Tsoseletsa

St Lucia Retreat and Training Centre (KZN) hosted recently a “Tsoseletsa” (renew) retreat presented by Frances Correia from the Jesuit Institute of South Africa. The participants were introduced to a number of Ignatian ways of prayer. Ignatian Spirituality gives emphasis to seeking God in the people and events of our everyday life. This retreat was a very African way of encountering Ignatian Spirituality. There was input and sharing in small groups, time to pray personally and together. Through reflection and sharing, the group came to a greater appreciation for dreams, the importance of Ancestors, and the sharing of our own stories. A powerful experience for Siyabonga (25 years old):

“As an African, the “Tsoseletsa” experience spoke very much to me and to my friends from Khula village together with two Ursuline novices from Senegal and Nigeria: it focused on the important historical moments of my journey of Christian faith in the role of passed actors in that journey. It made me realised the important influence my ancestors played on setting me on this journey within the Catholic Church. For instance, I remember my grand-mother telling me that when she married my grand-father she was not a Catholic. However, her father-in-law, who himself rarely went to church, told her that the whole family were loyal Catholics. As a young bride, she obliged the family. Years later, she insisted that her young grand-children went to weekly Mass. Because of her, I am today a Catholic. “Tsoseletsa” restored the spiritual significance of this memory of my grandmother as a Saint in my life. She has recently passed away. I noticed that these kind of memories of the influence of our grand-parents and parents played in our spiritual growth was echoed in each of us who attended the retreat at the St Lucia Retreat and Training Centre.”