“I feel happy and liberated,” said Blanca, a parishioner from St. Margaret Parish, Reading. She had tears in her eyes after attending the diocesan Hispanic Charismatic Retreat, a new experience for her.
About 150 gathered to pray and hear talks by Father Martin Scott at the two-day retreat in St. Paul’s Parish Center, Allentown.
Father Scott founded the religious community “Siervos de la Divina Misericordia” (Servants of Divine Mercy,) whose charism is based on the messages concerning Our Lord’s Divine Mercy given to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
“Jesus calls us to be his best friends, and to be the best friend of Jesus means to do His will. However, patterns of emotional and spiritual illness do not allow us to grow in doing His will,” explained Father Scott, who led participants in praying for healing from painful memories and invited them to forgive anyone who had hurt them in the past. “Holiness goes hand in hand with healing, and God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally healed.”
Father Scott, formerly Father Richard Scott, was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. in 1988. In 2003, he was granted permission from the Archdiocese to move to Peru with all of his priestly faculties. It was there that he founded Siervos de la Divina Misericordia and took the religious name Martin.
The Nov. 11 and 12. retreat was coordinated by Maria Alejandra Arias, diocesan Coordinator of the Charismatic Renewal. After the retreat, Arias received a message from one attendee saying, “This was an enriching experience for our family. Seeing my 15-year-old son crying for the first time because God had moved him is priceless.”
“The Lord told me that he loves me, that I am not alone, and to not despair,” said Elsa Reyes, parishioner of Sacred Heart, Allentown. Reyes added that she left the event as a new person.
Confessions were offered on Saturday and Sunday by Father Scott and various priests from the Diocese of Allentown: Father David Kozak, Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Allentown, and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Allentown; Father John Gibbons, Pastor of Sacred Heart, Allentown, and Immaculate Conception B.V.M, Allentown; Father Keith Laskowski, Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Easton, and of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Easton; and Father Juan Rodriguez, Assistant Pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Reading.
Father Scott celebrated Mass during the retreat on Sunday. The concelebrant was Father Juan Rodriguez, spiritual advisor of the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal of the Diocese.
Visit https://www.allentowndiocese.org/calendar for information on future events in Spanish. For more information on Hispanic Affairs in the Diocese of Allentown, visit https://www.allentowndiocese.org/oha.
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