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Dove Catholic Fellowship for women began their celebration year in Wanganui and this is the first time a Dove retreat has been held in this area.
Jayne Sutherland writes her impressions as a letter to her daughter.
My Darling Amanda
Let me tell you about the most amazing weekend I have just spent with your Aunty Margie and 64 other women from Dove Catholic Fellowship.
We left Wellington for Wanganui on Friday, stopping at Otaki to visit the outlet stores, where I just had to buy a lovely pair of black slacks and a pretty top to go with them.
After dropping your dad off at the Home of Compassion respite care centre on the outshirts of Wanganui, we located the college and booked into our rooms. The peaceful surroundings and the fact that we each had our own room was a pleasant surprise, as was the cleanliness and presentation of the bathroom facilities which had under floor heating. We were each given a welcoming gift of a pretty satin pouch containing a small dove ornament, a rose and some sweeties! Afterwards we went for a drive around the local, very picturesque, township before returning to meet and greet the other women arriving to participate in Dove's Silver jubilee weekend celebration.
After being welcomed by our national president Helen Funnell, we were introduced to the male advisors and our chaplain, Fr Kevin Connors. Helen explained that the weekend would concentrate on the Resurrected Christ and that God was going to be doing a new thing this weekend. She told us that the weekend was expected to be one of surprises and one of worship. Then Val gave an amazing but moving testimony concerning her husband Grant's medical condition and the power of prayer and God's intervention. We followed this with intense prayer for renewal of Baptism of the Holy Spirit and individual prayer with Father Kevin. And, yes my lovely, your mother did manage to spend a few minutes on the floor! The musicians were on fire and the songs for the evening were electric. That's where I first met the song "Step by Step" which continues to play in my head all the time. The lyrics 'I'll greet you in the morning' took me back to my Lenten observations where i needed to stand before the crucifix each morning and confirm my Lenten sacrifice. The evening finished with a supper.
Anzac morning commenced with this amazing Mass which began with the National anthem being sung as a prayer while an image of a soldier at the foot of the cross was projected before us while the music team waved our National flag. Memories of your granddad overwhelmed me and the weekend's torrent of tears began.
The first session began with Father Kevin instilling in us the 3 principles of the Holy Spirit.
1 The Holy Spirit has worked more in my life than I expected.
2 The Holy Spirit is working in my life more than I expect.
3 The Holy spirit will work in my life more than I expect.
The scripture we focused on was 'I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living' concentrating on God is good and God answers our prayers because He is good.
By about now I had completely lost all revelance to time. At some point on Saturday we were presented with a DVD of Louie Giglio entitled Hope....when life hurts most, which contained some very intense messages concerning suffering. His message that suffering is a megaphone of God's love was hard to understand until he used some unbelievably touching stories to explain that when life hurts most, the world listens most intently to our message, allowing us to broadcast through our pain the goodness of the One who loves us the most. At some point during the talk the woman in front of me, realising that I was in desparate need of a tissue or ten offered me a large box that was completely empty! I think every tissue box in the room had to be replenished after that session. In spite of all the tears i really did get a lot out of Louie's talk...the main points being that when the bottom falls out of your life the ONLY place you can go is to the cross. A point he focused on was that as we try to live life as a Christian, trouble would find us, we cannot avoid it. Then he gave us tools to be ready for that day.
1 Embrace a higher purpose now
2 Expect difficulty to come
3 Hope in it...Put an anchor down and don't leave Jesus
4 Use it for God's glory
He ended by ensuring us that suffering is our servant not the opposite.
During Saturday afternoon the Scripture 1John 3:1-3 came into consideration. Quote 'How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!...' After which we had reconcilliation, prayer ministry, and quiet time depending which prayer room we went into. I had not experienced this phenomenon before. A prayer room for silent reflection and a 'noisy' prayer room for singing, verbal prayer, dancing, or out loud sobbing/laughing!
We were given dinner early and at this point, my love, I must tell you about the food! Even though we were at a girls' boarding school with associated dining room facilities, the food was by far the best I have ever encountered at a formal gathering such as this. It really was so good that sometimes it seemed we were there for the food and the programme was just an aside.
Saturday evening's early session took us through the journey of 'Dove through the years' and then we got to watch Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. We even watched it twice! The next big event was DOVE's GOT TALENT! We experienced a fun filled wine and cheese evening of Jazz etc with Father Kevin on piano accompanied by several Doves showing off their dancing/limbo/rock'n'roll/singing and rythm skills. I can assure you that Aunty Margie and your mum did not let the side down! The celebration cake was cut and the obligatory photographs were taken before once again heading off for a wonderful shower and a good night's sleep.
Sunday morning began with another breakfast feast. Our first Scripture for the morning was John 1:12 which was a confirmation of Saturday afternoon's Scripture concerning our right to be called children of God. We also delved into the Magnificat before Worship and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrement, when unbelievable blessings were bestowed on every woman in the room. Again I must confess to spending some time on the floor, but I can assure you that God worked powerfully in me as well during this time. By the end of the weekend my cup was truly overflowing! Another amazing nutritious meal ensued before our final Mass and goodbyes were offered. Our Mass followed the same order as the weekend with particular emphasis being put on our Dove theme song from Solomon's Song of Songs.
I have to tell you, my lovely, that it was truly a privlege for me to witness the Lord pouring out His blessings on so many women this weekend. The presence of the Holy Spirit was almost tangible and at times quite palpable.
It was my surprise after arriving home that your Aunty Kate noticed that my eyes looked different, almost glass-like, she described them....I was quite chuffed as I remember when I used to think the same of your eyes when you came home from a Hearts Aflame weekend.
Take care and may God bless you richly.
Mumxxxx