Share Your Graces from Resurrecting Easter

We invite all those who participated in our online retreat to post their insights, takeaways, and prayers below. Feel free to read one another’s sharing. Happy Easter!

37 replies on “Share Your Graces from Resurrecting Easter”

Thank you, Father Johnny and the very Creative Staff of Pins of Light. It’s was another exhilarating and spirit filled experience. I think it was the fourth or fifth chance to have the privilege of joining the retreat. As always, it’s enlightening, enriching and inspiring. The three day sessions immersed me into the scriptures and experience the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is inevitable not to take action in accord to the learning absorbed during the process. I pray and with the help of the Holy Spirit, that what I learned is personally digested deeper into practice; may I be transformed. I look forward to next year’s Holy Week Retreat.

Thank you Fr. Johnny and Pins Of Light (smiley and blue heart emoji)
I am not sure how many times I have attended your retreat but I’d be there again next year and everytime, God-willing.
For sure: I was richer and a lot better after our retreat
For sure: I will be revisiting your talks for guidance and be on a continuous reflection, drawing of inspiration, discovery with the Lord, conviction, daily acts of trust & thanksgiving & gratefulness, conversion, forgiveness, humility, LOVE
For sure: Fr. Johnny and POL made a difference, as always (red heart emoji)

Grateful and blessed for having participated once again in the POL retreat by Fr. Johnny Go, SJ with his team. I love the references to the Scriptures and how Fr. Johnny would suit them to the context of daily realities we go through. Each day brought fresh reflections that brought me a new, creative way of looking at my reality as a religious Sister. So the themes of Receptivity, Restraint and Resilience were seen in a new perspective on the condition that I saw each of them from a personal decision to let each light to break through my awareness of self and relationship with Jesus. More and more, religious and priests after so many years of service to the mission would learn how to re-calibrate one’s soul to be able to see again and again the sparks of everyday and find beauty in the grace that is always there, grace that the Spirit has never refused to send us. Resurrecting Easter is always a personal choice amid the struggles, doubts and yes, insecurities. But never the love of God lavishly poured on us each day. Special thanks Fr. Johnny for this creative method I have learned in the realm of spiritual life and which I know I need to share with the community.

I have been attending POL retreats and as always, it helped me rejuvenate every time. This year’s retreat is another spiritually enriching moment. Kudos again to Fr.J and the POL team. God bless.

Two most important takeaways I learned this year are:
– Resilience of God’s love, ie, He will always emerge victorious amidst sin and all its barriers.

– Boundaries are defined through discernment and with freedom. As Fr J mentioned, calibrate your hospitality.

Thank you so much Fr J and POL Team. I know how difficult it is to give us these recollections! God bless your generous hearts!

It has been 3 days since the conclusion of the retreat but there’s still a lot to unpack and mull over. My Easter has definitely been Resurrected and my life after this Holy Week experience will never be the same again. This is definitely one of the best of Fr Johnny’s Holy Week retreats and as always I am truly grateful not only to him but also to the POL team for making it possible.

The retreat was spirit filled. I have been doing a lot of confessions, but I find myself doubting about God’s forgiveness. During the reading about washing of the feet, the words of Jesus to Peter ““Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” I was struck with these words as if God was telling me I can never have Jesus in my heart and in my life unless I accept his forgiveness. I cannot forgive others also I am not forgiving to myself.

Thank you for this retreat Father J and rest of POL team.

Thank you Fr. J for a very enriching and profound on- line retreat. It lead me to a deeper introspection on my relationship with God and how I translate it to my relationship with others. Forgiving myself has been a struggle but knowing Im loved by God as repeatedly mentioned in the retreat has helped me a lot. Again, thank you so much.

This is my first time that I attended the retreat-recollection. But I was so delighted, enlightened and blessed. The retreat gave me spiritual direction and focus which part of my faith and relationships with God and others to reflect and deepen. I am asking and praying that the Holy Spirit continue to bless me that I should always follow the will of God because He always express His self-emptying core of Receptivity, Restrain and Resilience. Happy Easter everyone. Thanks much Fr J and POL Team.

I would like to thank Fr. J and the POL team for this wonderful experience. My gratitude goes beyond words. I will pray that this ministry remains dedicated to glorifying the Lord in all their endeavors.
PS: I’m loving the playlist as always 😉

Resurrecting Easter was just the most apt theme. I had not considered that before. It gave me a fresh perspective from which to experience the retreat. The movement in me from receptivity to restraint and finally to resilience was quite an attentive journey toward openness into the deepest recesses of self, a careful choice of the quality of what to give up for love, and a courageous way of facing the sordid world – knowing that Christ’s enduring faithfulness will never fail me.

Thank you, Fr. Johnny and your Pins of Light team. Thank you for allowing yourselves to be pins of light – always the grace we need.

First of all i would like to thank Fr. Johnny and Team for making this wonderful retreat possible. This is the first time i came to know of Pins of Light Retreat. I am blessed to make use of my Holy Week time fruitful with this retreat. The lessons of Receptivity/Hospitality, Restraint and Resilience and the Bible verses and characters spoke to me of my journey and desire to be attuned to God’s presence. From the opening prayer to the question and answer portion… got me engaged. Thank you very much! I also shared your Pins of Light 1 minute homily every every Sunday to my family and friends. God be praised in all of you!

My heart is filled with gratitude for coming across Fr. J’s Pins of Light retreat in 2020 through a good friend and I have been looking forward to it every year.
Thank you very much, Fr. Johnny and team. This year’s has opened the eyes of my heart and mind and helped me understand and make sense of what I’ve gone through and how to keep moving forward because God loves me so much and He’s always there for me.
Presenting Gospel characters to identify with helped me to reflect on my life and understand myself better.
As always, I’ve loved Fr. J’s choice of secular songs. I couldn’t get enough of “I’ll be there for you”. I’ve always loved this song but the one by Mateo Oxley shared by Fr. J has blown me away.
Thank you, merci, grazie Fr. Johnny! 💙💙💙
God bless and protect you always.

This is my first time to attend Father J’s retreat. I am thankful that I got to know about this retreat because it helped me to slowly know myself and my relationship with God better.

I’ve been doing the Lenten retreats of Pins of Light since they started 17 years ago. I’ve never missed a single retreat. To me, this year has been the best. There is much to reflect on, especially my relationship with God and what I can do going forward. Thank you Fr. Johnny and your team.

I am blessed to have completed the 3 sessions. This retreat gave me an opportunity to look deeper into myself. I want to overcome the slave mentality… enslavement of past hurts, rejections and doubts. Hopefully, I will begin a new journey that will bring healing. Thank you Lord…

i may redesign my life and take the road less travelled . Will see how this pans out.
Thank you for the thought provoking spiritual sessions.
Hoping to attend next year!

Thank you very much Fr. J and POL team for all your labors and dedication. Throughout these years POL online retreat has been for me a tremendous source of life changing graces. I pray that your ministry will continue for many more years and each one of you will truly enjoy the bounties of Easter!- greg

I have been attending POL retreats for more than a decade now — DIY and Zoom ones. And they always open the door to a secret garden where the Lord waits for me to reveal Himself more intimately, in silence and in solitude. I cannot thank you enough, Fr. Johnny and team, for allowing yourselves to be channels of so much grace to flow into the lives of POL retreatants! God bless you more!

Have been attending the POL retreats and recollections for several years now, but it’s a new experience every time.

Especially now.

I lost my beloved youngest child, my only daughter, nearly two years ago…just three weeks after Easter (making this only our second Easter without her). I have since received much consolation from the Lord, and have moved from grieving to grieving-with-hope. Easter is the season of greatest hope, and yet it carries a sobering reminder that Mary’s child will rise from His grave…but mine will not.

I came away from the retreat with the conviction that I want to love the Lord so much more. I may never be able to love Him as He deserves to be loved (no human can), but I want to crawl as close as I can to that unreachable height. And yes…I was sad to end the recollection still with that somber thought that as the rest of the world rejoices in Easter miracles, there is one miracle that nobody – not even God – can give me. His tomb is forever empty and silent…and so is her room.

I was sad to see the recollection end because I (and my mom, who has been faithfully attending POL recollections since the pandemic!) learned so much each day…but just a day after, I received my Easter miracle anyway.

I learned firsthand how the pins of light reach us even after the end of the recollection! At Fr. Johnny’s Easter Mass homily, I was stunned to hear him challenge us to think about how quickly we are running to the site of the resurrection: are we running a bit more slowly because we fear we have betrayed the Lord…or perhaps we privately feel that He betrayed us, as we prayed for someone to be healed, but it didn’t happen. (For a moment I wondered if I had actually written about my somber thoughts during the recollection, but I hadn’t…and yet here they were, addressed in crystal clarity – as though I had received a few pins of light!)

Whatever the reason, Fr. Johnny urged us not just to turn to the Lord, but to RUN to the Lord! In these simple but sublime words, I recognized what the Lord was asking me to do. He knew my pain…He wasn’t asking me to stop feeling the grief, because that is part of loving her. He was asking me to run to Him, even if my steps were a little bit more labored, a little bit more wounded. He would wait with His arm extended, as long as it took for me to reach Him.

Grieving is part of having loved (and continuing to love) someone who has gone ahead; He is not asking me to forget her. He is inviting me to RUN to Him, and allow Him into my heart so that He may fill it and allow me to work with Him. I will take the lessons on Kenosis and empty the crevices of my heart of everything that can get in the way of loving the Lord as He deserves to be loved!

The retreats of Father Johnny always inspire me to be a better person and to develipment a closer pwrsonal relationship with Christ.

Thank you so much Father Johnny and your crew. God bless your work of bringing us closer to Christ and the values of our Faith.

Looking back, I want to express my gratitude for organizing the 3-day online retreat, a thoughtful initiative for those of us working from home during the holidays, including Good Friday and Black Saturday. Despite wishing to participate in person at church, this 3-day retreat has allowed me to engage meaningfully from home. Currently, I am reflecting on Day 2, finding the guided journaling prompts deeply impactful, bringing me closer to God and confronting my sins. This experience highlights God’s patience and presence, even as I navigate my shortcomings. I look forward to continuing with Day 2 and moving on to Day 3. This heartfelt message is a token of my appreciation. I’m delighted to celebrate Easter with my loved ones at a nearby church, cherishing my Catholic faith. God bless you all, Father. Thank you. – Jeffréy from Singapore. God bless po.

Indeed this video is so TRUE ” To Be HUMAN is Like a GUEST HOUSE” , to Fr Johnny and your TEAM,thank you for giving us this opportunity to experience ” HOLY WEEK” in the most simple and soulful way via virtual platform . We will pray for your TEAM and for more people to discover the PINS OF LIGHT .GOD BLESS YOU ALL

on the 1st day, I was immediately struck by the reluctant bystander. I have been putting off helping someone because sometimes it gets tiring. But after listening to the points for reflection, I was struck that sometimes even if you are not happy helping someone, God still appreciates that.

The retreat brought me into a deeper connection with my faith in God. For the longest time, I felt that my faith looked stagnant but it was a renewed experience to find a personal connection between the readings and the gospels shared. Thank you for sharing your blessing with us!

Thank you so much, Fr. J and Pins of Light team, for another heartwarming and enlightening online retreat! Praying for God’s grace and blessings to continue heading your way. 🙏

This retreat has led me to revisit a painful experience and welcome it again as part of me. I asked God what He wants me to learn from it, this time with gentleness and much self-compassion. I was sooo burnt out and yet, I was not deeply seen until something traumatic happened. I also felt that I was only valued for what I do. I want to heal but it’s also okay if God won’t heal me…I just want Him to stay with me and I, in Him. I resolve to give Jesus enough time to simply take delight in me while I simply rest in Him. This quiet dissident needs it for a new kind of birthing in my heart that I have yet to discern.
Thank you for always leading me to seek the Lord and for making me feel His nearness, Fr. J. May Christ’s receptivity, restraint and resilience lead us to new way of living and loving. Happy Easter, Fr. J and Pins of Light. I will pray for you whenever I remember.

Spiritual hunger satisfied! I have been attending this recollection for many many years and look forward with great anticipation everytime. Our eyes are blindfolded by the many daily concerns, challenges and humps in the arduous road of life that we fail to see the light. Thank you Fr. J and the POL team for the clarity and inspiration. I am especially touched by the refreshing humility in responding to the questions and comments. Makes me feel we all are all a work in progress in spite of your vast knowledge of scripture. We continue to pray for one another. Bless you all 🕊

A priest once told me during confession that I will go to Hell. Unfazed, I retorted, “Well, I’ll see you there, Father!”

I have been attending The Pins of Light Holy Week retreats by Fr Johnny Go for several years now and the retreats always make me feel and rejoice in God’s unfathomable Love and Mercy. Because of this, He would not want me to go to Hell. Neither would he want that priest to go to Hell either. So I suppose I’ll see that priest in Heaven after all. Bring down that curtain!

May God be with you, Fr Johnny and POL team. Thank you!

Pins of light retreats always take me to a place where God intimately reveals Himself by revealing who I truly am in God’s heart. The temple curtain is a bit thinner now. Thank you Fr. J and the POL staff, and may God’s grace continue to stream through your ministry.

Father J’s insights and retreats have always been a great help in my continuing conversion. They bring me closer to my God who loves me so much. ❤️ God bless you more, Father J!

I have been attending Fr. J’s POL recollection for several years already and it has never failed to enlighten and encourage me as well provide new insights regarding my faith. Very relevant and applicable to me this time is that of being receptive to people, accepting them for who they are even if not always approving of their ways. Very hard to embrace but something to constantly work on. Thank you Fr. J and POL team. Happy Easter everyone!

I was blown away by these 3-day online retreat. It was my first time to attend. I was so hungry after Thursday. The Lord clearly spoke to me through Fr. Johnny’s words. The retreat gave me clarity, direction, guidance and so many hard lessons as I move forward after this Easter. Thank you to the Pins of Light community! I forwarded the 3 day sessions to my circle of influence and one remarked “Iba talaga ang mga Hesuwita! Bullseye! On point! Ang lalim!” 😁 May the Holy Spirit continue to bless us all with His wisdom and the gift of discernment. Happy Resurrection Day to Everyone!

I am grateful to these opportunities to listen to different perspectives on the story of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. I am blessed by the journey of Receptivity, Restraint and Resilience. It spoke to my journey of pain, sinfulness and my struggle to remain true. Thank you for another spiritual experience I will carry this whole year. God bless you, Fr. J and the Pins of Light team.

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