"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!"1 John 3:1De La Salle Santiago Zobel employees had a retreat last January 24-25 at CCT Retreat and Training Center, Tagaytay City with the theme 'Living our Belovedness".This is the REMINDER to all of us before going to retreat:
- Prepare ONESELF psychologically, emotionally and spiritually days before the scheduled retreat.
- Be open to God’s blessings and
- Pray for the meaningful and fruitful retreat.
I treated it as a mini or short vacation from my busy and stressful everyday life. Well, that was my initial take on my retreat day until I finally came to realizations of the retreat had offered me during my time there. It wasn't just a vacation. It was a time for me to be able to take a break from my usual life and take a step back to take a look where I am at the moment and where I want to be in the future.We are very fortunate to have Bro. Arun Gogna as our Retreat Facilitator / Speaker.As I begin a new chapter in my life – Personal and Professional, the retreat was an eye-opener for me. I got to know myself better through the questions asked by the facilitator “When was the last time you felt God’s the most?” and "What is the bravest thing you've done?"We are divided into different groups. I belong to Group 28 (coming from different departments). Personally I really don not know them but when we had our group sharing...I could say that my group is the best because I could feel and sense the openness and sincerity.We have lots of FEARS. The opposite of FEAR is NOT COURAGE. The opposite of FEAR is LOVE. When I became a parent, this is also what I realized.
If you are afraid today... Let the LOVE of God drive away all our fears.Only LOVE can drive away all our fears.
My Retreat ID
My Group Number + Nanay Journal
with Brother Dennis Magbanua, FSC
with Marivic Dimatulac and Ritz Villareal
with DLSZ faculty
Arun Gogna's quotes during retreat:
“No matter how rich, popular, intelligent, beautiful, successful you are... if you don’t have happy relationships, you will never be happy""To be in you loved ones memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today."
"Our Lord God is amazing.""We have so many mistakes. I am sinner. My past is so broken. But my dear friends, the good news is this God doesn't dwell on your sins. He is not obsessed on what you have done wrong yesterday. He is obsessed with you. He is focus on your goodness. This is our Catholic Doctrine. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church is teaching us that we are good! And God looks at our goodness.Group 28 - (L-R) James Siaron, Karen Gonzales, Ivan Sandoval, Ana Clave, Malou Mabalot, Jordan Mallari, Gemma Cruz, Erica Malli and Rhodora Espiritu-Valdez
***************************************************************************************Thank you De La Salle Zobel for organizing the retreat. This is the best retreat I ever had!