The Mother Ship
Bro. Hervé, Superior General of the De La Mennais Brothers (far right) together with two other General Council members (Bro. Jean-Paul, 2nd left + Bro. Miguel, 2nd right) at the Town Hall with Ploërmel's Mayor.
An article in the local Breton press described how the 4 Brothers of our General Council were received by the Mayor of Ploërmel at the local Town Hall in early June in the context of our ongoing Bicentenary celebrations. The Mayor talks about our Ploërmel Mother House as being our "vaisseau amiral", the "admiral's ship" of the congregation. #TeamWin got there before him, as we've been calling it the "Mother Ship" since I began taking groups there from Liverpool nearly 20 yrs. ago.
Here's the article:
I actually prefer the image of a "Ship" to that of a "House" as it suggests a flotilla of ships journeying together, on pilgrimage together, with the Mother Ship in the vanguard, like a mother hen (or duck) with her chicks.
There's an image here that maybe needs reflecting upon. I've rabbitted on over the years about the idea of "being a brother" to all, but what about our congregation and others like us being "Mother Ships" for the Church; rallying points, places of guidance, safety and support? A way of fulfilling the mission to be "signs of the kingdom"?
Food for thought
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