Holy Spirit Parish in City Beach hosted a menALIVE men’s weekend on September 14-15.
Thirty men gathered to be led on a spiritual journey by menALIVE co-founder Peter Shakhovskoy and Perth men Kim Metcalf and Greg Diamond.
After a welcome and blessing from parish priest Fr Don Kettle, the weekend began with an introductory session to get the men talking to each other.
During the session the usual defences dropped and an openness developed. By the end of the session the men were ready to begin their journey.
The next two sessions looked at the men’s relationship with God and gave a reminder that we are his beloved children.
The sessions looked at the obstacles that keep us from a close relationship with God and particularly how our earthly fathers may have affected this relationship.
The sessions made the men reflect on whether they were moving towards a closer relationship or whether they were spiralling away, perhaps as a result of earthly distractions.
Each session included a group sharing activity where many men discovered common circumstances and were encouraged by one another.
The evening session continued this journey of connection to God and challenged the men to become all that he created us to be.
The session included a fire ritual where lists of obstacles were symbolically committed to flames as a means to put these aside.
The Sunday sessions looked at making changes in the lives of participants in order to take steps towards God.
The sessions discussed daily prayer and scripture journaling as the means to have a dialogue with God and to know him personally.
The journaling was introduced as a group activity in order to continue sharing and fellowship.
The participating men all found a spiritual renewal and discovered a fellowship with one another that can enable this spirit to endure.
MenALIVE is a national Catholic ministry to men with the purpose to bring men together, to renew their faith in God and to encourage them to become an active force of renewal in the Church.