23rd September 2015

Liturgical Ministry Retreat, Castlerigg

On Friday 18th September a group of twenty pupils from Years 10 and 11 travelled to Castlerigg Manor, Keswick for a three-day retreat. The weekend was aimed at those who are involved in liturgical ministry in school; those who help to animate the services and assemblies we celebrate throughout the year. We are very grateful to the local SVP group in Penwortham, who kindly subsidised the cost of the retreat, and who we look forward to working closely with in the future.

The programme was co-delivered by the resident retreat team from Castlerigg, and Dan, our school Chaplain. The group had the opportunity to develop their relationships with each other through team-building activities and ice-breakers, and could think about their relationship with God through times of prayer and reflection.

The real theme of the week was one of ‘service’, and we reflected on what it means to be a liturgical minister, to serve one another through our participation in the Church’s liturgy. Our prayer times were focused on the key elements of the liturgy – the Eucharist, which we reflected upon in Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Word, which we explored through Lectio Divina. We also prayed in the style of the Taizé community, creating a beautifully prayerful atmosphere through use of candles, icons, silence, and music.

Music was a key feature of the retreat, with singing filling the manor throughout the day and into the night. The weekend was a chance to learn some new music to use throughout the year, including some contemporary worship songs which really put to good use the wealth of musical talent there is in the school.

On Saturday afternoon we were blessed with glorious weather, enabling us to walk in the Cumbrian countryside, with stunning views of Derwentwater. No trip to Castlerigg would be complete without a visit to Keswick, where we spent much of the afternoon wandering around the market stalls and eating chips!

The climax of the retreat was our celebration of Mass on Sunday morning, which saw each member of the group exercising their liturgical ministry, either through music (featuring a full rock band!), reading from scripture, or the distribution of Holy Communion.

The weekend was our chance to dedicate ourselves afresh to take a lead with the liturgical mission of our school, and to use our God-given skills to bring life to the liturgy and the joy of the Gospel to everyone in our community.