Lenten Retreat

On the 17th of March was the Lenten Retreat. It was led by Fr. Koos Smits.

It was a very cold day and the forecast was for slippery roads and heavy winds. I am so happy, my wife and I decided to go to the retreat. Fr. Smits is a soft spoken person who keeps one’s attention all through the day. The theme was “The last seven words of a dying Jesus”. The last seven “words” are actually 7 short phrases that Jesus uttered on Calvary. Listening to the meditation of the 7 phrases had a profound impact on me during the retreat. In between these 7 phrases we had moments for silent reflections and for me personally there were moments when my eyes welled up with tears.

The purpose of Lent is not to make ourselves more holy but to increase our awareness of God's love for us. It is a time away from our normal activities to spend time getting reacquainted with God, to examine the priorities of life. A Lenten retreat goes a long way to achieving this goal. It refreshes, revitalizes, rekindles and deepens one’s relationship with God.

There are also physical benefits to one’s brain during a retreat. Scientists in the US found there were “significant reductions” of five to eight per cent in the binding of two neurotransmitters associated with positive emotions, dopamine and serotonin, in two parts of the brain. Dopamine is involved in cognition, emotion and movement, while serotonin is associated with emotional regulation and mood. Since serotonin and dopamine are part of the reward and emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understand why these practices result in powerful, positive emotional experiences.