I am so sorry I have not posted anything for the past few days, but I went on a retreat, and they took away all of our phones and electronic devices. It was actually a really good rest from all the technology and just had time to focus on God. The retreat was so much fun and it brought many graces to me!
The program is called Awakening, and many college campuses have it around the United States. Basically, there are a lot of things I cannot talk about because it would ruin the amazing retreat for people who have not attended yet because it is so full of amazing surprises. I usually hate surprises, but the surprises that were encountered in this retreat were phenomenal! There are definitely things that I can talk about though. For example, they divide the whole retreat into families. You have a mom, a dad, and gophers, who basically go for anything you ask them for help with. There were different talks and activities, skits, adoration, praise and worship, and confession. At first, I was a little annoyed that we could only spend time with our 'families' and didn't really get to know anyone else in the retreat but in the end it ended up being really great because I ended up becoming really close to a lot of the members of the group.
Highlights from the retreat include-
- My friend Catherine told me that every time you go to a retreat, you receive a certain grace from God, and that you should specifically ask him for one. Well, at the beginning of the retreat we had adoration and I prayed and asked Jesus for the grace to trust him. A few minutes later, I went to confession. After telling the priest my sins, he thought for a long time and asked me: "What should your penance be? I can't think of the right thing!" I just looked at him, and he was in silence for about 30 seconds. Then, he told me: ok, go back out there in front of the blessed sacrament and pray to Jesus, and tell him that you trust him. I WAS IN SHOCK. I told him what had happened a few minutes earlier and he told me: "Well, God loves filling you with his grace. It's a grace!" I was overwhelmed and so happy, I couldn't believe what had happened.
- On Saturday night, we had affirmation time, where everyone in the 'family' told each other what was great abut one another, and I was really surprised about what people noticed in me that I would never notice otherwise. It definitely boosted my confidence as well.
- My right kidney started hurting Friday night and I was really scared that I would have another kidney stone during the retreat. I prayed so hard to Jesus and ask him to please not let it happen, but that I trusted him. I was in pain for the whole retreat and that made me upset because I could have had a much better time that what I did, but the pain didn't increase so that was amazing. Also, my 'mom' in the group kept asking me if I was alright, and she was very sweet and supportive. Even thought I thought we wouldn't get along at first, it ended up being great.
So overall, I learned that we are all part of the mystical body of Christ, and that you never know how many people out there are praying for you! We should all also pray for others every day because it can have a significant effect in their lives.
If you are a college student, I really encourage you to go on this amazing retreat! You won't regret it! Also, a really cool thing is that once you attend, you can help at any other Awakening retreat in the nation! Pretty great, huh?
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Day 20 of Lent
Wow, Lent is halfway over. I need to step up my game! I am confident the rest of lent will be extremely fruitful though.
- Live for Others Jar- I got my cousin, Ricardo. How weird is that? Out of a 1100 people, I pulled out someone in my own family. He is actually my favorite cousin because he is so sweet and caring. He always remembers about my family and makes sure to keep in touch with us. Today, I could not go to mass because I had a newspaper meeting, but I prayed a rosary for him, and messaged him on facebook telling him how much he means to me.
- 'Good Deed A Day'- Tell someone how much they mean to you. There is a senior in my communications class that is really good at giving speeches. She is so pretty and extremely sweet. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote her a note and told her that she was really good at giving speeches and that she was also very pretty and nice. She found my number somehow and texted me saying that it meant a lot to her. Today, I stopped her and told her that she was amazing and a role-model to me and I think she really appreciated it.
- Positive experience of the day- today we had 4th day, where we meet up after the retreat and look at pictures and share all the positive experiences that happened. It was really fun. I also had a newspaper meeting and Mary, the Business office manager was really nice to me and helped me with a speech that I have to give tomorrow.
- 3 Things I am grateful for:
- Retreats
- Water
- Warm temperature
- Prayer intentions- for my Child Development teacher, whose grandson just miscarried, for the lunch lady who I promised that I would pray for her because her mother is really sick, for my grandmother, that I have the ability to give a good speech tomorrow, for my cousin, and for all the members of crusader awakening6 and 7.
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