 |
 |
|||||||||||||
|
Home
> News & Events Archive
June 7, 2009 Eric Gurash said he was surprised at how strong a bond was created with course participants in the Spiritual Director’s course and how much more of a bond was created with Christ. Gurash was one of 10 who completed the course taken one weekend a month over 2 years at St. Michael’s Retreat House. “It’s really helped to deepen my own relationship with Christ and to deepen my own understanding of my ministry and where God’s calling me.” Gurash is pastoral assistant at Regina’s Christ the King Parish. He said he initially took the course in response to what he described as a continuing call to be there for others, “whether it was a telephone call or a knock on the door someone needing an ear to listen.” And to listen with a discerning heart and really help others to see where in the lives of others Christ is speaking to and calling them is what he will now be able to do more effectively, he said. The 10 people come with varying backgrounds but most associated in some way with the work of the church either as volunteers or in parish or hospital work. The Spiritual Directors course was first offered in 1992 by the Regina Jesuit community with the late Reverend Paul Dungan and Sister Harriet Schnurr ssnd. Participants spent one weekend a month at St. Michael’s for 10 months in each of the two years. This latest course, only the third offered, was loosely based on the spirituality of St. Ignatius and modified to include several additional classes. The second course was offered in 1996. Participants pay a fee that amounts to about half the cost. The rest is subsidized with donations from 4 religious communities; The School Sisters of Notre Dame (ssnd), Our Lady of the Missions (rndm), Sisters of Social Service (sss) and the Sisters of the Precious Blood (rpb). The directors who led the course, Marlene Miller, Judith Pellerin, Sister Joyce Lorentz ssnd and Emma Rosseau of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary (pm) donated their time and the Archdiocese picked up some of the administrative costs. The Commissioning service took place in St. Michael’s Chapel and included several scriptural readings and a reflection on the Gospel of John from Archbishop Daniel Bohan. “This is a first step in a deeper relationship with God, the end of one journey and the beginning of another,” he said. To be spiritual is part of the fabric of life and everyone seeks the spiritual at some point in their lives. “The search for meaning in our lives is the essence of our spiritual life.” He thanked everyone for taking the course and emphasized the “profound importance” of helping people find their spirituality. Each participant then received graduation certificate from the Archbishop. Frank Flegel 
 Click on any photo to see the gallery |
|||||||||||||
|
