On the 4th October this year, the Companions of Jesus celebrate their 18th birthday! When I started out on this road, I never would imagine all the valleys I would have to pass and travail through! It has been an interesting journey filled with much joy but also much sadness. To be the pastor and shepherd of a dispersed Community has its challenges and joys!
Sister Fiona Mckie CJ is now the Servant of Communion for the Order! Who would have thought of a woman being the head honcho, over a majority of men, including , priests, ministers and even bishop’s and archbishops! Such is the mighty wind of the Spirit, blowing through the opened windows, which Pope John XXIII spoke of, as he inaugurated the Second Vatican Council, to lead the Church into a new day!
As a Franciscan community of reconciliation we seek to serve the community around us and try to serve their needs rather than our own. We are a mixed bunch...a motley crew...but we all have the same desire, to show to the world, the beauty that saves the world, Jesus Christ! We may hold different theological positions, we may not all agree, but we are united in the simplicity and calling of our seraphic father, Francis. It is our desire to proclaim the “Good News”to all of creation! The Good News that sets people free....that lifts the fallen...that heals the hurting...that releases those who are bound up... that restores that which is broken...that gives hope to the hopeless!
My calling is not for everyone, but it is sacred and sanctified...not by men in big hats...but by the living Word, who is a lamp to my feet and light to my path...for He is the life that gives light to us all and that light is the light in us all...whether you see it, or not!
Br. Michael Daly, CJ.
