Tobago Confirmation candidates enjoy Trinidad retreat

“An amazing experience for me!”; “Awesome!”; “I felt a little bit of God’s presence everywhere!”. These are some of the words used by St Joseph’s RC, Scarborough Confirmation candidates to describe their weekend experience.

Twenty-nine young people and seven adults made the trip to Emmaus Retreat Centre, Arima, on the evening of Friday, October 19 for our long-awaited weekend retreat.

The weekend began on Friday night with an interactive session led by Neil Parsanlal, and on Saturday morning bright and early, we headed out to Trinity College East to attend the Catholic Charismatic Youth Rally.

On Sunday morning, we paid a visit to the Cyril Ross Home in Tunapuna, then travelled to Mt St Benedict for what should have been a relaxing visit but then we got an urgent call: “Head to the airport ASAP! Your 4.30 p.m. flight has been cancelled! You are now on an earlier flight!”.

So we hurried back to Emmaus to grab our bags and prayed that we would not be late for our rescheduled flight! Thanks be to God, for helping us to make it safely back to Tobago, and also for keeping us safe and dry during our entire stay in Trinidad.

Here are a few more comments from the candidates:
“The Friday night session was great and it was also eye-opening.”—Jeniah

“God spoke to me through the young man’s (John Michael) testimony and also through song during praise and worship.  Honestly, the entire rally was truly amazing!”—Nazyia

“At the workshop I attended, I felt as though God really spoke to me through the team which spoke about today’s adolescents.”—Nyah

“I believe I experienced God during Confession. Confessing made me feel better and made me change as an individual.”—Omari

“I experienced God through Confession and Communion”—Shaye

“The visit to the Cyril Ross Home was heartwarming.  It was inspiring how the children didn’t let their condition deprive them of a normal life.”  (No name given!)

The candidates and their catechists take this opportunity to say a sincere ‘Thank You’ to the residents and staff of the Emmaus Retreat Centre for their warm hospitality.—A catechist