THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!

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You have reached the end of this retreat. Wherever you may be, whoever you are, thank you for joining our virtual community of retreatants! Thank you for praying with us and for sharing your thoughts and experiences with your fellow retreatants.

We invite you once again to post your insights, questions, and prayers in the COMMENTS section below. Who knows? Your sharing may help some other retreatants in their spiritual journey.

Again, you are encouraged to use a pseudonym to encourage openness and assure confidentiality.

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Our team of online spiritual directors will be available to respond to your sharing until the evening of Easter Sunday. But everyone is welcome to respond to other people’s comments.

For a limited amount of time, they will also be on hand for live spiritual chats. If you are interested click here to go to the Philippine Jesuit website.

Once again, many, many thanks for joining us. Your faith is a deep well from which we draw to nourish ours. Thank you and keep in touch by following Pins of Light on its Bible blog site or on its Facebook page.

Please pray for us as we pray for you! Easter blessings to you and your loved ones from the team of Pins of Light!

May your heart always be an open door!

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250 replies on “THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!”

I opened different doors in this retreat and discovered valuable things. These varied doors led me to sacred places where I was able to hear God’s voice clearly and loudly. How I wished I could bring these sacred places with me, to make them accessible anytime there is a need for a sanctuary. On the other hand, through the wisdom that you shared here, Fr. Johnny, realization dawned suddenly that a sacred place already exists in me, with its door controlled by me. A place where God has always been waiting for me.

Words are not enough to convey my overflowing appreciation to you, Fr. Johnny for allowing me to feel God’s presence during the time I was too stubborn to seek Him. Thank you for using words that create a path that leads people to Him.

I pray that your presence will always be God’s presence.

Paborito ko ang video nung 2 paring nag-uusap. Sobrang solid.

Pinakanakadasal naman ako sa panalanging-umaabot-sa-krus.

Pinakamahirap ang hamon ni Hesus na magpatawad. Sa lahat. At sa mga Hudas-not-pay hehe.

Sobrang salamat para sa lahat ng naghirap para masamahan din namin si Hesus sa Kaniyang paghihirap. At makahanap na naman Siya ng mga siwang papasok sa aming mga puso. Alam kong matagal at mabusisi itong gawin pero gusto ko lang sabihing sulit na sulit ang pagod ninyo sa bunga nito sa akin/amin.

Hanggang sa muli. God bless!

May our dear lord Jesus bless all the works of your hands hearts and minds.

I pray for you and your team, i know you all do pray for all yourretreatants – us a loving communion of hearts with our Lord Jesus. AMDG

Maraming salamat. Buti na lang at nakahabol ako. Malaking tulong ito lalo na nang hinayaan ninyong maging bukas ito hanggang unang linggo ng Pagkabuhay. Dalangin ko na magpatuloy ito at gabayan kayo ng Diyos sa pagtupad ng inyong adhikain.

Thank you so much as always for the ‘food for the soul’ – weekly but especially through this annual retreat/recollection.

I have been so busy and stressed, even leading all the way up to this retreat. In fact, I felt “late” and I’ll-prepared as I did the pre-retreat activity on the 1st day of the retreat. What a relief that I could take all my “baggage” with me on this retreat! I could pray with it. It was very freeing and very healing (and with God’s grace, over the days that followed, transforming).

Rather than being a “retreat” (like going backwards or going away), it became an encounter/ a “coming towards” the One we love who is always waiting for us, loves us as we are, and is walking with us wherever we happen to be. God’s love not only loves what is; God loves what is not, so that it comes to be. (M Basil Pennington, OCSO)

The Good Friday reflection on how God suffered as only God can, physical pain and human pain notwithstanding, was new to me. To contemplate how One who loves so purely and completely could also suffer as only God can, was Interesting, eye-opening and profoundly humbling to the undeserving.

I loved the door theme, the door to our heart that has no door knob and our mission – Everything Becomes a Door by Francis Dorff’s poem.

I used the retreat to prepare for my participation in the liturgies and prayer opportunities at our parish during these 4 Holy days, culminating in the Easter Vigil mass. I will use it as a way to go forward likewise “resurrected”.

You are in my prayers! With deep gratitude always!

Hello ***! Thank you as always for your words of appreciation and encouragement! It’s a lot of work, but the blessings on the retreatants always make it worth all the hard word. Praise God! 🙂

Thank you for a wonderful retreat. Last year, it was my first time to ever attend Triduum retreats and rituals. Such an eye opener. There is so much I do not know. This Lenten season I made it a point to attend daily mass and volunteered to post the daily scripture in my viber chat group. By doing so, it brought new meaning to the bible verse of “seeking first the Kingdom of God”. I wás very much looking forward to attending the retreats at Rockwell by Fr. Manoling Francisco this week, but I suddenly found myself flying out of town to attend to pertinent matters. What a blessing it was for me to come to know (because of someone’s FB post) of this online retreat. There were a lot of lightbulb moments. I feel so loved. Thanks for making this year’s Easter very special.

Dearest Lord, please hear our prayers for the good people of Pins of Light Team. Grant them the Grace to sustain their work and continue to help people open the doors of their hearts to You. This we humbly ask through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the intercession of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Hello! Thank you so much for such a wonderful retreat! It really made me realize more how deep God’s love and mercy is, that He gave His Beloved Son to save us all from sin. If I was about to think, it will surely be a difficult thing for a parent to see his child in great suffering. Aside from that, the retreat also reminded me of how God is so merciful. Another, Jesus also contained a Far Greater Love, in spite of the feeling of abandonment and betrayal from His beloved disciples. I also realized many things that shown that Jesus really humble Himself as He asked on God’s guidance, He suffered outside the city gate and been crucified, and He even stayed with the death before His Resurrection. Now, I realized that Jesus really love us, and this beautiful love never lessen and never stops. But, it still lies on my decisions whether to accept His love for me, that He is always open, waiting for me to return, like a lost son finding His way back home. And that Jesus became the Only Way to connect us with the Lord, but it depends on me to accept His everlasting love waiting for me.
Now, I pray for strength and guidance from God in order for a sinner like me, a lost sheep like me, to be found and sheltered by Him in spite of my sins, and that through His sacrifices, I will be able to be strong enough to live my life for Him who suffered and died for me. Teach me to open my weak and broken heart for His Far Greater Love to flows within me, and that I will be able to spread His Love and gather His flock. I am frail, I am weak, I am a sinner, but He never stops in giving His love for me. Teach me to be humble, like how You humble Yourself from the very first to the last door, and within Your whole life. Show me how to forgive everyone including those who really mark a deep wound in my heart. Heal every deep and shallow wounds in my heart that I may be able to live at peace with them.
I really found this retreat meaningful, it taught me so much lessons and made me realized great things about our Greatest Lover. It made me see more the meaning of this Holy Week.
Thank you also for the songs and videos, it helped so much for the messages to sink in my heart!
Now, I see how God love us. How can I be a worthy child of God? How can I be able to make Jesus feel my love for Him, especially on His darkest hours?
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

The retreat is so edifying 🙂 Thank you very much. God is indeed merciful and unconditionally loving! Some points that I want to share are these: (feel free to comment about them po 🙂 )
1. As stated in one part of the texts in the retreat, when Adam and Eve left Eden, it was then opened to anyone who wants to enter. Then, does that follow that Adam and Eve, too, can repent and come back? This is my thought. As Jesus washed Judas’ feet in hope that he might change his mind (because Jesus has not given up on him), God, too, clothed Adam and Eve before letting them go, maybe in the same hope that these two would repent and have a change of heart. And that same hope is reflected on not giving up immediately on the barren fig tree. What do you think? 🙂
2. The Suffering Servant appeared in Isaiah. It may not exactly talk about Jesus but I think it might promote a reminder about religious tolerance, that of the Jews and the Christians, in this case. Just a thought, what do you think? 🙂
3. I also harvested this insight from the retreat: that God transcends time and that maybe, our prayers today were already answered in the past. Then, I thought, maybe the answers of our questions today were already carved on the cross that we looked back into as we reminisce Jesus death and Resurrection. It is just that God knows the perfect time and that God honors our personal will that He waits for us to find out these things ourselves with His guidance.
Jesus, our Sweetest Lover, did not just prove to us that we are worth dying for. He also showed us and is continuously and eternally telling us that we are not just worth dying for, but also worth living for. There are still many things that touched me in this retreat, but they will not fit this chat box smile emoticon For now, this single word, I hope, would sum it all up, both the said and the unsaid thoughts.
LOVE.
Thank you very much. AMDG.

Thank you for this online retreat. The words and teachings resonated much more than they normally do. The Word of God hit too close for comfort but if it is His way of telling me something I accept that His will be done. Again, my gratitude for hosting this retreat.

Isn’t it great when we are able to draw fresh insights from the seemingly familiar Bible passages? Thank you, Anonymous.

I thought it is impossible for me to undergo a retreat this lenten season. For many years now I’ve been joining the Lenten retreat of my alma mater, Ateneo de Davao University. But this year due to relocation it is possible for me. This online retreat gave me hope and in fact, through this retreat,I was able to accept the consequences brought about by my relocation. This time with great hope and thanksgiving.

Fr. Johnny,

Thanks for taking us to this wonderful 3-day journey understanding and experiencing God’s mercy. It has truly made these holy days full of meaning for me.

Luceat Lux!

On behalf of Fr. Johnny, you are most welcome. Thank you for being part of our online community this Holy Week.

I am truly grateful for the gift of this online retreat. The experience made me feel overwhelming joy and peace. I thank the Lord for making the Pins of Light team an instrument of His love and mercy.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for letting me feel piece within me. Thank you for assuring that You will and always be patiently waiting for me. Like Peter, I have hesitations and there are things I am ashamed of; but I take comfort in Your love and mercy. Hold me, Lord as I walk towards Your direction. Make me grow in your love, kindness, and mercy so I may also show the same to others. Amen.

To Fr. J and the Pins of Light Team,
Thank you for accompanying us during the Holy Week filled with prayers, songs, readings, videos, stories and nuggets of wisdom. May God continuously bless your ministry of retreat giving. Your insights and prayer points were truly God-sent since they were carefully planned and arranged. It our prayer that as you lead others to Christ, may you meet Christ too in each of the pilgrim-retreatant you encounter! Looking forward to similar retreats in the near future. Thank you once more for praying with us! May we be genuine Easter people! It is now time to widely open the doors of hearts to receive God’s manifold graces! God bless

Thank you so much for this endeavor. Praying for all of you, that our good Lord may grant all your hearts’ desires. Thank you for touching our hearts during this Lenten retreat, wishing everyone the best and God bless you always!

The desire, first and foremost, is to be instruments to spread God’s word during this very special week. Thank you for helping achieve it. Happy Easter 🙂

My sincere thanks for this year’s Holy Weeek online retreat. I have been doing this for s few years now and I feel each year is better than the previous one.

I particularly like the visuals. They make praying feel more like just talking to a Friend.

The analogy to the gate to platform 9 3/4 for Hogwarts Express was ingenious. I am 77 years old with 7 grandchildren, 2 already in college, but still a Harry Potter fan.

Indeed, as proven by Fr J in the Hogwarts example, we find God and signs of His presence everywhere. We pray that you continue to discover Him in the most unexpected of places. Happy Easter 🙂

My heartfelt thanks to the whole team of pinsoflight for bringing us close to God through this lenten retreat. This is my second year and i look forward to next year.
The doors of mercy will always be in my heart which is the third door. I will open it to everyone Regardless of colour, sex or religion.
To God be the glory for giving us people like you.
God bless.

Thank you for choosing to enter the doors of the retreat join us. A meaningful Easter celebration to you 🙂

Thank you very much for this unique retreat. I hope and pray Jesus will guide and help me to learn how to forgive like Him. Happy Easter to all of you and God bless you and all your endeavors.

We shall continue praying with you for your desire to learn to forgive more and more. A Blessed Easter 🙂

Thank you so much for blessing us with this Spirit filled retreat. God’s mercy indeed is his costly counter measure for our sins and must inevitably open the doors of our sin jaded hearts. I will now constantly pray for the hearts of my friends and loved ones and other people I meet in my life’s journey, to be so moved. God bless!

The hardest part of every Lenten Retreat I have been with is the lesson of forgiveness. Giving it to those who has hurt me is not as easy as walking in the park.. it is a decision (man, i hate myself), though it may not come to me freely, i always pray that i may have the desire to forgive those who has done me wrong, like this online retreat that ALWAYS says, “You can proceed when you are READY.”

The struggle to forgive is very real and we continue to pray that you will be able to eventually click that NEXT button to proceed. Happy Easter 🙂

Thank you so much Admin..
May God continue to bless the works of your hands..
May you continue to touch people’s lives..
Expecting from you again next year!
God bless you more 🙂

Thank you for blessing us with this retreat. Going on Holy Week retreats has been such a big part of my life but having moved out of the country, it has been difficult to find. This Holy Week the online retreat had brought me to a familiar space with God – it reconnected me w with Him. I didn’t realize how lost I was and how much inner turmoil that brought about. I tried looking for retreats and recollections here where I live but I did not find any until my wife saw this on Facebook. I feel like the Lord used that moment to show me that He was looking for me all this time and through this, found me like then woman who found her lost coin. I am very grateful for your work and that you have been The Father’s way reaching me and welcoming me home.

We are touched by your story and we are glad to have been instrumental in re-opening that door to God. Thank you and have a blessed Easter season 🙂

Just attended this last part but nothing comes short. Thank you. May everyone who wishes to open doors continue doing so, or strive earnestly to do. Happy Easter everyone and may this important day of our faith encourage us to live the way our Lord wanted us to do. God bless us all! Thank you, risen Lord for paying for my sins.

Thank you very much for this gracious opportunity of opening the “path” to the longest journey I made these past 3 days – the journey into my heart! This is my first time to join your online retreat and it opens many closed doors in my life and enlightens some dark corners in my heart. The journey does not end today, rather I am just beginning the initial steps. What I realized these 3 days will indicate how I will live the coming days. It is my prayer that I will be courageous like Peter who returned to his Master after he denied Him 3 times; trustful like the Beloved Disciple who believed;like Magdalene who never stopped loving Jesus even after his death.
“Jesus, you know me more than I know myself. You know my hopes and fears. You know my joys and sorrows. You see me at my best and at my worst. But you continue to love me. Thank you for your faithful love. Heal my wounds, gather the broken pieces of my life. Help me love you in return.”

Thank you very much for this online retreat, my first and will certainly be not my last. God Bless you Father J and the whole team…

Thank you and may my heart be open to God’s mercy and to be merciful. Remove my locks and loose the keys my Lord.

Thank you so much for this retreat, Fr J and the rest of the Jesuit community. This has been my 6th year to join the retreat with my husband. As OFW in a Muslim country, we are always hungry for this kind of retreat. Looking forward to the next online retreat. God bless!

Thank you for your continued presence in these virtual journeys and you are most welcome. Happy Easter 🙂

Thank you for this love offering shared with many, at this most precious time.

May God bless you Fr. Johnny and your team for all your good work in helping make Christ’s passion and resurrection more accessible to us, more personal.

I am grateful and appreciative. And I pray for more blessings and inspiration to come your way, that you may sustain your generous love offering that benefits so many.

Thank you and more power to you!

Thanks so much everyone, especially for the team, for this chance to go through the Easter triduum with all of you!Let us pray for one another.

In the midst of violence and global unrest, may the Easter Hope fill us to continue being agents of peace, passing through any doors!

God bless!

What a journey, what a blessing to remember how magnificent a sacrifice our Lord has made, and how glorious a victory he has won for us. Please keep up the good work, this and your weekly reflections are a constant source of inspiration. God bless you, and may the doors of our hearts be open always. Happy, Happy Easter!

Thank you for having this online retreat! It helped in the Holy Week reflections and made me think of how best to improve my relationship with the Lord. God Bless you and your team! Happy Easter!

Thank you for having this retreat available online! Despite the busy schedule, the reflections brought me closer to Him! God Bless! Happy Easter!

Thank you for a very heartwarming retreat. Truly grateful to be a part of this. Looking forward to joining you again next year. Thank you for being a blessing to all of us.

You’re welcome and we ask for your prayers to be able to continue this work of the Lord. Happy Easter 🙂

Thank you Pins of Light community for this online retreat. It is my first time to do this and by God’s grace I was able to complete it. The Mercy of God is truly amazing! I pray that I will have a more intimate relationship with our Lord. I look forward for next year’s retreat. Happy Easter!

Thank you for choosing to join the ‘pilgrimage.’ Please pray that Fr J continues to find the inspiration and strength to keep doing this. Happy Easter 🙂

Thank you very much. The work God does on you is wonderful. It could not be any less for we have an awesome God, to which we owe everything we have and everything we are.

Thank you, team of Pins of Light. May God’s blessings be with you and all my fellow retreatants. Happy Easter!

Thank you very much for this heart-warming online retreat. Kudos to Fr J & team. It’s been my 5th year of joining this virtual community and I’ve been so blessed abundantly. May my heart be always an open door leading others to Jesus. Blessed Easter to everyone. Peace be with you.

Thank you so much this online retreat, it has blessed me and everyone I’m sure tremendously.
Dear Jesus my friend, please help me to forgive myself and so I can always forgive others.
May God continue to bless this ministry and all those behind this!

I thank the Lord God Almighty for working in you and sharing this wonderful online retreat to us. To my friend, as well, who introduced me to this. You are all intruments of God’s love for all of us.
This was like walking alongside Jesus in His sufferings and letting me feel how gravely i have sinned. And seeing Jesus endure everything made me realize that i should not be angered or irked by the slightest offense.
God bless us all.
A Blessed and Happy Easter to you and your loved ones. Alleluia!!!

Thank you so much. Very grateful to have participated in again in your online retreat since it started years back. Please include me in your prayers – so everything will be in God’s order and plan in our work. I offer the trials that we have been experiencing in our work for the forgiveness of sins and for the salvation of our poor souls in purgatory. Lord, strengthen us as we go through this storm. Lord, always be with us as you always are.

Thank you again for this wonderful retreat. Thank you, everyone!

Thank you so much for helping me rekindle my relationship with God. Please always include me in your prayers that i may always sustain this new found relationship with God. I need your prayers for strength and endurance in my faith.

Thank you so much for this online retreat… I feel so blessed for discovering this.. may we all soldier on, marching forward to the beat of the unexpected song , to fulfill God’s mission for all of us..Thank you for your prayers for all of us..

Thank you very much for the very enriching experience of the online retreat. I started yesterday and ended today. I really learned so much. May all of us be recipients of God’s grace and blessings always. Happy Easter and peace to all.

Thank you, Fr. J and the rest of the Pins of Light team for allowing me to rediscover my relationship with our Lord. Each word, image, video and music were carefully selected and curated which did not fail in touching the heart, mind and soul of the retreatants. I have cried a number of times while doing this retreat. It was a wonderful and refreshing feeling. Thank you very much and may God bless you all. Happy Easter!

Because of this online retreat, I was able to meet Jesus again and allow Him to accompany me during my Holy Week journey. I pray for the grace to keep my heart open to continue to allow Jesus to be there with me through the “ordinary” days ahead, as He has reassured us:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of times.”

Thank you for making this possible! A Blessed Easter to the Pins of Light team and retreatants!

Thank you, Lord, for Fr. J and the whole Pins of Light team. You are God’s answered prayer to me. I am praying that this Lent be more meaningful to me. And a priest advised me to “just accompany Jesus”. And this online retreat not only helped me accompany Jesus, but be grateful for what He has done for me, and for what God continuously offer and give us— His unbounded love and mercy. May I be love and mercy to other people, too.
God bless everyone and an Easter full of hope and joy to you!!!

Thank you! For bringing me closer to our Lord and strengthening my faith through this retreat.

My heart is racing to meet our Risen Lord on Easter morning.

God bless you Fr. J and your team and friends for this retreat

Arnaldo

The on,y words- thank you. I cannot tell you how helpful the fresh insights are. Happy Easter! Let us keep praying for the unexpected song to go on forever.

So grateful to the Lord for bringing me into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him, through this online Lenten retreat. Thanks to you Fr J and your team, and to my fellow retreatants, for the wealth of spiritual insights. Can’t think of a better way to prepare for tomorrow’s great Feast of our Risen Lord, and for the Feast of the Divine Mercy next Sunday. Prayers, please, for this grace for all of us: to always remember that we are specially loved, despite our sinful selves, and hence to muster the courage and generosity to share this His kind of love with others, especially those who need it most. Easter blessings to you and yours!

Thank you Lord for your mercy and love and grace, which always sees us throughout our journey. Thank you Lord for Father Johnny and the Jesuits for making this retreat possible and accessible this Holy Week for all who longs to seek the Lord and to love and serve the Lord, day by day. May my heart always be open to You and Your Love. Amen.

Thank You Lord for opening the door of my heart. Thank You for tender mercies. So blessed to have participated in this online retreat. May i pay forward the light & love & mercy I have received from this retreat to all lives that i touch. God bless you, Fr. Johnny & all who made this online retreat accessible.

Outcast, God’s unconditional love, merciful, compassion, open door are the words that I can carry with me as fruit of this online recollection.. Thank you Fr. your team.. More blessings.

Mercy is what everyone needs to focus on God and to fix our lives. Without it, we will be deprived of all happiness. Thank you Lord for opening the door of mercy, may all hearts be open to your blessings and graces. Amen.

This online retreat has helped me reopen my understanding of God’s bountiful mercy. There’s no reason for me not to value my life, no reason for me not to value the life of others. At the end of the day, Christ died for me; His love is so great that I cannot afford not to share it to others. Thank you.

Thank you Fr.J and your team for this wonderful retreat. Thank you for showing us the three doors of mercy and re telling the parables in a very different way. God Bless!

kmds, parables appear very simple but we can draw a lot of spiritual fruit from them. I hope this renews your interest in Scripture. God Bless you.

In the battles that the Lord continues to ask me to lead, I am able to refill my love tank to the brim and renew my courage to fight abuse where I find it. I look at His suffering face that is so much in pain yet strangely conveys so much love. “In Him alone is my strength” and I will not fear standing up to and speaking against wrong because He stands beside me always.

This was a very powerful tool to make me know, love, and follow God more… I can still see the images of the events at the Upper room before Jesus went out to accept our wretchedness. While in the garden he knew that the die was cast and it pained and frightened him so much…. then the images as Jesus walked to bear my iniquities by carrying the Cross and he kept giving and forgiving until there was nothing more to give when he breathed out his last…..dying wounded and full of hurts, alone, abandoned…..Dying, he waited until the third day to make sure that everyone is with him when he awakened so that he can bring home everyone to His Father….. Thank you so much…..its really like a story of “they live happily ever after” except that there is still the human struggle of following him or not. Am forever grateful and in awe of the greatest story ever told and continue to be told????????????

God bless you and your ministry, Ma’am Marissa.

Thank you for sharing the fruits of your recollection with us.

🙂

Thank you for a wonderful retreat. This retreat is an innovative way to penetrate the digital world. I hope to have more of these not only during lenten season but also during advent. God bless you all.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for inspiring me to open my FB at the right time (after lunch of Maundy Thursday) so that I may see this online retreat.
On Maundy Thursday, I was shaken by the realization that Jesus had to struggle whether or not to open His heart to me wretchedness; and He did. Willingly.
On Good Friday, I was – like another retreatant – fascinated that my prayers could travel through time and help console Jesus as He was dying alone and broken-hearted. I cried my sinner’s tears as I watched the end video showing how He was humiliated, tortured, crucified, and hung dying.
Today on this Black Saturday, I am moved and shaken by the thought and realization that Jesus lay cold and dead. Watching the opening video of Jesus’ path to Calvary, His body quivering uncontrollably with so much pain, and finally watching Him hanging on the cross for me makes me so ashamed of all the selfishness I’ve indulged in. Yet, I know I have opened my heart to His knocking, and that I’ll continue running towards the tomb until – and thank you for this utterly beautiful phrase – until I run into Him.
God bless you, Fr J and the Pins of Light team, and my prayers are with you. Thank you so very much.

Not sure if you are the same front-runner fool as the one above, but thank you nonetheless. Happy Easter to you!

Thank you for the beautiful reflections and helping add more meaning to this Holy Week. God bless your team.

Thank you Fr. J and the PH Jesuits for the gift of this online retreat. I have been out of our country for 8 years now. I am blessed every Holy Week for the grace to journey with you and share this with the public on Facebook too. May the Lord continue to bless each of you and your ministries. Praying for more vocations too. Happy Feast of the Risen Christ tomorrow!

Thank you for sharing this retreat. It seems that each one has a special prayer during a retreat and somehow even just thru one word or one phrase, the prayer is answered and inner peace is granted. Thank you Lord for inviting me to this retreat. God bless to all!

Yes, it’s different for everyone but that one word or one phrase can be the way the Spirit touches that person.

Thank you for this retreat! I appreciate this virtual retreat because my family chose to stay in a rural area for the Holy Week. Thank you for this instrument of faith.

This is my second year in joining the pins of light retreat. I am inspired and enlightened with the many learnings i received from this retreat. I am so blessed. Thank you Fr J and the rest of the people behind this yearly retreat. I have shared this to my friends too.It is my way of helping spread the words of GOD.I am looking forward to next year’s retreat. Happy Easter to All. GOD bless us all.

A million thanks to you, Fr.J!
I am so grateful to you and your team for this yearly online retreats. I believe this is the 3rd year that I have joined and it has been something that i look forward to every year! i liken this yearly online retreats like being given a jug of water after many days or weeks wandering in the dessert. Thank you for making this available to us so that we may grow in faith, love and hope; and for making us better disciples of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

You are most welcome, Anonymous.
We also benefit from the participants, especially when they share their reflections and prayers.

Million thanks to you Fr. J and to your team! I am blessed and honored to be in this retreat which led me through in my spiritual journey in this Lenten season. I fervently pray that I will be able to sustain the grace of humility to always listen to HIM and open my heart not only to HIM but to the last, the least and the lost. Looking forward to next year’s retreat. God bless us all. Kudos to PinsOfLight!

Thank you very much for this wonderful last day of online retreat. I’m glad to be a part of this. I feel very much blessed, enlightened, and renewed. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the help this retreat has given me.

The Holy Thursday retreat has helped me reflect on my needs and wants that lead me to sin. I was also reminded that Jesus does not shut His door on anyone.

The Good Friday retreat helped me see Jesus in a different light – as my elder brother who became the sacrificial goat and the scapegoat in order to invite me back home. I was beautifully reminded how much He loves me.

The Black Saturday + Easter Sunday retreat helped me to pray for grace to open my heart to Jesus and LET HIM IN and recognize Him in everyone, everywhere.

What struck me most in today’s retreat is the message of the Parable of the Lost Coin:

“No one is considered loose change that could be spared. No one is dispensable. Every single person matters. And God would look into every possible corner to SAVE each one.”

Indeed, very moving and beautiful.

My dear Jesus, thank You for blessing all the retreatants this Holy Week. Thank You for bringing together a community of retreatants, praying and reflecting wholeheartedly. I pray that all who have joined here may be blessed and may You hear their humble supplications.

Thank You for Your presence, Lord. Thank you for Your forgiveness, mercy, and love for us. Grant me the grace to recognize You in the most unexpected places and even in people. Help me to welcome You into my heart, Lord. I may run slowly at times, but with Your grace, I am determined to KEEP RUNNING TOWARDS YOU. Lead me, Lord. Amen.

Thank you to the Pins of Light team. My heart is full and blessed <3 God bless us all.

wow. thanks for enumerating the fruits of your recollection. I hope you can also jot it down in a journal so you will not forget them. God Bless you too!

Yes, I did write it down in a journal, Bro. M. I also used one for last year’s retreat. It helps me remember and reflect more when I write it down. Thank you again!

Thank You for this Fulfilling Retreat … Its a Journey that I will continue to re-live (hopefully w/God’shelp) everyday of my Life, Thank you to your Team ~ in You the HOPE to make our LORD GOD KNOWN TO ALL NEVER ENDS ! More BLESSINGS FOR AN EVERYDAY EASTER!

It is comforting to know that like the silver coin, God does not consider each of us as loose change. Every single one of us important to him. He blesses us in every way possible.
I realize that this has something to do with our everyday lives as well. We sometimes devalue a person considering them as loose change but then we forgot that they’ve become an important part of our lives. I pray that God give us the strength to make us realize the value of each and everyone that helps us in their own little way to make everyday bearable. Help me treat them with respect that they truly deserve and always remind me than in Your eyes they are all valued and cherished.

I find the unexpected song beautiful. Thank you Fr. J for reminding us to find Jesus in unexpected places and his presence is always felt we just have to see it. There are also people in our lives that come unexpectedly, maybe they are the Christ-figures sent by God himself so that we can always feel His presence. I thank all of them and I hope that they continue to be there. I pray that I also continue to give them importance and reward them with respect and acknowledgment that they deserve.

Thank you so much Fr. Johnny for another year of fruitful online retreat. This is my third year attending and I hope to attend your actual live retreat again soon. I will sure to bring my friends along with me. May God continue to bless you so you will be able to touch more people.

Thank you, James, for joining us for the third year in a row, as well as for your very helpful sharing. We all struggle with what you mentioned. We tend to devalue people in our rush to get things done, so indeed it is a timely reminder for all of us, the spiritual directors included! We are all on the same journey, so let’s keep praying for one another! 😉

Thank you for the response Fr. J and Bro. M. I am glad that my sharing was heard by the team themselves and most especially by Fr. J. It is very much appreciated to know that my simple thoughts matter.

I would like you to know that you are all an inspiration to all the retreatants and it inspired me to do better and serve more for the youth ministry that I am a part of. Our parish youth also has a simple online activity through facebook by sharing biblical thoughts from time to time. I am proud to say that I got the inspiration when I started reading and sharing weekly reflections from pins of light.

More power and may God Bless you even more! 🙂

Thank you Father J,
I hope that I can see Jesus’ cross everyday, to find joy in suffering. That I will always remember that He has thought me worthy. I hope and pray I can live up to that.
God bless you and your team for blessing us with this experience. Until next year.

Love,
Udele

Yes, next year again, Udele.

In the meantime, we will both try to live out the fruits of our Holy Week Recollection.

Thank you Fr. Johnny and the Jesuit team behind this online retreat. I have been invited to take this for several years now but this is my first time to do it. Such a blessed decision and a great gift from our Lord! Will surely speak about this and share the Word and encourage it in the future.

May you all continue to be blessed as you continue to be a blessing to many.

God bless you!

Everytime I end a retreat I remember what you once told me… the world is still as wounded, dark and broken when I return to it after Holy Week… with these reflections and directed prayers the past couple of sessions, I pray that I never forget – the door of my heart will only open if I continually choose it to open and not succumb to the frightening power of my own free will that shuts out the Lord from it.

Thank you, Fr. J and the rest of the Jesuit community for reminding me of the Unexpected Song and the beauty and love I can encounter if only I allow myself and surrender myself.

Happy Easter!

Thank you Father for evangelizing this way. It is so beautiful! Media should be used more in this way. I hope my Xavier boy will grow more in God’s love and light.

I did the last click with a heavy heart. I wanted more even though I knew that all I need to do is keep my heart open to God’s grace to see Him in all the faces that I meet and hear His call in all the voices that I hear. Thank you for this inspiring retreat.

Outcast, you can always go back and relish the parts that resonate the most with you. It’s called the Ignatian repetition. 🙂

Yes, Bro. M, I still have last year’s on my screen for quick access. To check on how I am doing with my retreat resolutions. I’m moving slowly, but God is patient. And His door is always open.

Thank you Father J and team for the online retreat. It has become a Lenten Tradition of sorts for me ever since this was hosted in the Philippine Jesuit site (is that correct?). The more power it has for me now that I have living away from the Philippines for a little over five years now and in countries where Lent is not observed. So thank you for always putting this piece of work out there in the world wide web, the internet casting a net.

This has been such a beautiful source of consolation for me.

Maundy Thursday gave me the gift of a beautiful reflection with the “Wanting Things” song. I do have more than what I want but I still focus on what I don’t i.e. my temptation.

Good Friday I was blown away by the fact that our prayers can transcend time. We can be with Jesus and pray for him in his most lonely time. It was a great way of doing something for him.

Today, Black Saturday, I was struck by Peter and his steps. That he was uncharacteristically not first. This spoke to what I’ve been praying for this Lenten season. I don’t need to rush to find my “big” thing. Being in the now is just as noble as being fast, first or even “there.”

Thank you!

P.S. Thank you for putting the Lenten Retreat back to your site. It’s much quieter than last year (if I’m not mistaken as it was hosted in Rappler). And more of a retreat. Thank you!

THANK YOU, Tala. What do you mean when you say that it was quieter than last year?
I hope you can help us spread the word about the retreat in the future.

What a beautiful and wonderful retreat and experience. Thank you Fr. J and Jesuit Communications.

Happy Easter everyone! God bless.

Thank you, Lord, that I saw this post on Facebook. It made my observance of Lent more meaningful. May I ask my fellow retreatants to pray for a loved one who will undergo a heart procedure to correct an anomaly in her heart. Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you, Anonymous#2, for responding.
And thank you, Anonymous #1, for sharing. Be assured of our prayers.

I have been greatly blessed by this online retreat. I am sharing below my reflections. May you also be blessed abundantly.

* The retreat reminded of God’s unconditional love, a love which is not forced upon us but to which we are free to respond.

* Jesus is the opposite of the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He is seeking us out even before we realize we are better off being with the Father.

* Jesus’ passion transcends time. He is paying for the sins we have committed and the sins we would commit in the future. We can pray right now for Jesus, that He may have the strength to bear his crucifixion, that He may realize He has not been abandoned by the Father, that He is not alone.

* We pray that we may love like Jesus who was still kind to His apostles even if they had betrayed Him.

Thank you so much Fr. Johnny and team for preparing the “Doors” for me to walk thru. I pray that you continue to provide this alternative to those like me who prefer to spend time during Lent in the privacy of my room. This is proof that technology can and should be used for the Lord’s work of evangelization. I am already looking to next year’s retreat. Are you preparing something similar for Advent?

Maraming salamat and God bless your ministry!

Fr. Johnny has been creating online Advent retreats too. So maybe we will have another one at the end of 2016.

Thank you Fr. J for opening this online retreat. It was a different experience to pace it according to ones time preference. Thank you also to the whole team and spiritual advisers. Learning about the three doors and going into learning about my inner feelings is most refreshing. Thank You once again. God Bless us all.

Maraming salamat po sa buong team! It was a soul searching experience for me.

As I was reflecting on the last prayer for today “Unexpected Song” I heard the “Tumana kids” asking for kalakal. I stopped the song momentarily because I felt , it was the “unexpected voice of Jesus”. I told the kids to be back next Saturday since I have recently given them all that I have collected.

Something has been bothering me since the start of the retreat. It is about how I could respond, in my limited capacity, to the innocent children in Syria and other nations at war. I feel that my prayers for these children are not enough. What can you advise?

Thank again and be assured of my prayers.

Hmmmm. If you want to help these kids in particular, there are organizations like Doctors Without Borders and maybe Unicef you can look up on the internet.

Thank you Fr. Johnny and the whole team for these wonderful three days. For opening so many doors…I used to think that way too regarding the door of our hearts…that the lock is within…but in a split second while going through that portion…it suddenly dawned on me that the Risen Christ can enter even closed doors. Such a thought gave me so much consolation… for when pride, foolishness, stubbornness, unforgiveness have hardened our hearts, Christ comes offering his peace so we can open the door of our hearts once again to love and be loved. Happy Easter to all!

Thank you very much for allowing us to walk with Jesus and showing us His great love and mercy for us. May you continually be filled by the Spirit and lead more people closer to Jesus. God bless you all.

Thank you, Father J, for allowing me to walk with Jesus and for introducing me to the different doors to mercy. I will continue to pray for you and your team, and for my co-retreatants as well. A Blessed and Joyous Easter to all of us!

I can’t thank you enough for putting together this beautiful online retreat. It’s insightful and truly engaging in a deep, personal way. Since entering midlife transition I found the imagery of doors to hold more meaning. The retreat revealed to me another dimension to this imagery. It’s not just about opening doors to my inner Self but also making a conscious effort to tune into and be willing to open my heart’s doors to God’s promptings in my life. Thanks.

This is such a great blessing… I praise God for people like you who try to reach out to as many as you can to bring us closer to God! Thank you that despite having a poor signal I am able to participate in this retreat… Thank you for making me ready for Easter tomorrow and I will definitely spread your page and website to my family and friends. Thank you So much! You definitely blessed me…

Anonymous, it is people like you who make us feel really blessed in this ministry. Thank you for participating.

My deep gratitude to you for your great generosity in organizing this on-lie retreat. It helps me a lot especially in preparing myself spiritually for the Easter season. I actually had a personal renewal since Holy Thursday. I hope to follow you again in your Advent retreat (hopefully there is!)
With the grace of God, I want to be a disciple of mercy to everyone especially the least and the underprivileged.

Thank you. I may not be sharing my reflections but i am praying for all the retreatants and for you too Fr. J and for all the spiritual directors. God bless!

Kahit ako ay nag iisa ngayong Holy Week, ito pala ang Blessing ko, online retreat. More blessings to all organizers of pins of light. God Bless you all ALWAYS.

Kabit ako ay nag iisa ngayong Holy Week, ito pala ang Blessing ko, online retreat. More blessings to all organizers of pins of light. God Bless you all ALWAYS.

Thank you for blessing us with this online retreat. It opened my eyes to a lot of things about our faith. God bless you.

My heart is full! Thank you for your kind work of reaching out to as many people as you can thru this retreat! I am filled with joy as again meet the Lord and rest in the knowledge that God is with us always!

God bless you all!

May the reason for the season guide us always!

❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for organizing this online retreat and helping me open my heart to God. What a realization it was for me that my heart, which I thought had been open to God, was still closed. I didn’t feel the extent of His love for me until now. Thank you for helping me realize that. I came running back to Him, thanks to you. Everything about the song is exactly how I feel right now. It will take time, but I know I will finish my journey knowing I will finish it with God holding my hand. God bless you and the team!

Thank You Father J for this online retreat!
Surely, aabangan ko ito ulit next year!
Again, Kudos to the whole team!
????

Thank you for a very wonderful experience . I hope and pray that I will be able to carry the lessons learned from this retreat. Praying for all of you.

Thank you for guiding us through this Holy Week so that we may encounter Jesus more intimately each day.

Thank you for this opportunity.many thoughts learned that i hope to be able to share and apply myself in my relationships.God bless us all.Happy Easter!

Thank you so much! This online retreat has been such a blessing this holy week. May God continue to bless you and widen your ministry. Happy Easter!

Thank you for this insightful and spiritual retreat ! God bless you Fr J ! I pray that the Lord will open our eyes so we can see Him, open our ears that we can listen to Him and open our hearts that we can love Him more..

“Mercy, like its origin love, entails vulnerability. It does not calculate costs; it rushes out to the beloved.”– I pray that we all will unlock the door to our hearts, not only to let the mercy we have kept inside rush out but also to allow Jesus to enter and make it His permanent dwelling place. Thank you, Fr. J, for yet another deeply moving retreat!

This online retreat is indeed a blessing to me. Thank you Fr. J for painstakingly preparing this retreat for us. God bless you!

Really appreciate this. My family and I join the online retreat together every year and we connect the laptop to the widescreen tv. It’s our holy week highlight. God bless!

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