Latest in time but first in our hearts and memories was the celebration of June 8, the anniversary of the blessing of Our Lady of Combermere’s statue, the day we make and renew our promises to God and the apostolate.

This year nine people here either made or renewed promises, four of them for life, while another seven renewed their promises in various mission houses.

It is always a day of grace and joy. Families and friends of the promisers came from points near and far, and many friends and neighbours joined us for the day. The act of making promises, of committing one’s life to God and to apostolic service, whether for one year, two years, or forever, is a deep one. It makes visible the very foundation of Gospel life: God has promised himself to us, and invites every human being, in every vocation, to be consecrated to Him, to become a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people set apart (1 Peter 2:9). The promises made by those of us in consecrated life simply make visible a deeper life which the whole Church is called to embrace. God must be happy…

The other ‘big event’ of this time has been the annual Directors Meetings. From all points of the compass they came, the directors of our 18 mission houses, to meet, to pray, to discuss, to listen, along with the directors and elders in Combermere. Where has God taken us this past year? Where does He wish us to go now? What is the vision for our life, and how are we to implement it?

This year, the tone of the meetings was set by the fact that 50 years ago this year, Catherine gave a foundational talk on ‘The Spirit of Madonna House’, which has become known among us as ‘Staff Letter 140’. It begins, "The spirit of the institute is one of ardent zeal for the glory of God, for the salvation of souls, and for the restoration of all things to Christ through Mary." This letter, and this opening sentence, served as a running theme and a focus for our talks.

God must be happy… Early summer in MH is also one of our busiest seasons. The gardens are planted as of this writing, and now comes the weeding time. Just to give you the scale of the operation, this year we planted 22,000 potatoes—and that’s just one vegetable! We have, at least as of this writing, fewer guests with us than normal, and few on the horizon, so getting the immense amount of work that needs doing done is a bit daunting. Anybody want to come donate a week or two here this summer?

Cana Colony, our six week retreat vacation for families, is also a focus at this time. Getting the grounds prepared, the buildings cleaned, spruced up and refurbished, and so on. Every year 40-50 families come to experience a week of praying, playing, and communal living. Blessings flow there every year. God must be happy…

Meanwhile the tourist season is picking up! Lots of groups coming on tours, the shops are busy, goods are flying off the shelves and money is flying to the poor all over the world as a result. Certainly, this makes us happy (and probably God too)!

A great happiness indeed was our ability to send Fr. Tom Talentino, Cheryl Ann Smith, and Peter Gravelle to Rome at the end of May, to represent Madonna House at the Pentecost meeting of the ecclesial communities there.

Dozens of lay groups active in the Church converged upon Rome to meet with one another, with top officials in the Vatican, and ultimately with Pope Benedict at a special Pentecost vigil service. Focolare, Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation, the Neo-Catechumenal Way, the charismatic renewal–all were among the larger and more well-known groups in attendance, some sending thousands of members to be present in Rome for the week.

It was a fantastic chance for all the groups in the Church to meet, to pray together, discuss their common challenges and common joys, learn from one another, and deepen their communion with each other and with God in the heart of the Church. As of this writing, our three who represented wee hidden Madonna House haven’t returned yet to tell us their experience. You will doubtless be reading more about this event in a future issue.

Every pope of the last hundred years has identified the growth of lay movements in the Church (of which MH is one of the oldest) as a primary sign of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our midst, so this meeting in Rome was a profound sign of this papal approbation and blessing continuing in the third millennium. God must be very, very happy…

Meanwhile, back on the home front, Fr. David May celebrated his 25^{th year of priestly ordination and Fr. Jim Duffy his 50th ordination anniversary. Fr. David we celebrated on the day, Fr. Jim will be up from MH Toronto this summer and we’ll fete him then. Thank you God, and thanks, Frs. David and Jim!}

Finally, into all these ordinary blessings (just the usual run of the mill stuff–God blessing and sanctifying us, the Holy Spirit pouring out graces in all directions, the Lord Jesus walking among us in countless ways to heal, restore, and strengthen us), but yes into our ordinary blessed life came two visitors who were not so ordinary.

Soad Haddad is a long-time friend, a Palestinian woman who became involved with MH when we had a house in Haifa, Israel. She came, bringing her friend Ruth Bar-Shalez, a Jewish Israeli. They have been working together on the reconciliation of their respective peoples, and spoke to us one evening of the pilgrimage they helped organize, of Palestinians and Jews, to the Auschwitz Nazi death camp of World War II, a project called ‘A Memory for Peace’.

They shared with us what it meant for Palestinians to enter into the very heart of Jewish suffering in the last century, and what it meant for the Jewish people on the pilgrimage, some of whom were themselves Holocaust survivors, to allow ‘the other’ into this most painful and fearful reality.

A symbolic story Soad told captures it. Abba Macarius, the great monk of Egypt, was dialoguing with a skull who said he had been a pagan priest. He asked Macarius to intercede for them in Hades so they could rest. Macarius asked the skull what Hades was like, and what kind of rest was possible for them.

The skull responded that the suffering of Hades was that they were chained back to back, and could not see each other’s face. But by Macarius’ intercession the chains could be loosened, and they could look each other in the face. To see and be seen by the other–this was the rest they longed for. And this was what Soad, Ruth, and the others on the pilgrimage experienced.

And so, beloved readers, may this summer allow you to stop, "see and be seen" by the others in your life, and be blessed by God in the seeing. Pray for us, and know we pray for you, that his blessing, his happiness, be upon us all.