Upcoming Retreats

I believe retreats are like “honeymoons” or holidays with Jesus. True, He is with us every moment of the day always, but at retreats it’s like we’ve taken time out from everything else, only to focus on Him and spend time building our relationship with Him, just as we’d perhaps do with our spouse / family.

Upcoming Retreats in Mumbai, India:

Couples Retreat coming up from 22nd to 25th October 2009 at the St. Pius X Goregaon Seminary. This could also be attended by those couples who would like to make their marriages better.

Emmaus Encounter Retreat from 12th November (9 a.m.) to 15th November 2009 (4 p.m.) at Vinayalaya and the charges for this Retreat are Rs.650/-.

The Emmaus Retreat is an “Initiation” retreat - which simply means it’s for beginners who haven’t done any other retreat. I strongly urge all those of you who have “always meant to go”, have been “thinking about it”, “feel like it but don’t have the time” etc etc - to make a FIRM resolution to make one of these retreats (or one in a place near you).

These are testimonies of some who attended the Emmaus retreat early this month.

This is my first Emmaus Retreat. Being in the Renewal, a sense of righteousness had crept in. The talks on the various aspects of sin and the 10 commandments shocked me. It opened my eyes to what a big sinner I was, probably the biggest in the Retreat. In spite of that, I had a tremendous experience of Gods perfect love. In fact when were shown the movie Pamelas Prayer, I could not stop my tears as the father in the movie reminded me of my ABBA FATHER and HIS Perfect and Endless Love for me. (Oswin)

In this Retreat the Lord helped me to deal with areas that I was struggling with and that is anger, pride and self-centredness. Specially during the Inner Healing session, I could ask forgiveness from my dad whom I had hurt and did not get a chance to say sorry since he is no more. The guilt always remained in me. But after the session, I felt at peace since I sensed the Lord guiding me to ask forgiveness. (Carol)

During the Infilling of the Holy Spirit, I could see the Lord Almightys face smiling at me and looking at me with complete love, asking me to surrender my life to Him. He would be in charge of my life and I could experience the love of God flowing in me just as a mother taking care of her baby, wanting to hug and kiss me. I was filled with a deep sense of joy and peace that no human could ever give me. I praise the Lord for all that He has given me and I thank God for His beautiful presence in my life. Alleluia, Praise the Lord, thank You Jesus. (Anitha)

On the day of the Reconciliation and Inner Healing, I felt my heavy burden was carried by Jesus and then felt very light. Then at the time of surrender, I surrendered my chronic habits of alcohol and smoking. (Freddy)

I deeply felt the love of Jesus for me. I realized why all my prayers to the Lord were not answered; yet again I understood why I should not discontinue praying. I also learnt how to praise God and pray to Him more meaningfully. After the Inner Healing session, I felt tremendous lightness and relief from within. The talks by the various preachers made a great impact on me. (Harold)

I had come to the Retreat with a troubled mind and heart. Illness had prevented me from going back to work for several months, but now after the Inner Healing and Infilling of the Holy Spirit, I feel very relaxed and peaceful. (Noel)

From the four retreats that I have attended, this one was the best because of the Inner Healing, and Infilling sessions. I was able to forgive everyone and I cried out to God. I felt very light and can already experience the change in me. (Keith)

When I came for the Retreat I was having a terrible toothache, eye pain and headache. But during the Infilling session, it was an amazing experience. Each and every second was cherishing. I was feeling like I was in another world. It made me feel so light and I had forgotten all my pain and at that very moment the Lord took away all my pain. When God is for us, who can be against us? (Savio)

July 2009

Daily Intercessions through the Word of God – July 2009
Sanctuary Intercessors – India Branch of FBB
International Catholic Charismatic Missionary Intercessors of the Fellowship of the Burning Bush (FBB)
The ‘Intercession Diary’ has the approval and blessings of the Bishops’ Team of the Archdiocese and contains intentions of our Cardinal and the Bishops
(Join us in agreement to intercede each day according to the Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit how to pray to actualize God’s promises in each situation)

Day/Date Interceding According to the Mind of Christ

Wed
1/7/2009

Gen 1:2-3 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light
This month we focus our prayer for the Church in the world, especially our sisters and brothers persecuted for their faith. Today, we pray for Christians in Pakistan who face severe opposition from militant Islamic groups, including imprisonment, torture and even death. Many Pakistani Christians have been falsely accused of blaspheming the prophet Mohammed or the Quran, a crime punishable by death. Christians are regularly barred from jobs or face troubles from their employers and co-workers. Christian merchants are often harassed. Pakistani Christians are seen as being a part of an attack on Islam because of the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan. We lift up these situations. May God grant to those imprisoned for their faith, the grace to know His presence and faith to preserve in the midst of their sufferings. We pray for protection for Christians facing intimidation.. We also pray that the Spirit of God would transform the chaos and darkness to a thirst for the living God through the light of the Gospel.

Read more

For the martyrs..

This month you may be surprised with the monthly intercessory diary (well, as many of you know better than me, our Lord IS a God of surprises). Over the past many months we have prayed for our needs, our city, our country.

This time we were led to pray for our persecuted sisters and brothers, beyond our borders. We sensed, that while we were truly blessed (pampered in fact, with a strong, stable and SECULAR government at the centre), we should, rather than be complacent (and selfish), pray for our Christian brethren suffering for their faith in our neighbourhood – Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, etc.

You can imagine our surprise, AND DELIGHT, when we noted that our Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of July reads “That Christians in the Middle East may live their faith in complete freedom and become instruments of reconciliation and peace.” Wow! What a God of surprises and confirmation we have.

“The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church”, wrote second century Church Father, Tertullian. We experienced it first-hand last August when the persecution of our sisters and brothers began in Orissa. And so, we pray this month to the Loving Father, in and through Jesus Christ “the first born within a large family” (Rom 8:29), to pray for the ‘members of own body’ for “as one suffers, all suffer” (1 Cor 12:26).

This month, as we pray together in ‘one accord’,
- we raise our hands and pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters,
- we raise our hearts, seeking mercy for the perpetrators of hatred and violence, especially against the harmless and helpless, and those missionaries doing good, and
- we raise our voices in victory, knowing that He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or imagine” (Ep 3:20)

We pray that Christians be filled with grace and strength from the Lord in their persecution and that “the Church be the seed and soil of a humanity reconciled to be God’s one true family on earth” (Pope Benedict XVI’s Missionary Intention for July).

We continue to pray this month for our country and city – our leaders, authorities and “all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim 2:2).

As we continue in prayer for our Indian persecuted Church, through the intercession of St Thomas whose feast we celebrate this month, we especially lift up Faith Formation effort in our Archdiocese and our country and as he is the Apostle of India, we also pray through his intercession for the Anti-conversion Bill(s) of the various states.

Let me conclude with what I recently heard in a news clipping - that the government is planning to block all anti-Conversion bills from the states. Indeed, our God is an awesome God. [We thank and praise you in advance, dear God.]