I participated as a spiritual director in the recent Lenten Soul Care Retreat from March 5-7. This is my third time doing this. I am getting used to finding my way around the Trinity Theological College (TTC) grounds. TTC was built along a slope, and three lift lobbies at different levels serve the various blocks. What is first storey for one may not be the same for another.
During the retreat, we had access to the beautiful chapels of St Peter’s Hall and the larger main chapel, the prayer garden, the TTC Library, the campus grounds and the Dairy Farm Nature Park behind the college building. There was more than adequate space for silence, solitude and prayer.
This retreat’s theme was “Forgiven and Forgiving”. We focused on the reality, depth and blessing of being forgiven and receiving the love to forgive, even as we are forgiven. We felt this was an appropriate theme for the season of Lent. The retreat began with a Thursday dinner and ended on Saturday at 5pm.
There were three guided meditations, and Rev Dr Jimmy Tan (retreat director) led two of them, and I had the opportunity to facilitate the one in the middle about being forgiven. The sessions were usually in the mornings, and each spiritual director met with each retreatant for fifty minutes to attend to and process what the Lord had been showing them during their meditations and prayer.
Interestingly, I met with a member I baptised long ago at East Coast Park. She is Ee Yiung, and it was a delight to catch up with her again.
The program impacted the retreatants through the following elements: liturgical prayers, guided meditations, personal prayer times, spiritual direction sessions, nature, hospitality and food, and the kintsugi. Kintsugi is the traditional Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery by mending fractures with a mix of powdered gold flakes and glue. We were not doing it as an art form but as an embodied contemplative experience that allowed God to give us insights into his redemptive work.
In the final closing session, we allowed the retreatants to share what impacted them. We were deeply grateful for the way the Spirit had worked deeply in their souls. We prayed for the ongoing work of the Spirit as they re-enter the world of noise and distractions.
Have you been to a Retreat@TTC before? How has it blessed you? Care to share with readers of this blog? Post in the comment box above.
The next retreat@TTC will be Easter-themed and slotted for 7-9 April 2026. IF YOU WISH TO SUPPORT TTC CLICK HERE.
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