Last May at the first meeting with the new Bishop we shared on how we could celebrate the “Year for priests” announced by Pope Benedict XVI.
Someone suggested that all the priests of the Vicariate, secular and religious, could have the annual retreat together. The idea was welcomed by everybody.
Last week we all went to a Benedictine house at Mtunzini and guided by Bishop Stephen Brislin (Diocese of Kroonstad) we followed Jesus' invitation: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mk 6, 31). We were all there! Mandla and Vukani, the two seminarians of the Vicariate who have already finished their studies, were also present.
Monday evening Bp Stephen started by asking all of us to do something “very difficult”: “switch off the cellphones until Friday” so that it could really be a deserted place, cut off from so many things and giving that time to the One who called us. At the beginning of each day he reminded us of that invitation and hoped we “had not fallen into temptation...”
It was a time for the Lord in silence going back to our foundations, to what our vocations means... being called, consecrated and sent. But as he promised on the first day, it wouldn't just be “the theory” of our vocation but also the practical consequences, the difficulties we face today and what can help us to remain strong.
It was also a time for prayer. Three of us generously offered themselves to help preparing the different moments of common prayer. At the end of each day we shared an hour of adoration to the Blessed Sacrament.
There was a constant prayer of thanksgiving during the retreat. We thanked God for being called, for our seminarians at St Phillip Neri (Port Elizabeth) and St John Vianney (Pretoria), for the people we work with and especially for Bp Stephen who so generously prepared and spent this time with us.
Now it is back to our communities. For some a new beginning as the new appointments are taking place these days. For all, a renewal of our being sent to share the Good News!
