It might be surprising to learn that Lewis Carroll’s character Alice in Alice in Wonderland would ever be the basis of a Catholic retreat, but the titular character’s question ‘Who Am I Really?’ was the focus of participants at the young adults retreat sponsored by Catholic Faith Renewal (CFR) recently.
The retreat was held over the weekend of June 28-30. It started off with a video of people from different walks of life asking Alice’s question, sometimes with great anguish like Jean Valjean, the protagonist in Les Miserables.
Father Gino Henriques, the retreat master, was the keynote speaker for the retreat.
The CFR consist of people from various Perth parishes who are dedicated to evangelising.
With Fr Gino’s guidance, the organising committee crafted an agenda with the aim of helping participants come to an awareness of their personhood.
Fr Gino addressed the young people using an acrostic – a favourite form of Lewis Carroll: A for Atom, he likened the positive and negative traits of people to the positive and negative electrons on an atom; B for behind, referring to leaving behind negative aspects from the past; C for choosing to become the person God has created; D for decisive moments in our lives which is part of God’s plan; E for embracing the hurt everyone feels and learning to heal; and F for fruits, which were affirming positive traits and using them as a gift to others.
The retreat also included a camp fire, and games which tested the participants’ mental speed. One of the participants used Hollywood analogies to describe the retreat.
The participant affectionately dubbed Fr Gino “Batman”, saying he was like a saving action hero who brought clarity to his career deliberations as a graduate.
Another participant said she was touched during the healing session of the retreat.
The session led her to realise she needed to consciously forgive and obtain healing for a particular area of her life, in order for her to live a fuller life.
One thought which resonated with the retreat participants was, “I am not alone”.
The words of the speakers and their own interactions during the retreat highlighted that others have had or are having the same challenges as they are.
Fr Gino emphasised that it was important for us to have a sense of direction in our lives.
“Without this, we can get lost in this harried world of ours,” he said quoting David P Campbell.
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”