Diocesan Lenten Retreat will be March 23

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HOLLADAY — With the theme “Holy Encounters On The Lenten Journey: Transforming and Renewing the Church,” the Diocesan Lenten Retreat has been scheduled for March 23.

The presenter for the retreat in English will be Father Ray John Marek, OMI. The Spanish session will be presented by Father Alfredo Basualdo.

Fr. Marek is no stranger to the Diocese of Salt Lake City; he has given various retreats over the years, and also has helped with the formation at the diocesan deacon formation classes.

Now the director of the Lexon House of Spirituality in Oakland, Calif., Fr. Marek has served a variety of assignments; among them, instructor at the St. Anthony Seminary in San Antonio, Texas. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Aquinas Institute of Theology, where he was an associate professor of homiletics.

Inviting the faithful in the diocese to attend the March 23 retreat, Fr. Marek said that “the Lenten season is often described as a journey of faith, especially as Lent challenges us to live more deeply our Christian discipleship.”

This year, with the Church in the United States in the midst of a time of Eucharistic renewal, Catholics are “again invited to encounter Jesus, the Holy One, who invites us to know him more deeply,” especially during the Lenten journey, Fr. Marek said.

The People of God encounter “the Holy One in Sacred Scripture. Just as we are called to know and encounter Jesus Christ in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we are also invited to know Christ in the Liturgy of the Word,” Fr. Marek said, adding that everyone is invited to listen to God’s word, “to ‘chew’ on that Word and to ponder it; and to be transformed by it once again. All of this renews and transforms the Church into today’s world.”

Retreat participants will encounter God “as we reflect on Jesus’s encounters in Sacred Scripture,” Fr. Marek said. “We’ll ask ourselves what these holy encounters mean for us today, both personally and as a Church.”

The retreat will also offer time for personal reflection and for personal sharing.

“In contemplating how each of has met Christ in a holy encounter, we are all invited to live out our discipleship. As we will gather to hear, encounter, ponder and reflect on March 23, we will become a living example of the synodal Church that grows deeper in its own Christian identity and mission,” Fr. Marek said, and at the end of the retreat, “we will be sent forth to live discipleship more deeply and more fervently.”

WHAT: Diocesan Lenten Retreat “Holy Encounters on the Lenten Journey: Transforming and Renewing the Church”

WHEN: Saturday, March 23

                English 9 a.m. to noon; Speaker will be Fr. Ray John Marek, OMI

                Spanish 1-4 p.m. Speaker Fr. Alfredo Basualdo (see "Retiro diocesano de Cuaresma" on the landing page)

WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s Holy Family Hall, 1375 E. Spring Lane, Holladay

COST: None, but registration required by March 20. To register, contact Trisha.norcross@dioslc.org or 801-328-8641 ext. 363.