The parishioners of Our Lady of LaSalette Church in Canton will gather for a parish Lenten retreat on Monday-Wednesday, March 3-5. The retreat sessions each day will be held at 9 a.m. and at 7:30 p.m. (same session offered morning and evening). All are welcome to attend.

This retreat offers a unique opportunity for members of the parish family to relax together and to be renewed in daily life. The purpose of the event is to build a stronger sense of parish community and to develop a renewed awareness of what it means to be Catholic today. The focus is on practical, down-to-earth ways of loving each other more fully. Parishioners will be encouraged to become Catholic evangelizers, to reach out particularly to family members and friends who may be alienated from the church.

Retreat topics include a series of reflections to help participants recognize the presence of God’s grace in their everyday lives. The retreat will offer the participants an opportunity to discern how their experiences at times of joy and suffering point to God’s presence in those experiences.

The retreat will be conducted by John and Kathleen Colligan, co-directors of the John 17 Center in the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y. The John 17 Center is devoted to the development of programs and materials for strengthening marriage, family life and lay leadership in the church. The couple, also co-directors of family life education for their diocese, have developed and facilitated workshops focused on reconciliation and healing and have also presented parish missions and have led parish retreats in more than 100 parishes in the United States and Canada. The Colligans are active in marriage preparation and marriage enrichment and have facilitated groups for the grieving and for the divorced. They have also written numerous books and articles, including “The Healing Power of Love: Creating Peace in Marriage and Family Life” and “Day-By-Day: Reflection Guide for the Engaged and Newly Married.”