Midlife Integration Process (June 1-14, 2019)

Midlife is Real!

We were 6 consecrated women, 1 religious brother, 1 religious priest and 27 diocesan priests from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao who signed up for the 14 day Midlife Integration Process (MIP), a program offered by Tagbadbad foundation. Held in a retreat house in Tagaytay city, we all were accompanied by a team of priests, consecrated persons including the help of three of our very own Verbum Dei Missionaries. We began each day with mass with the priest participants taking turns in presiding.

The mornings were spent listening to talks which gave us a lot of light what midlife transition and crisis is all about. They gave us many tools how we can navigate what could be a challenging, dark, lonely moment in our life so as to realize how this stage actually provides a great opportunity to live the paschal mystery and let God bring us to our fullness!

The afternoons gave us space for deeper reflection, processing and ample rest ending with holy hour. They provided us individual counselling and Spiritual Direction sessions. The last 3 days of the process culminated in a retreat led by our Verbum Dei Missionaries, Grace and Margarida, helping us pray and discover that this isn’t just about a process or program but in reality it is about a person... MIP - “meet in person” Christ, participating in His Paschal Mystery, in the deepest darkest corner of our inner life.

The feedback of many participant priests and sisters to the Verbum Dei retreat given here was very positive. We felt so happy to see our Verbum Dei charism at the service of the life of the Church, enriching and nurturing the connection with God of Christ’s ministers, recharging their inner batteries and filling their inner dryness with the life giving of God’s Word.

One of the participants said ‘This was a real retreat, the first real retreat I’ve ever done… the Word was alive, not just theory that filled our heads but touching our lives, helping us to be renewed in our vocations as priests. Thank you so much sisters’,

Details:
Midlife Integration Process: June 1-14,2019
Verbum Dei Missionaries who joined as participants: Percy Sy, Marla Galvez
Verbum Dei Missionaries helping out Tagbadbad Foundation:
Grace Gonzalez - Preacher, facilitator of retreat
Margarida Londral as speaker for 2 mornings on the topic of Shadows, served as spiritual director, preacher and facilitator of the retreat
Rachel Lumain - served as spiritual director
Tagbadbad foundation - A non-profit organization offering psycho-spiritual programs for the clergy, consecrated and lay faithful.

---

With thanks to Percy Sy and the WordNews team