Bishop Lindsay Urwin OGS reflects on the theme of the next retreat……..

After a wonderful retreat at our new site at Pakefield near Lowestoft during April, the next Caister@Pakefield retreat conference is in the planning!

Over the history of the Caister Retreat, the unofficial anthem has surely become the Regina Cæli, the great hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary traditionally sung during the Easter Season.

It is sung at the opening worship on the first evening, and always at Midday as the corporate hour of silent prayer begins.  More often than not, it is also sung at Midnight in the bar!  For Christians in the Catholic tradition, a lively and dynamic doctrine of the Church is always a mark of their life.  Just as we ask others in the Christian community ‘here below’ to pray for us, so we can ask the prayers of those who are now in heaven.

So for us it is perfectly natural to ask Mary, the mother of the Lord to pray for us.  We do not worship Mary – only God is worthy of worship! – but we do reverence her, and ask she who was the first person to accept Jesus into her life, to pray for us.

At the heart of this Easter anthem is JOY! So hymn starts with the acclamation. ‘Joy to thee O Queen of heaven!  Alleluya!’
Caister@Pakefield 2008 will reflect on some of the great theological truths to be found in that great anthem, sung, so tradition tells us from the time of Gregory the Great – the pope who sent St. Augustine to England in the 6th century.

‘He whom thou wast meet to bear, Alleluya!’

As with all right devotion to Mary, we quickly turn to Jesus!

So we will reflect on the joy that can be discovered in the Incarnation, and ponder what it means for our understanding of the material world.

‘As he promised hath arisen! Alleluya!’

So we will reflect on the joy that can be ours through the resurrection, and ponder what it means for the way we live now.

‘Pour for us to God thy prayer! Alleluya!’

So we will reflect about the joy of belonging to a community of prayer, with Jesus as our leader who now ‘lives to make intercession of us’.

True and right reflection about the doctrines that are at the heart of the Christian faith will always have practical implications for the way we live our lives, both personally and corporately.  For the doctrines of the Christian faith about God and his love for the world.  Indeed, ‘doctrines’ far from being dry and dusty or limiting, are all about relationships – God’s relationship with us and how he lives it.  They are about our appropriate response to him, and our relationship with each other.  Doctrines speak about truths that are beyond words, for at the centre of them all is God’s inexpressible love, a love deeper that words but not beyond our experience.

Throughout the days of the retreat we will explore these themes through teaching, Bible study and worship.  And as always, in silent adoration in the hour of prayer.

When we encounter the joy of the Lord- and it  is an encounter, for joy is a joy of the Holy Spirit who is always the agent of Christ’s coming – we are given new strength, and what we receive will ‘resound’ whatever we are, Joyful people are the most effective evangelists!

So, if joy for you is in short supply, or you just want more, you are invited to come to Pakefield where we can have a good hope that we will be filled afresh with the authentic  deep joy that is the mark of God’s people when they are alive in Him.

YOU CAN BOOK FOR CAISTER@PAKEFIELD 2008 TODAY!
31st March - 4th April 2008

Simply click here to download a booking form and send it with your £50 deposit to the Retreat Office.
If you wish to speak to someone about the Retreat, telephone the office on 01403 211139.