De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

Remembrance + Gratitude We recently celebrated the Feast of All Saints (Nov. 1st) and the Commemoration of all the faithful departed (Nov. 2nd, All Souls). Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday. Let us look back with gratitude at all we have received in our lives from those who have gone before us. Let us thank God for the sacrifices made by those brave men and women who have fought to defend our country (and others). Let us also be thankful for all the experiences, the encounters, the little quiet moments that have brought us joy, the little successes, etc… that we have experienced since the start of term. And let us hand over to God the tough stuff, the challenges that we have found hard to deal with, the little failures, etc… And most importantly, let's look to the future in confidence and trust, putting ourselves in God's hands. In Him, we can do all things, or to quote the intro. to one of my favourite '80s songs by one of my all-time favourite bands, The Icicle Wo...

Mont Aigoual, Les Cévennes, France, 1997 An unforgettable day back in 1997 with my good friend Frère Henri in the Cevennes (S. France, where we were staying for hiking and cycling in the area) on top of Mont Aigoual after a long hike to the top. During the climb he'd put me in front to lead the way for the first time in our 7 years of summer hiking since my Noviciate where he was the Assistant Novice Master. Sounds banal but this gesture had a profound effect on me during the climb and I got very emotional. Someone was putting their trust in me in a way that no one else had done before. On top of this the views around me were so beautiful. A couple of times in the climb I had to stop and sit down as a wave of emotion broke over me. One such break, with Mont Aigoual itself in the distance. Then when we arrived at the top I could have sat there for hours with the view you can see in the photo below. I feel now that it was a key experience for me in the process of growing up...