Pathways to Pentecost - A Retreat in Daily Life

Explore the profound presence of God in every aspect of your life.

From the bustling city streets in the quiet moments of solitude.

Through prayer, meditation and reflection, uncover the sacredness within the ordinary and deepen your connection to the Divine.

Pray daily, meet weekly. Register here. To find out more please email Fr David Stewart SJ at ejcretreats@jesuit.org.uk

Opening Session
Sunday 4 May, 5.15pm at Edinburgh Jesuit Church, Lauriston Street, Edinburgh.

Closing Session
Sunday 1 June, 5.15pm, Edinburgh Jesuit Church, Lauriston Street, Edinburgh.

Hosted by the Edinburgh Jesuit Centre. FAQs below.

What is a retreat in daily life?
A retreat in daily life is time set aside over a number of weeks for prayer and reflection which is designed to fit alongside you usual work and home routine.

Who is a retreat for?
A retreat is for any Christian who wishes to deepen their prayer and know better Jesus Christ and the action of God in their lives. All you need is an openness to the experience and method of the retreat and generosity in setting aside the time needed each day for prayer for the duration of the retreat.

How long does the retreat last?
We offer retreats in daily life of different lengths - from three weeks to six weeks or more.

What do I have to do?
The commitment for the retreat in daily life is . . .

Prayer
You do not have to be an expert in prayer, or very confident about prayer, or already know how to meditate to do a retreat. Your prayer guide will help you understand how to pray better and will suggest material to pray with. What they suggest will be tailored to you, your own experience and circumstances.

Prayer Guides
It is important to have someone who is trained and experienced accompany you through your retreat. Your prayer guide will provide material for your prayer and meditation. What you discuss with them remains confidential.

Workshops
We offer workshops alongside the retreat. These focus on different methods of prayer and may be especially helpful if you are not particularly sure about how to pray or meditate in the Christian tradition or want to try new ways of praying. The workshops are optional and not necessary to do the retreat in daily life well.

How much does it cost?
We do not charge for the retreat in daily life. However, we do incur costs and so welcome a donation if you are able to make one.

WATCH: Prepare for Pentecost (Week 2)

Watch Sr Anna Marie McGuan RSM and Fr Kevin Douglas in our second talk on Preparing for Pentacost. See below or on YouTube.

The first session of the six-week talk series is available to watch below or on YouTube.

About

St Thomas Aquinas would often say that we can't love what we don't know.

Follow his lead in this six-week online course to explore the Holy Trinity.

Preparing for Pentecost (Exploring Pentecost & The Holy Trinity with St Thomas Aquinas) will help you get to know God better, allowing us to love Him and live in His presence day by day.

Each one-hour Zoom session will help you prepare for two feasts at the end of Eastertide: Pentecost (28 May) and The Most Holy Trinity (4 June).

Sessions are hosted by Sr Anna Marie McGuan RSM, our catechetics advisor, and Fr Kevin Douglas, parish priest of St Theresa’s, St Philip’s and St Andrew’s (West Lothian).

It is designed for people without a philosophical or theological background, but who want to know the Catholic faith better or who are just interested in what Christians believe and why.

Registration

Please click here to register for the six week course. You will be sent a link to join each week (and helpful reminders)

Dates

Format

Preparing for Pentecost: Exploring Pentecost & The Holy Trinity with St Thomas Aquinas is organised by the Catechetics Commission of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh.

Archbishop Cushley invites us to pray Rosary at 1pm

Archbishop Cushley is calling for Catholics in the diocese to pray the Rosary today at 1pm as part of a National Rosary Rally.

During his homily at Sunday Mass he invited us to join with Our Lady in prayer on this sacred day of Pentecost to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

He said: "From this day forward the disciples of the Lord Jesus are bound together in the spirit into a profound communion of love and purpose. They are united in prayer and they do so in the presence of Our Blessed Lady.

"Today, we are going to do the same thing. We are going to unite ourselves to Our Lady in prayer because we are celebrating a National Rosary Rally. It's taking place throughout England, Wales and Scotland.

"We have been asked to pray the Rosary at 1pm, as each diocese across the country takes an hour to pray the Rosary throughout today.

"So let me invite you to join us all at 1pm this afternoon, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, just as the apostles did, lets pray with Our Lady for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given to us all, so that these times in which we are living can be turned into extraordinary times in the Holy Spirit. Have a wonderful Feast Day, God bless you all and keep each other safe."

We will share a video today on our Facebook page today at 1pm. It features families in the Most Holy Trinity parish, West Fife, praying the Rosary. Watch it here. Find out more about the National Rosary Rally here.

 

Archbishop Cushley's Pentecost Sunday Homily

My dear friends, today is the solemnity of Pentecost, the day when we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit descending upon Our Lady and the apostles, gathered in prayer in the upper room.

You and I weren’t there to witness what happened, but we all date the birth of the church from that day onwards and the evidence for that is abundant. From that moment onwards everything is transformed.

From that moment onwards we can see the evidence of that in the actions of the apostles. We know this because from then on they are filled with courage and joy and they are like that for the rest of their lives.

This is the moment when we see the church begin. And from this moment onwards all the evidence points towards their sense of faith, of brotherhood, of shared purpose, of love, joy and a profound sense of communion with the Lord and with each other. The key to understanding what is going on here is the change that took place on that first Pentecost Sunday, and we attribute that to the gift of the Holy Spirit descending upon them.

From this day forward the disciples of the Lord Jesus are bound together in the spirit into a profound communion of love and purpose. They are united in prayer and they do so in the presence of Our Blessed Lady.

Today we are going to do the same thing. We are going to unite ourselves to our lady in prayer because today we are celebrating a National Rosary Rally and it’s taking place throughout England, Wales and Scotland.

Our diocese has been asked to pray the Rosary at 1pm this afternoon as each diocese across the country takes an hour to pray the rosary throughout today.

So let me invite you to join us all at 1pm, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, just as the apostles did, lets pray with our lady for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given to us all so that these times in which we are living can be turned into extraordinary times in the Holy Spirit. Have a wonderful feast day, God bless you all and keep each other safe.