Over the last weeks, in a variety of ways, we as well as our young visitors for whom we have the program, have been called to this ongoing conversion again and again and to new ways of preaching the Gospel and deeper ways of loving.

The feast of Sts. Peter and Paul marked the opening of the Pauline Year, and Fr. David May spoke about St. Paul at a summer program day of recollection. Paul was "a failure," who persecuted the early Christians, and Christ’s love found and saved him. We, too, can be sure that it is precisely at the point of our greatest "failures" that the Lord wants to meet us.

Our Canada Day celebrations carried the sadness of the news that Dr. Morgentaler would be awarded the Order of Canada. There followed a unanimous decision by the community to return the Order of Canada given to Catherine, and to do it publicly.

What followed was quite an adventure for all concerned and is covered elsewhere in this issue—but let me just share one little vignette.

Trying to explain who we are in a challenging radio interview, Susanne read part of our Little Mandate, (a short statement of Madonna House spirituality). The unexpected response was "Awesome!" This was a good reminder of the power of the words God gave Catherine.

A contingent from Combermere attended the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, which was also celebrating its 400th anniversary.

We also hosted groups of pilgrims both on their way to and back from the Congress. These included a youth group from Wisconsin and students from St. Therese Catholic College of Faith and Mission in Bruno, Saskatchewan.

Those of us who stayed home followed some of the proceedings via television, both live and taped.

Undaunted by the abundant rain they experienced, our group came home renewed and restored with many pilgrims’ tales, which you will hear about in a future issue.

Fr. Paul Burchat joined our diocesan Bishop Michael Mulhall and a contingent of young people from our Pembroke Diocese to travel to Australia for World Youth Day. Again we were able to follow some of the events at Sydney via television.

At the same time there was a regional mini World Youth Day gathering at Midland, Ontario, and two MH staff, Mary McGoff and Lisa Diniz, set up and manned a Madonna House interactive booth there.

The most popular feature? A manual typewriter! For many of the young people, it was the first one they had ever even. "How do you plug it in?" they asked. "Where is the return button?" It was challenging for these members of "the computer generation" to type quotes on it from Catherine’s book, The People of the Towel and Water.

Over the season, our summer program continued. One week the presentations—classes, witnesses, reflections—highlighted prayer, and included an evening of Taizé prayer.

Other subjects covered in our program included the social teachings of the Church and global awareness. These were taken from the vantage points of two scriptural lines: "Who is my neighbor?" and "The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness." These topics challenged us and the young people attending the program to expand our horizons and hearts.

Each Saturday evening there was a lively exchange of questions and answers between our guests and the directors general. One question was, "What set Catherine apart?" The answer: She knew, more deeply than most of us, God’s great love for her.

Living the Gospel has its lighter moments, too, and we had a quiz show, "Get It Right!" based on a well-known television show.

Another evening, a gardening bee was followed by a bonfire and games night, which included music, stories, hopscotch, marbles, magnetic darts, bean tossing, bubble making and, for refreshments, a very sweet, very gooey campfire food called "smores."

Then there was our own Cana Colony vacation-retreat for families. This year it included a retreat-orientation day for "activity coordinators," that is, babysitters, and a training week for new host families.

The training week began with a picnic at St. Mary’s with all the MH staff and included presentations for the youngsters of different age groups. One of these was from the Montessori Catechesis of the Good Shepherd—the story of the Good Samaritan.

Each week has an average of seven families, and they are joined by two lay staff and a Madonna House priest. The families have daily Mass and a conference and other activities, including a tour of MH and a get-together with some of our directors.

Some of our priests also helped out at another family retreat-vacation place—the Nazareth Family Retreat Centre near Montreal.

MH Windsor celebrated its 25th anniversary, and a few staff from Combermere traveled there to attend their celebrations. Another landmark event, this one taking place in Combermere, was Fr. Paul Béchard’s ninetieth birthday.

Among our many summer visitors were a number of our associate priests and deacons, including Deacon Nick Mammi, who made his final promises while here. We are also praying for our associate, Bishop Pierre Andre Fournier, who has been appointed Archbishop of Rimouski, Quebec.

After the renovation of St. Germaine’s, the dorm for our women guests, work is now underway on an extension for the men guests’ dorm, St. Anne’s.

Our schola director, Veronica Dudych, attended a Sacred Music Colloquium, and several people took short art courses.

Of course, amid all this, our life continues to be made up of "the usual." In the summer, a large part of this centers around our farm and gardens. Another huge part is hospitality, welcoming guests and visitors both to our house and to our shops.

I’ll end with a quote from Fr. Eddie Doherty: "If you can’t rub noses with the Lord, rub elbows with his friends. Whatever you do to the least of his brethren…. Love everybody—man, woman and child. Love them any way they need to be loved. Love them for the love of God. Love them and make sure they know you love them."