Women’s Retreat (October 6-7, 2018)

During the weekend of October 6-7, we held a Women’s Encounter Retreat, in our Verbum Dei Apostolic Center in Banawa. There were about 25 participants, with ages between 20 and 65; a combination of Verbum Dei disciples and new participants in Verbum Dei.  

It was a very inspiring weekend, with talks, workshops, time for prayer and sharing of different experiences.  We reflected about how we, women, are wonderfully made, created by God in our uniqueness and called to reflect God’s beauty. We also explored the call to complementarity and some challenging betrayal experiences when God is not at the center. One of the highlights of the weekend were the workshops at the end of Sunday morning. They helped us to deepen in the self-awareness and reconciliation with our bodies.

Many of us felt this weekend was an ‘appetiser’ for further exploration; some expressed the desire to continue to pray and share about the gift and potential of being a woman in today’s world. 

Monina Torregosa, one of the first time participants in a retreat organised by Verbum Dei, shares here what she took from this retreat:

‘I am wonderfully made… Genesis 2 tells us how God created women to be men’s partner, calling both to rule over the entire earth. And so this means that we, women, are not born as a ‘lower class’; we are called to bring forth love and care, to nurture, share & complement men and each other. Before we were born, God had a plan for each one of us, as Jeremiah 29:11 points out. But we need to continue seeking and praying about what our purpose is and about what God wants for us to do. We may be called to be like Queen Esther who saved the Jewish people from the hands of Haman or as Ruth, loyal to her mother in law, Naomi, or like Susanna, to give witness of being firm in faith. Either we are a daughter, sister, mother, wife; a working or consecrated woman, we are here to enrich the world’s understanding, to unite reasons and feelings with true determination and confidence, and to help make human relationships more honest and authentic.’

Here are some of the photos from the event:

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From the WordNews team