England - Companions

It was a delight to have Fr.Gaspar Fernendez with us as we reflected on the spirit of St. Michael and the journey through lent. Some of our Companions present were new to the fellowship and were especially interested to know about St. Michael's way of abandoning our lives to the will of God. The day was spent with a mixture of prayer, picnic, talk, reflection and the enjoyment of one another's company, together with a serious quest to deepen each other's sense of vocation. Fr.Gaspar gave a short message at the end about St. Michael's insistence on finding God where we are, and working out our salvation in our own circumstances, before we closed with the mass of the first Sunday of lent. The Columban Fathers were founded in Ireland 100 years ago for a mission to China, though like ourselves they were expelled in 1950. As our close neighbours they are good friends of ours, and have been helping us with our application to the British Government for the right to bring in priests and religious from abroad.