts, heal us and allow each of us to grow closer to Him. Come Holy Spirit, come!

“The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being achieved in its fullness, the hour in which women acquires in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid mankind in not falling.” Pope St. John Paul II Mulieris Dignitatem