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

This idea of abandon to God's will as an active undertaking is a theme that I've meditated on quite a bit, especially recently: the paradox of being called to hand over everything in one's life to God, to abandon ourselves to his will and yet, at the same time, to have the dynamism, fire, energy and courage to engage in fresh undertakings, to take initiatives in his name, taking such risks in faith, banking on his Spirit to guide hearts and minds, hands and feet. In this context I have been thinking a lot recently about St. Peter at the lakeside in Jn 21, sitting and talking with Jesus (the famous "Do you love me?" conversation). An image at the end of this dialogue never ceases to frighten and yet inspire me: when Jesus says to Peter " 'I tell you solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where yo...

My good friend Bro. Henri Rivoalen invited me to take a much needed break in his community down in the south of France. This is the Brother who converted me to long-distance, fast-paced cycling (especially Pyreneen mountain cycling) and mountain hiking during my Noviciate (first year of training) in 1990. He was my group's Assistant Novice Master. Here's a first set of photos from my 5 days there over the New Year. Henri introduced me to the joys of cross-country skiing, ie.uphill as weel as down!. These were taken during my second of 2 days skiing with him. As you can see, we were blessed with glorious weather, allowing us to take in the wonderful scenery. Henri - friend + mentor The view from Henri's community (at 845 metres altitude).