Fr. Maurice Agbaw-Ebai, Ph.D., to Present at Special Retreats in Millinocket and Benedicta

MILLINOCKET---Fr. Maurice Agbaw-Ebai, Ph.D., will offer special retreats on the Pope Benedict XVI’s rich teaching on the Eucharist at two Maine churches on July 22-23.

Originally from Mamfe, Cameroon, Fr. Agbaw-Ebai is a member of the faculty at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, and has also taught eight different courses at Boston College, where he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy and a doctorate in sacred theology. He has written extensively on the person and theology of Pope Benedict XVI, including a book entitled Joseph Ratzinger and the Future of African Theology and has spoken at several major conferences about Pope Benedict XVI.

“Benedict’s sole desire was not a systematization of Jesus, but to make his friend known and loved, because he had arrived at the certainty that the brokenness that was plaguing the lives of so many post-modern men and women was a desperate cry for help that could only be met by the loving encounter with Jesus of Nazareth,” said Fr. Agbaw-Ebai.

Fr. Agbaw-Ebai will present at St. Martin of Tours Church, located on 19 Colby Street in Millinocket, on Saturday, July 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be followed by Mass at 4 p.m. and supper in the parish hall at 5 p.m. He will also offer the retreat on Sunday, July 23, at St. Benedict Church, located on 1063 Benedicta Road in Benedicta, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by Mass at 11 a.m. and lunch in the parish hall at noon. All are welcome.

“The retreat is a wonderful time where we spend some time with the Eucharistic Lord and think of our own personal life,” said Fr. Dominic Savio, HGN, administrator of both churches. “I always compare the retreats with the railway crossing signs. When I learned to drive, my instructor told me, ‘Whenever you reach a railway crossing, you have to stop and look to your right and left and then proceed.’ A retreat is also the same; we need to hold on in whatever we do in our life and look into our hearts and minds - that is looking into self - what is the life we are leading? How closely are we attached and associated to the church and God? Then let's evaluate ourselves and proceed in our life.”

The National Eucharistic Revival’s Parish Year (June 2023-June 2024) is focusing on local efforts for parishioners to be awakened in eucharistic amazement and renewed in gratitude and reverence for the Eucharist. Learn more on the Diocese of Portland’s Eucharistic Revival website, separated into four sections (receive, adore, celebrate, live).

For more information about the retreats, call Christ the Divine Mercy Parish at 207-746-3333.