St. Mary Parish plans Advent retreat for Nov. 22

Friday, Nov. 07, 2014

WEST HAVEN — St. Mary Parish in West Haven will host an Advent retreat, “Come Lord Jesus,” to prepare for the Advent season and the coming of the Lord on Christmas Day. Advent begins on Nov. 30 and continues the four following Sundays.

“We would like to extend an invitation to the Diocese of Salt Lake City to attend our retreat; it will be uplifting, spiritual, joyful, reflective and interactive,” said Maria Devereux, retreat coordinator. “We are blessed with invigorating speakers including Father Gustavo Vidal, pastor, who will lead the retreat.” 

Deacon Sunday Espinosa, Chris San Nicholas, the music minister and three lay ecclesial ministers also will speak about Advent and ways to wait for the Lord and be filled with the Holy Spirit, said Devereux.

Fr. Vidal is hoping people will come and “will take with them the Lord; they will be filled with the hope of Jesus,” he said. “Preparing for the coming of the Lord is a two-part journey that we are celebrating: the incarnation of Jesus, the mystery in which God takes on a human life; and the parousia, or the second coming of Christ. 

“We live in a dark world, a world that is full of hatred, envy, jealousy; a world where people are put down and degraded, mistreated and not always forgiven,” Fr. Vidal continued. “We live in a world that is often full of hopelessness and not always kind, so I’m hoping that people who come to the retreat will learn ways to be full of the hope that Jesus teaches us through his love, his caring, and his compassion. Jesus is the one who makes the difference in our lives in the darkness of this world; it is Jesus who gives us hope to keep going.”

Deacon Espinosa, of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, also will talk about the parousia and the incarnation of Jesus, he said. 

In his talk, Thomas Devereux, a member of St. Mary Parish and lay ecclesial minister, will speak on  Advent as a “reflection in waiting for the Lord, and in addition, outside of Sunday worship during Advent, we need to ask ourselves what that means to us Monday through Saturday,” he said. “Are we doing enough to see Christ in everyone as we wait for his coming?” 

What Devereux hopes people take away from his talk is a way to prepare for the Lord during Advent, and at the same time, “an ability to see others in a different light; they too are waiting for the Lord,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves what others might need as they wait and what we might bring to them. We are all beggars or the blind man along the side of the road waiting for the Lord to come. We need to see if we can help others along with ourselves on that journey. We are called to community and not individuality.”

Mary Helen Stricklin, a lay ecclesial minister from Saint George Parish, will focus her presentation on how each of us, as the faithful, can wait in hope during the Advent season to draw closer to God, she said. “We can find hope in God and can then release our fears and anxiety,” Stricklin said. 

San Nicholas, a St. Mary parishioner, will focus on the O Antiphons that are used at Vespers during the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. “They are referred to as the ‘O Antiphons’ because the title of each one begins with the interjection ‘O,’” said Nicholas. “Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture.”

What: “Come Lord Jesus” Advent retreat

When:  Nov. 22, 9 a.m. 

Where: St. Mary Parish, 4050 South 3900 West, West Haven

Cost: $15; includes a light breakfast, lunch, and materials

For information, contact Maria Devereux, 801-989-2257, or joyfulevent@yahoo.com.