Last Saturday I went to to the Junge Ordens Leute Treffen (or, JOLT). It is a day to meet other members of religious orders in Austria. Everyone who goes is either a novice or in simple vows. This meeting was held in Stift Heiligenkreuz. It is a Cistercian Monastery founded by St. Leopold (the founder of our Stift). You may be familiar with it, they are the ones that came out with the CD ‘Music for Paradise’.
It was a good event. It is really geared for ‘kennenlernen’ (this is the German verb ‘to become acquainted with, become friends with’). Overall, it was a pretty good day. I was able to meet my inner monk (and reaffirm that I should not be a monk). I was able to meet some people from other orders.
Two of the people I met on Saturday came to visit us on Monday. It was nice to have visitors. They are from an order that is in the 15th District of Vienna. I had met one of them a week earlier at a Wander Mutter Gottes prayer group meeting.
One of the difficult things about moving to a new country and joining a religious order at the same, is that you do not meet a lot of people. Events like JOLT are nice for this reason.
#1 by Mom on November 4th, 2009
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Dear Michael… thank you for explaining this. I hope you are feeling better.
#2 by Cori Brown on November 4th, 2009
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Great picture! I always look forward to you posts. They are so interesting!
#3 by Monica on November 8th, 2009
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Dom Killian!!…I am so happy you have been provided an opportunity to make friends! I know how hard it can be when you move to a new place. I can only imagine how hard it could be moving to a new place thousands of miles away! It’s wonderful they have created these meetings for all of you!
Hope all is well!
Mo-Knee-Kah!
#4 by Bekki on November 23rd, 2009
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Killian, I am also glad you had the opportunity to meet and make new friends. I’ve learned from my experiences of moving far from family and friends that developing a sense of place and home in the new locale had more to do with establishing meaningful and lasting relationships and friendships than did achieving and realizing the goals that prompted the move.
Wherever we go or live, we attain a sense of validation from time we spend with others who share and enjoy common interests, like us just for who we are – rather than for what we can do for them, and help us along our path. It doesn’t matter how grand or humble our living conditions are, how great or bad the weather is, or whether we’re in a large city or mountain town. Without the company of friends and others with who we share our journey, we can’t develop a sense of purpose in life.
There are several verses in the gospels where Jesus makes the distinction that his “family” were those who shared His walk and path (e.g. Mark 3:31-34). He wasn’t abandoning or repudiating his blood relatives, just using the comparison to illustrate the importance of others participating in His life and that He needed them in order for His purpose to be fulfilled.
God bless you, Killian, in your journey and may you know His presence every step along the way!