Eucharist

Time of writing:

Autumn 2006

Place of the first retreat:

Babice, Diocese of Gliwice

Place of writing:

Archdiocese of Katowice

Target group:

Parish oasis, from pre-oasis to formation before 3rd degree

Retreat description:

The theme of the retreat was born from the observation of trends in the local community regarding the attendance of participants at the Eucharist preceding group meetings on Friday evening. Therefore, we undertook an attempt to deepen the topic not from the liturgical-technical side but in the community dimension. This dictated three themes: Eucharist as a meeting, as food and union. An important experiential element of these retreats was the preparation of bread by individual groups with their own hands. As part of the “cheerful evening” we kneaded the dough, and at night each group had a designated time to bake bread during which one of the group meetings took place. Thanks to this, participants understood the simplicity of this food, as well as the issue of “leaven”. During Sunday breakfast, each group broke their bread with others.

List of small-group meeting outlines

• Meeting 1. - Eucharist as a meeting with man and God
  • Goal of the Meeting
  • Introduction for the Animator
  • Prayer
  • Reflection on “Meeting”
  • Features of True Meeting
  • In search of Meeting
  • Strengthening in discovery and application
• Meeting 2. - Eucharist as food
  • Introduction for the Animator
  • Introduction
  • God cares for us
  • Sacrament
  • “What is it?” = “yet the world did not know him”
  • Summary
  • Application
• Meeting 3. - Eucharist as union with people and God
  • Introduction for the Animator
  • Eucharist as the saving presence of Jesus in the community of believers
  • Participation must be active!
  • Application