Fr Jonathan

First some facts. Our host is Fr Jonathan Mitchell, and he recieves us at his parish house. 5 couples take part in the Program. The eldest couple has been together for 43 years, and the others have been married for 34, 26, 25 and 13 years, respectively.  As you can see, our participants, in majority, are mature and experienced, and working with them is a pure pleasure. They are very responsive and have a great sense of humour, so in the end we have no idea what the famous proverbial “English sense of humour” is all about.

But the most outstanding hero of the Program is our Host – Fr. Johnatan. Not only does he take part in the retreat, but also cooks delicious meals for all of us, washes up, prepares excellent coffee and pampers us in all ways… A former hotel manager and a rugby player, a would-be chef, and a convert. He wears his cassock all the time, even when he goes shopping (before noon he fetched some additional items, the bags full of which he then brought with himself into the kitchen). Being the only relatively “free” person in the team, I do what I can to help, which gives us the opportunity to talk and share our experience of being a priest.

Today we had so many intense hours of work, in a very warm and homely atmosphere  which reminds me of the Program in Springfield. The retreat finishes tomorrow.

Let us not stop praying,

Fr Jay