How the Word forms hearts for discipleship and mission

On Saturday, December 6th, along with parishes across the Diocese, almost 100 people gathered in the Hall of Holy Family Parish in Medicine Hat to partake in the live-streamed Advent Renewal Retreat. Following opening remarks by Bishop McGrattan and a Lectio Divina led by Ryan Schmidt, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast provided information and reflections focused on the Retreat theme of Advent Listening: How the Word Forms Hearts for Discipleship and Mission.

Over the course of this 2.5-hour Retreat, and following the ‘Conversation in the Spirit’ approach, there were 2 opportunities for small group discussions. As part of hosting at Holy Family Parish, our Parish Renewal Team and Parish Pastoral Council provided each small group (6 or less people per group) with ‘worksheets’ to capture summary comments of:

1. How does God call us and what holds us back from giving ourselves fully to following Christ and to becoming a disciple?
2. How can I share my joy/faith with one specific person?
3. What struck you from this Retreat?
   
   

The following information provides a summary of themes that emerged from our small group discussions. While each parish in the Diocese will have their own unique perspectives, we suspect that there are also many commonalities with these themes from our parish.

Trust and Surrender

• ​Embrace God’s call with openness, even when it feels uncertain or overwhelming.
• Let go of fear, pride, and the need for control, trusting that God equips us for the mission.
• Practice daily “yeses” to God in small acts of faith and service.
  
  

Strengthen Discipleship

• Invest in faith education, especially for children and youth, to build confidence in living as disciples.
• Encourage growth through prayer, scripture, and silence, recognizing that faith deepens over time.
• Accept personal limitations and hardships as part of the journey, relying on grace rather than perfection.
  
  

Witness Through Joy

• Cultivate joy in Christ personally, then share it authentically with others.
• Evangelize through family connections, everyday conversations, and simple acts of kindness.
• Use forgiveness, patience, and prayer as foundations for outreach, especially when addressing wounds.
  
  

Build a Welcoming Community

• Create a parish environment that is open, inviting, and creative in its outreach.
• Encourage communal responsibility for evangelization—everyone has a role in planting seeds of faith.
• Celebrate sacraments as gateways to deeper discipleship and renewal.

Overall, those attending the Retreat felt that discipleship is not about perfection but about openness to God’s call, lived daily through trust, joy, and community. By saying “yes” together, the parish can grow as a living witness of Christ’s love. There was specific appreciation for the ‘Conversation in the Spirit’ approach to small group discussions, noting that it provided a calming, spiritual ‘space’ for each person to speak and be heard, lending to more fulsome conversations.

We certainly felt that this was a great Advent Renewal Retreat, in format, presentation, engagement, learning, and fellowship. We hosted a soup-and-sandwich buffet following the retreat to allow for further reflection, sharing, and fellowship, and that was great, too! The event will be spiritually helpful for each person who attended, and the information gleaned will help inform our parish renewal goals and actions.

A big Thank You to all who organized, presented, attended, participated, and served for this Advent Renewal Retreat. God is Great!!

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Written by Howard Snodgrass & Sandra Richard, Co-Leads, Parish Renewal Team at Holy Family Parish, Medicine Hat.