WEBSITE: www.goodshepherdsedibaretreat.co.za

Tel: (012) 259 1392 / Mobile Emergency: 082 752 7237 │ Bookings: goodshepherdsedibaretreat@gmail.com │ GPS Co-ordinates: -25.761455 ​27.902227

PO Box 15, Hartbeespoort, 0216, S.A. Portion 60 of Farm 482, Meerhof Hartbeespoort, N.W. Province, S.A., Off Findlay Avenue…Next to Good Shepherd Catholic ​Church

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Dear Friend of Good Shepherd

As we begin the final week of Lent, walking with Jesus into betrayal, denial, isolation, rejection, suffering, agony and death, we slow down the energy around us and ​the pace of each day, up until Easter Saturday. Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday is what the Church calls Holy Week; the most sacred week in the Catholic calendar. ​God wants to include each and everyone of us in His story of unconditional love for humanity; for every single person, personally, and for all creation. What this ​Easter will bring with it for you depends on what you have been offering the Lord during Lent, in terms of time and attention to your spiritual life. It is so easy to ​saunter through Holy Week and stumble into Easter, expecting to enjoy the ‘alleluia’ celebrations of the Christian community, without much effort. On the other ​hand, one who decides to enter into the profound moments of these last hours in the life of our Divine Saviour, will come out at Easter changed, transformed, ​renewed and healed. It is the ultimate journey of every believer to die to sin and rise to new life with Christ at Easter, an invitation Jesus extends to every person.

At the Good Shepherd Retreat Centre, we also slow down, stop the normal spiritual activities, and focus exclusively on the Lord Jesus’ final days of His incarnate life ​into the eternal life. We reflect on the priviledge of being the believer, and of being the intimate friend of the Redeemer. Indeed, this wonderful relationship that ​every believer shares with the Lord Jesus, comes with its own profound responsibilities and life-style, sometimes overlooked or forgotten. The Easter Season gives ​us the opportunity, over a 50-day period up until Pentecost Sunday, to examine this unique affiliation with Jesus and to adjust ourselves accordingly. It is a joy-filled ​exercise in which we revel in the marvelous way God pours His abundant love and grace into the heart that professes faith in the Risen Christ. This season of the ​alleluia’ is undoubtedly the season to make significant changes we hoped would happen in our lives, the season to commit, the season to forgive and love again, the ​season to begin new adventures in the Spirit, the perfect season even to die, indeed the season to move from darkness into light. Easter has embedded in it the ​characteristics of newness, hope, joy, love and peace for all who wish to immerse themselves in such a wonderful expression of God’s

grace. May this Holy Week and the Easter Season be a continued rising to ever new heights of life and grace for you.

For those of you who have not visited Good Shepherd Retreat Centre, and would like to experience a retreat or who would just like to visit the centre for personal ​prayer, please email us and we will be happy to help with that. Happy Easter to you all. We will continue to keep all our patrons, suppliers, and associates in our ​prayers as we celebrate the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ this Easter Season.

LJC et MI