Heading

The first time in Lincoln

During the period of 23rd - 28th February, Stephen Hoyland, a roving spiritual director from the Jesuit Institute, delivered for the first time in Lincoln, with the assistance of two members of the Ignatian prayer guiding team, a week long introduction to Ignatian spirituality and guided prayer, called a ‘retreat in daily life’. The retreat, although initially aimed at students of the University of Lincoln, was opened out to include parishioners of St Hugh’s Church (writes Jo, a parishioner).

‍

Praying each day

Whilst residential and online retreats are available through St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in Wales, this retreat, brought to your doorstep, is an affordable and accessible way for people, who may not otherwise be able to do so, to make a retreat and discover St Ignatius. Overall, seventeen people, a mix of students and non-students, embraced the ‘ubertastic’ opportunity presented. The week involved a commitment to thirty minutes of prayer daily, plus a thirty minutes meeting with a trained prayer guide each day. The meeting could either be online or in person (at St Hugh’s Church or on the university campus). In addition to opening and closing sessions for retreatants, there were two evening talks open to the whole parish, one on prayer, the other on discernment. Both talks were very informative and worth attending, even for those not participating in the retreat.

‍

Discipleship and Community

From discussions at the closing session, feedback was overwhelmingly positive and for several participants, this time of led prayer proved transformative, with opening up new ways of praying, re-establishing commitment to prayer, receiving healing and rediscovering the presence of God in life and the joy that brings, being just a sample of the fruits. Apart from encouraging prayer and discipleship with God, the experience also brought people together, helping create and strengthen fraternity within the parish community and, in particular, facilitated students and non-students coming into contact with one another in a way that rarely happens but was mutually beneficial. In a similar way, as an ecumenical initiative, a parish could invite a nearby church of a different denomination to take part.

‍

A great success

A great success, hopefully this was the first, but not the last, parish-based retreat in Lincoln. A massive thank you to Stephen and colleagues for coming to the city and giving generously of their time, expertise and enthusiasm, as well as to the Catholic Students Chaplain, Helen Townsend, together with Fr Eddy Jarosz, parish priest of St Hugh’s Church, for organising the retreat and making it available to all.

‍

Interested in hosting a week of guided prayer in a parish or university chaplaincy? Contact us >>

‍

Thank you to Jo, a parishioner of St Hugh's, for allowing us to re-use this piece published elsewhere.