Retreat

Fr Neil and I are having a fabulous time in Kenya. We have been here for less than a week but we have already experienced the wonderful Kenyan sense of hospitality. "Karibu!"

Today starts the first day of our turn to offer hospitality as we welcome the five candidates participating in the Discernment Retreat for Glenmary Home Missioners. Please keep these men in your prayers as they learn more about Glenmary and they discern whether or not they are being called to be a Glenmary Missioner.

This weekend's retreat will include a lot of information about Glenmary and in particular are call to the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. As we reflect on these today with the candidates on our retreat, I would like to share with you some of Glenmary's writings on these three promises:

Chastity

• We dare to attempt such a way of life only as a response to a gift of God. Fidelity to our original choice over the years is a witness to the working of the Spirit in our lives, an experience of the Father’s love, and a sign to ourselves of the vitality of our response.

Poverty

• We, as Glenmarians, have freely chosen to share with one another: our time, talents, insights, love, companionship, and material possessions. Each member agrees to contribute to the common fund the fruits of his labors and all gifts given for Glenmary work. We do this to further the home mission apostolate and to enrich our community and personal lives. Therefore, no member who withdraws from the Society has a right to compensation for his labors performed while a member of the Glenmary Society. However, a member does remain capable of acquiring, possessing, administering and disposing of temporal goods which have come, or will come to him under a personal title, not as a member of the Society.

Obedience

• Believing that God has called us to service in community, each of us commits himself to active cooperation in the apostolic work of the Society. Recognizing as well the need for a unified apostolate, and the efficient functioning of diverse elements within the Society, we accept freely and joyfully the decisions of the officers and directors and decision-making bodies aimed at achieving the goals of the Society. We recognize that obedience has a necessary place in our lives and ask of all a loyalty corresponding to this necessity.

Prayer

• We as Glenmarians hold that prayer is essential to our Christian life and apostolate, and we pledge to one another a continual effort to pray faithfully.