Refuge is a word that has been on my heart a lot over the past six months.
Its cousin-word, “refugee”, has been very prominent in the news during the past few years, and for good reason. Thousands of Syrians left their homes to find a safer, healthier and happier place to live. A few of those families were helped by my home parish of St. Augustine’s, and we welcomed them into our community, helping them get a fresh start with housing, clothing, ESL classes and fellowship.
For many of us, we will never find ourselves needing to leave home and start anew somewhere else. I do feel, though, that in our lives, we are in need of some kind of refuge. We need a safe place to go to, away from busy routines, emotional turmoil, mental health struggles and more.
As part of a planning committee at my parish, we discussed ways in which we can better fulfill the needs of our community. In my reflection and prayer, my mind turned towards organizing an event that would help all of us pray about how our parish should proceed, moving forward, but would also help individual needs, too.
I brought forward a plan to re-introduce the practice of monthly evenings of Eucharistic adoration to our parish. These evenings would provide an opportunity for those gathered to pray, in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, supported by music, words of reflection, and times of silence. In this way, a dynamic prayer experience would be created in which people could find refuge.
Refuge, for those who attend, is an opportunity to unburden one’s self of stresses and anxieties and offer them to God in prayer. There’s something for everyone- opportunity for people to find rest and be renewed in Jesus through music, word, and silence.
In conclusion, I guarantee you will find something you like at a Refuge evening and I recommend you visit.
They happen on the 3rd Friday of each month. The next one is May 19th at 7PM. More details can be found on my Facebook page where event pages are posted a few weeks before each Refuge event.
It’s also the only place, at present, that you can hear what I’m up to musically. So if that’s your reason for coming, that’s alright too! I’d be happy to play for you and pray with you.
Peace!