In late April, Saint Benedict Parish hosted the annual Lenten Parish Mission, where we were blessed by guest speakers Mary Maher and Eleanor Segraves joining virtually from Chicago, Illinois.

Our former pastor, Fr. James Mallon, had met these speakers years ago at a Divine Renovation Ministry conference in Chicago, and he encouraged our current pastor, Fr. Simon Lobo, to secure these speakers for a future parish mission. As it turned out, Mary Maher started night one of the mission by saying how excited they were to do ‘anything’ for Saint Benedict parish, since the renewal that the Archdiocese of Chicago is going through is directly related to the model that Saint Benedict helped create.

As the mission approached, Mary and Eleanor spent time in prayer, lifting the parishioners of Saint Benedict up to God. Through that time of prayer and reflection, they came up with ‘God Is’ as the theme of the mission.

Night one began with Mary sharing that there are over 900 names for God in scripture. She detailed some of the names, and how these names express the ways in which God reveals his heart to us.

Jehovah Shammah, meaning ‘God is Present’, speaks to how we are made for relationship, for presence, and how painful it can be to experience loneliness. Jehovah Shammah, however, is present with all of us.

Jehovah Jireh means ‘God our provider’. God promises to provide for our deep internal needs, like peace, joy, and healing. The night ended with an opportunity for reflection, in which we could discern ways in which we want God to be present, to provide for us, to be our Savior.

For night two, Eleanor dove deeper into the theme of night one, with a focus, “If God is... Then who am I?” During the night, she unpacked how we are beloved children of God, how we are made in his image, and that we are all created to be in a relationship with him. The message, coming directly from God, reminds us that we are not orphans, but that we belong to God. In a fitting reference for Maritimers, Eleanor related the theme to the famous Anne of Green Gables story, and introduced the ‘Pirate's Prayer’ (ARRR: Acknowledge, Relate, Receive, Respond).

On the final night, both Mary and Eleanor brought focus to the name for God of Jehovah Rapha, ‘The Lord who heals physical and emotional needs’. They shared biblical stories of healing, and Eleanor shared a personal story of healing she experienced in the last few years. It was all to remind us that we can’t be self-reliant when it comes to healing, and how only God can repair and restore us. Their prayer for the people of Saint Benedict was that we would feel in our hearts the deep personal love God has for each one of us and that God’s sacrificial love has no boundaries.

If you were unable to experience the Lenten Parish Mission live, you have not missed out! You can still watch on Saint Benedict’s YouTube channel, where all three nights (and much more) is available: YouTube.com/SaintBP.