. Retreat and Workshop for the Parish and Prayer Leaders of the Prefecture Apostolic.

Retreat and Workshop for the Parish and Prayer Leaders of the Prefecture Apostolic.  Theme: New Evangelization in the Year of Faith.

This activity is considered the most important yearly event in the Prefecture Apostolic of the Marshall Islands.  Indeed, we are very grateful to Deacon David and Arceli Suley for helping us as Resource Leaders.  They have moved our heart, mind and spirit as they challenged, motivated and inspired us to be resourceful and creative evangelizers in this year of faith. They have taught us to appreciate and love our life stories. These are the important and precious fooprints of God in our journey of gaith. They introduced us to the beautiful "lectio divina" in order to enrich our lives spiritually by reminding us that there is POWER in the word of God.  They also introduced the exercise of prayer basket.  Every participant is requested to write on a small piece of paper a prayer request and then, this is placed on a basket.  When all have submitted, every one is requested tp pick-up a prayer request and offer a prayer during the day for this intention of someone else.  Then before the Holy Mass in the evening,  these prayer requests are collected to form part of the offering to the altar.

Through various exercises, they centered our retreat and workshop on the great significance of a CUP. Our life or personhood is like a cup. It contains many things, both good and bad elements. We need to know the things that cause and lead us to sinful ways; to worries and pain, to anxiety and heartaches, and to anger and envy. We were taught and encouraged to empty these spiritual garbage from our cup in order for our loving God to fill our cup of life to the fullest with his grace of loving kindness and inexhaustible compassion. And today, we earnestly beseech the Holy Spirit to come down on our prayer leaders and empower them with the fire of his love. As Scripture says: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  (Acts 1:8).