ISSUE
Friday, January 31, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 44
The Divine Retreat Centre’s movement in New Zealand held a 6-day full time mission for the first time at Christ the King Church, Owairaka, Auckland from October 8 to 13 this year.
Divine Retreat Centre, located in Kerala, India is the largest Catholic Retreat Centre in the world. Over 10 million people from India and all over the world have attended retreats here since 1989. The retreats are conducted every week of the year in English and 6 other Indian languages.
Besides the numerous evangelisation works that are carried out by the Vincentian Fathers and their team of volunteers, Divine Retreat Centre cares for 3,000 sick and needy people in the charitable homes and many other social service projects run by the Divine Charitable Trust on a long-term basis.
The mission held at Christ the King Church, Owairaka, with Fr Augustine and his team of Glen and Teresa was a transcendent experience for everyone involved. A retreat often suggests a sense of privacy but this was different – people of different ethnicities came together to participate in a powerful collective experience.
This was a celebration of the power of God to reach across communal barriers and create a wonderful tapestry woven together from diverse skeins of society – Tongans, Samoans, Maoris, Europeans, Sri Lankans, Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, and people of different faiths, some even taking annual leave, put aside their differences and in one week were unified by the transformative grace of God, their lives changed by sharing in one another’s experiences.
By week's end, through the power of prayer and parable, an overflowing church of more than 1000 people had spent 7 hours a day for 6 days experiencing something unique, something that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. The week imbued every participant with a sense of mission – that we can change the world by changing our own lives that we are not alone for God is with us not only as a divine being but also through our neighbours.
Fr. Augustine arrived on October 6 for a private retreat for the core members of the group and he began by telling them a parable based on Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, where the donkey assumed that the cheering was for him and on being challenged to reproduce the event the next day, found himself unable to do so and resorted to braying and kicking his legs, which led to people stoning him – we are merely messengers, vehicles for the Lord’s word.
The mission began on October 8 with a concelebrated mass by Auckland Bishop Pat Dunn and seven other priests. Bishop Dunn reminded everyone that we are alive with the Holy Spirit; only dead fish flow with the river; we don’t have to meander downstream aimlessly but can choose to follow the Lord even if it means going against the flow. Indeed, we don’t even have to choose; if we keep our hearts and minds open God will choose our paths for us (the presence of the people at the Retreat was an example of that).
The topics covered ranged from sin, faith, family, marriage, youth and finally the message was that everything that happens in our lives is part of a divine plan for us. Sometimes we don’t understand all of it, because our understanding and experience are limited, but if we remember that God has a plan for each of us we will learn to be patient – wait and pray are the watchwords.
Wenceslaus Anthony, Chairman of DRC Movement, NZ, said all those who attended were touched during the mission and they in turn will be able to touch the lives of others and thus build the Super City of Auckland of God’s love. It was encouraging to see many people attending this important spiritual feast.
There is much to be done in Auckland, New Zealand “The harvest is great and the labourers few” (Mathew 9:37) Wenceslaus urges.
Just as the body needs nourishment, so does the spirit. Through various ministries of DRC NZ and the spirituality of the movement the members will continue to endeavour to be a witness and touch the lives of people with God’s love.