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Invitation to an ecumenical covenant sharing retreat : Grandchamp, Switzerland, 13th – 19th May 2009
Luisa Rossi , Odile Skjellaug
Posted 2009-02-27 16:21:02

Dear friends,


With this letter we are announcing the next Covenant Retreat which will be held from 13th to 19th May 2009. We have the good fortune to be welcomed by the community of Grandchamp in Switzerland. This community is deeply rooted in prayer and in a dialogue for unity in the Church.


Vision for the retreat
We call this covenant retreat a “sharing retreat.” Why? During the Identity and Mission process we experienced how fruitful it is to share the fruit of our prayer and personal reflection and to reflect on our lives, our daily reality, our culture, our personal journey through examining the Word of God. We also discovered how these concrete dimensions of our lives reflect upon the Word of God and make it present. This has been very life giving and good for each one of us and for the life of our communities.
These past years we have experienced how rich the sharing of our prayers and our reflections has been and how it confirms our choice of living the Gospel and following Jesus. From this experience is born the idea of a different framework from the usual ecumenical fundamental covenant retreat.


This retreat is offered to people who have already announced the covenant and wish go deeper on the personal and common understanding of the reality of covenant in their life.


We will do that through personal prayer, small group sharing (5-6 persons) and plenary sessions (the whole group for the retreat will be just 20 persons).

We will be invited to pray and to share on the biblical texts that are fundamental to our life in L’Arche. The introduction to these texts will be short because it is not a preached retreat. In the sharing that will follow our personal prayer, we will communicate with each other how the Word of God takes flesh in our lives and we will be listening to the Holy Spirit to discern where he will take us.


By enrolling in this retreat you express your willingness to co-construct the retreat by sharing your prayers and reflections, making connections between your life experiences and the Word of God.


We would like the retreat to be a place where we will be able to deepen the fraternal dimension of the friendship among us.


Given that the retreat will be held in the community of Grandchamp, we will base our schedule on the prayer times of the sisters. We will participate in their liturgies and the weekly communion service. The Catholic Eucharistic will be offered some days. The covenant celebration will be during a washing of the feet liturgy.


Some meals will be in silence, and others speaking.


We are called to grow in this journey towards unity, and the retreat wishes to be a little instrument in continuing along the way, a pause to catch our breath, a family moment to rejoice in being called to walk this “little way”.

 

The criteria for participants are as follows.
 Participants must have announced a covenant in L’Arche
 Participants must be ready to share their prayer and life experience
 Participants must be confirmed by the Community leader and/or Community Council to attend the retreat (Community leaders are asked for affirmation by their Regional Council before announcing the Covenant).

Practical details:
Date: from 13 May 2009 (4 p.m.) to 19 May May (after breakfast).
Location: Communauté de Grandchamp - CH 2015 Areuse
Tel. 00 41 32 84 22 492 Fax 00 41 32 84 22 474 www.grandchamp.org

Leaders Michel Bacq s.j. (a Jesuit priest who is a long term member of L’Arche Brussels and who has preached several covenant retreats)
Luisa Rossi (a long term member of L’Arche Trosly, Il Chicco and now La Corolle ; she was a member of the International Covenant Commission and has given the word with Jean Vanier at several retreats)
Language: French with English translation
Fee: Swiss francs: 450.- per participant (€ 300.-)
Deadline for registration: 20 March 2009
Number of participants: 20 persons


Registration process:
1. Complete the application form and send before 20 March 2009 to:

Luisa Rossi - La Corolle – Chemin d’Ecogia 26 – CH - 1290 VERSOIX
Phone: 0041 22 304 11 99 – 0041 76 51 65 852
Luisa.rossi@arche-corolle.ch


2. Applicants will receive confirmation of their participation as well as additional information at the beginning of April. They will be asked to complete a registration form which includes their arrival time in Grandchamp. Each participant is asked to make their own way to the retreat centre. Directions to the retreat centre will be included with the confirmation letter.

You may wish to make an initial booking so you can get a good price, but please do not confirm your flights until you receive a notice of acceptance.
Thank you in advance for inviting and encouraging members of your community to attend this retreat and for the work required of you in the process.
Let us pray that this retreat may bear much fruit.


Yours sincerely,


Luisa Rossi , Odile Skjellaug


Grandchamp
“In the 1930’s a few women in the Reformed Church in French-speaking Switzerland were rediscovering the importance of silence for their life of faith and for letting the Word of God to resonate within themselves to allow it to bear fruit in their daily life. They prepared spiritual retreats, at first once a year, in a house at Grandchamp. In the course of time, retreats became more frequent and opened up to other people. The first sisters, taking root in meditation on the Word of God, also returned to the tradition of the Church as a source of ways to a community life under the guidance of the Spirit. Through the friendship and support of Anglican, Orthodox and Catholic communities, they rediscovered the stream of monastic life. Thus they carried within them, from the beginning, a concern for prayer for the unity of the Church. In 1952 the first sisters committed themselves for life. Shortly thereafter they adopted the rule of Taizé and its daily Offices as the basis for their life in community and liturgical prayer.”www.grandchamp.org

 

Lettre invitation retr alliance 09.doc
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