Advent Retreat in Littlehampton

From 12th-15th December, Srs. Rose and Clare went to St. Joseph's to attend a three-day preached Advent retreat given by Br. Seamus Mulholland OFM.
Br. Seamus pointed out that Advent was a good time to step out of our own plan and reflect on God's plan for our salvation throughout human history. Starting with Eden, Br. Seamus described how human plans and actions had repeatedly got in the way of God's plans. Therefore, God had to keep adjusting His plans and starting again. From Abraham onwards, God was determined to see through His plan of a covenant with a chosen people which would be completed when God became one of them in Jesus. The genealogies in the Gospels show how Jesus was fully part of this chequered human history and family. Br. Seamus used the image of God's salvation plan as a thread which God was trying to pull through the eye of a needle but with a frayed end, standing for the human stubbornness that frustrates God's actions. In the history of the chosen people, God's plan followed a tortuous route, even through 40 years of wondering in the desert, due to their frequent rebellions. With the birth of Jesus, the thread was finally inserted through the needle. At His Passion, Death and Resurrection it would be pulled through and tied off so it could never be undone and union with God would always be available to humankind. This led us to draw strength in our own lives from the thought that God never gives up on us and, in the end, will find ways to fulfil His vision for our lives, even though we frequently mess up His plans.
After the retreat, Srs. Clare and Rose stayed on in St. Joseph's for a week, helping prepare for various pre-Christmas functions and photocopying the histories of our deceased Sisters for Monte Bre. They returned safely (thank God) to Canterbury on the 19th, even as snow and freezing conditions were beginning to cause travel disruption throughout Britain.