Farewell to the Andersons

Last Monday night we went out for dinner with the Andersons for the last time before their return home. Before going to the restuarant, they came to the Domus to say goodbye to the ESM students. It was very touching to see how much they will be missed by so many people.

At the Domus

Dinner was good, but I think the kids will be happy to give pizza and pasta a break for a while! It was goog to be able to spend some time with them, but it was also a very sad occasion. On the wall in the restaurant was a picture of the Last Supper of Christ with his disciples. The kids thought this was quite meaningful.

The last supper with the Andersons

Then on Wednesday we met up with Bernard and borrowed Fr Eric's car and trailer, and headed over to Santa Marinella to give the Andersons a hand. We helped load up the trailer with all the luggage. Jackie and Conor and Finn were there too. Kate and her sister Bronwyn took the kids with them to the airport using public transport. The rest of us helped get a few final things in order at their rental property, had a quick bite to eat (quite probably the worst food I have ever had in my life), then drove Mark to the airport. We found Kate and Bron and the kids straight away, then filled up three trolleys worth of luggage and accompanied the gang into the airport. They got in line and were invited to come straight to the front (coz of all the kids). That's where we said goodbye.


Fiumicino Airport

I was very sad indeed. The Andos have been such a blessing to us during our first year in Rome. It will be very different without them. We have spent time with them at their house, at our house, we have wandered around Rome together, we have been out to dinner together, we were in a Household (prayer group) together, they have been a wonderful presence at the ESM, and they were all on parish mission with us in London. They will be greatly missed.

Kev, Bern and I had an adventuresome drive back home - quality Aussie time together in the absence of our dear friends.

Madrid

Just a few days after returning from our holiday, we were off again. We went to Madrid for a planning weekend for World Youth Day, which will take place in August this year.

At the end of WYD in Sydney 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI announced that the next WYD would be in Madrid, Kev and I looked at each other and said, "We won't be going!" It's not that we don't like WYDs, in fact we love them, it's just that we are no spring chickens. Later that year we found out that we would be moving to Rome to be in charge of the ESM - a job which involves bringing a group to run a mission at WYD.

So we went to Madrid on Friday morning, along with about 20 others from the Emmanuel Community in Europe, to plan for the Emmanuel Pilgrimage. It was great to be involved in the preparation, but they were long days. The Spanish eat so dang late! Dinner was at 9pm each night. After that we would keep going with the planning. Not easy for a girl who likes her sleep. I will need a lot of grace during WYD!!!

Saturday was our sixth wedding anniversary. Being in Spain together was a nice way to celebrate. In the afternoon we went on a walking tour of the city with the rest of the group. Madrid is great, but not as spanishy as I thought it would be.

Hele and Kev in front of the Cathedral


Some fancy little piazza

That night we continued with our conference. After lunch on Sunday, we left for the airport. We got back to Rome on Sunday night. Once again, we were tired but happy!!

Winter in France

After a beautiful Christmas in Rome, we headed to Paray Le Monial in France for the annual 'Fraternity of Jesus Retreat'. Kev did a great job of transporting all of us (ESM Team and students) to this little village. We left early in the morning on the 27th December and caught a train to Milan. Then we had lunch and caught another train to Lyon. Then we caught a coach to Paray. We arrived at 1:30 in the morning. After seeing the students safely to their accomodation, Kev and I were only able to access our place because our friends happened to be returning from the pub when we arrived. Otherwise we would have been stuck because the hotel was locked up and no one was answering the front door. It is a good thing that we have good friends!

The retreat was really good. There were 800 people participating this year at Paray. The town is now too small to hold everyone, so there was another group meeting in Lourdes at the same time. Apart from great talks and lots of time for prayer, it was also good to catch up with lots of friends.


The ESM Team of 2002-2003: Fr Markus, Theresa & Steve

(Tiziana was here too, but I couldn't manage to get them all together for a photo)


Fr Markus, Steve, Christophe


Dom, Hele, Slaven

It was good to be able to slip away from the group one day to have lunch with Steve and Annie. We really miss them both so much, so we appreciated this time toghether - they are such good value, and they make us laugh.


Kev, Hele, Annie and Steve

I must mention the scarf that I am wearing. I started knitting it during a Youth Forum in Goulburn just before WYD in Sydney 2008. The wool was not easy to work with so it was slow-going. I brought the unfinished product with me to Rome but ran out of wool. Thanks to the efforts of Clara Ri who tracked down the right wool and to Mary Long who brought some to me in Rome, I was able to finish it a couple of weeks ago (Although I started it two and a half years ago, I only spent a few weeks actually knitting it). I wanted to make it really warm and long, just like in Dr Who from the late 1970s. It turned out well but it is so hot that I couldn't wear it most of the time.

I also got to see three of the students who I did the ESM with all those years ago. There was Leen (Belgium), Olivier (France) and Ricardo (Portugal). It was interesting (and funny) to share about what we had each done since we left the School. Due to technical problems with my camera I was unable to get a photo of all of us.


Hele and Leen

Some members of the Emmanuel Community make a further step into the 'Fraternity of Jesus'. This is for people who feel a particular call to consecrate themselves to Jesus, to make a more particular comittment to the Catholic Church, and who make themselves available for mission. Kev and I postulated into the Fraternity during the retreat. This is the first step, which may be followed by 'novitiate' then 'consecration' in later years.

We saw the coming of the new year together with the other 800 people. After a time of prayer and praise, we gathered into the hall for a party. Kev and I had still not decided where we were go for our holidays later in the day. We had booked really cheap flights to Milan, but we didn't feel like going there. We were telling our friend Guillemette this at the party (at about 1:00m), and she said that she would find somewhere else for us. A few minutes later she told us that we could stay with a French couple of the Fraternity who were going to their chalet in the French Alps for the week. So we met Antoine and Sylvie and they organised to meet up with us after lunch.

After a very short night, we woke the next morning to a quick breaky then Mass. We said our goodbyes and then headed for the hills.


Kev and Hele - Mont Blanc in the background

It was a relaxing holiday - lost of eating, sleeping and reading. But we also did a bit of walking......UPHILL!


In front of the house

On the first day we went for 'a little' walk up the mountain. I thought I was going to die. But I had to try and look strong and keep up with our hosts. It was so beautiful. We saw a couple of deers running across the hill in front of us. It was so nice.


Kev in the snow

Instead of recovering the next day, we were invited on another 'little' walk. This time we met up with friends of Antoine and Sylvie - Emmanuel and Alix, their youngest son, and her brother - a 58 year old priest. Our hosts kindly lent us appropriate clothing as well as raquets for walking in the snow. Our 45 minute walk ended up being 3 hours. This time I really thought I would die. It is embarrassing being overtaken by those more advanced in years. It was a lovely walk though. Coming down was great fun.

Our experience of being at the snow in France made us feel like we were two year olds again: we couldn't understand when people were talking; we could only say a few words; we couldn't walk properly, and we constantly had runny noses.

It sure is a small world. Check this out. Emmanuel is the uncle of my friend Liz, who I did the School with. They contacted her and she asked if Kev and I could come and stay with her for a few days. She had planned to invite us anyway, knowing that we would probable go to Paray after Christmas, but never got around to sending us the email. So, we planned to meet up with her on Wednesday.

The next day Antoine and Sylvie drove us up to a charming monastery. When we were there they invited us to join them on a little walk. Ohhhh nooooooo. Not again. I declined their kind offer. Kev went with them and I stayed and admired the view from where I was.


Hele in front of a nice White Mountain


Antoine, Sylvie, Hele and Kev

Early on Wednesday morning, Antoine drove us to meet Emmanuel on his way to work. He drove us into Geneva. We went to Mass, then met up with Liz and her three kids - Mathilde, Eduard and Louise. It was so good to see her again after seven years. We had morning tea in a lovely little cafe. Then Liz drove us to her weekend house!


1. Paray Le Monial 2. Antoine & Sylvie's 3. Liz's house


Photos at Liz's place

Liz took such good care of us. We slept, ate delicous home-cooked meals, watched dvds, played with the kids, and spent a lot of time reading. By the way I read two books that Steve brought over for me. The first was a book that he wrote about his time planning for WYD in Sydney, "Five Smooth Stones A 40 Day WYD Journal". http://www.connorcourt.com/catalog1/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=144 It is a great book.

Then I read, "The Professor, the Emporer and the Crocodile" by David Lawrence (yes, they are brothers). http://www.davidlawrencebooks.com.au/index.htm Also a great book. These two helped make my holiday so enjoyable!!!

The only other thing we did at Liz's was go for a stroll around the grounds. It was here that we were finally able to make a snowman - until now, the snow had been too soft. Now our holiday was complete!


Hele and the snowman

On Saturday we caught a train to Lyon. We stayed there for one night before catching the red-eye flight back to Rome.

It is nice to be 'home' again.

Christmas

Our celebration of the birth of Christ was wonderful. Obviously it was difficult not being with our families, but we had a very blessed time here with our ESM family.

We decided to stay at the Domus (the hotel where the School is run) over the last few days because we knew that there would be a few late nights and early mornings. It allowed us to get more involved in the celebrations.

On Christmas Eve we all went to the Centro San Lorenzo. This is the International Youth Centre which was set up by Pope John Paul II as a place of welcome for young pilgrims. It has been entrusted to the Emmanuel Community. We had the Mass of Emmanuel - the first of the Christmas Masses. This was followed by a party. Then we made our way to St Peter's Square to sing carols in front of the life-size nativity. Many people gathered around to watch and to join in. This was amazing because it was dark and cold and raining. It sounded really good though, and the students loved it.


Christmas Eve in St Peter's Square

At 10:00pm the students tried to get into the Basilica for the midnight Mass. Normally we would be given tickets for this, but unfortunately this year we couldn't get any. Miraculously, they managed to get inside without tickets. Two of our students were chosen to do readings for the Mass: Adela from Nicaragua, and Monika from Germany. It made us so proud.

Kev and I didn't try and get into the Basilica. We went back to the Domus to watch the Mass on the television, while enjoying extra-special hot chocolate (more like chocolate mousse) and limoncello. After this I went to bed but Kev stayed up until after 2:00am to speak with his family in Australia.

I got up at 6:00am the following morning to skype my family, but Skype wasn't working. I went to the candle-lit Dawn Mass at 6:30am. I kept trying to skype but it was down all day.

In the evening we had our main Christmas celebration. The students did a great job decorating the dining room and preparing fantastic food.


Dining Room at the ESM


Hele and Kev

Since the beginning of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) we have been praying for our own personal 'Advent Angel" (everyone's name was put in a hat). We prayed for this person every day and left notes and small gifts for them throughout Advent. It was done in secret so on Christmas Night we had to try and guess who our Advent Angel was. We also received a gift from this person.

This was done in between the many courses and was coordinated by Matthieu who took it upon himself to dress up as Santa for the night. We certainly have some keen students this year!

The students also gave each of the Team members a beautiful gift - an icon and a card which they all wrote on. Their words were extremely kind and loving. We are very blessed indeed.


Fr Benoit, Fr Martin, Chidi, Santa, Hele & Kev

After dinner, the entertainment began. The students and priests had prepared many items for a talent show. It was hilarious. They are such a funny bunch. After about one hour, the dancing started and continued until well into the night. I went to bed after midnight though - getting old you know!

This morning I was finally able to skype my fam. It was nice to see them and chat with them. I miss you fam!

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Tomorrow morning we will take the students to Paray Le Monial in France for a retreat with the Emmanuel Community. I look forward to the rest/prayer time, but also to catching up with some of our friends from Australia and other parts of the world.

As we approach 2011, I have been thinking about all that we have done this year. Apart from working tremendously hard here in Rome, we have also visited many many places. Here is a list of those places, starting with Melbourne which is where we were living until February 7th this year:

Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Lismore/Gold Coast, Australia
Manila, Philippines
Rome, Italy
Vienna, Austria
Dublin, Ireland
Paris, France
Dundee, Scotland
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Altotting, Germany
Paray Le Monial, France
Chiemsee, Germany
London, England (just Hele)
Minneapolis, U.S.A. (just Hele)
Altotting, Germany (just Kev)
London, England,
and tomorrow: Paray Le Monial, France

So it has been a very busy year, but a wonderful one. It is amazing how much God has blessed us since we made ourselves available to serve him full-time on mission.

Thank you for following the blog this year, and for leaving 'interesting' comments. We appreciate it so much!!

We hope you had a Merry Christmas, and we wish you all the best for the new year.

Catching up with friends

We have had more time to catch up with friends lately. A couple of weeks ago we had dinner with Jamie and Grace who are teachers at St Bedes (where Kev used to teach). They were accompanying eleven students on a trip to Italy. We met them at the Spanish Steps and had dinner at a restaurant nearby. We had pizza and pasta! It was good to see them again. It was also good because Kev and I don't get out much!


Grace, Hele, Jamie, Kev


Kev and Jamie at the Spanish Steps (inside the restaurant)

On Monday we had lunch with Jackie and Conor and Finn. We had pizza and pasta! Finn was being absolutely gorgeous. He just kept laughing and laughing. He made me feel like I was really funny - usually I am the only one who laughs at my jokes. Thanks Finn.

Finn laughing

Jackie, Finn, Conor and Hele

Yesterday we had a visit from Mark and Kate and the kids, as well as Kate's parents and sister Bronwyn. They all came over to the Domus for lunch. I don't even want to think about the fact that they won't be in Rome for much longer - it's too sad.

Andy Moore arrived in Rome last night/this morning. We have only seen him briefly, but he will be around for the next week, so that will be good. We saw him a couple of times in London a few weeks ago, because he kindly came to some events at the mission.

We look forward to seeing a few more familiar faces in the coming days.

By the way, if any of you watch the broadcast of the Midnight Mass at St Peters for Christmas, keep an eye out for two of our students who will do the readings: Adela from Nicaragua, and Monika from Germany.

If I don't write again beforehand, we will wish you Peace and Joy of the beautiful little Baby Jesus!

Mission in London

"Come to Me, Let not your hearts be troubled"

Kev and I are still recovering from our ten day mission in London. We had been preparing for the mission since July, so we still can't believe that it has finished.

We arived in London of Friday 26th November, and were welcomed into the homes of parishioners. The Mission Team consisted of 50 people, including the ESM Team and students, past students, and members of the Emmanuel Community from near and far. In true form, the Anderson family were all there!

During the mission, we met with and visited local people in the schools, streets, the shopping centres, restaurants, cafes, homes, hospitals, pubs, and of course in the church.

The weather on the first couple of days was very nice, but a bit chilly. Then we woke one morning to a picture of beauty...........


The street in front of the church

The snow was a great treat for some - especially the ESM students from Nicaragua, Brasil and Egypt. The local children would also have been pleased, as many of the schools closed down. This made things difficult for us, as we had been planning the school visits for months. We even had Fr Benoit and Fr Xavier come especially for the Reconciliation Programme on the Wednesday. We had to come up with other things to do on those days.


Fr Benoit taking aim... unware of the student behind him!

Some of the missionaries came up with their own way of evangelising, by making known the message of God's love on every single car in sight. Little did they know that this car belonged to the parish priest's neighbour who is a Freemason. Oops.


"God loves you"

The snow also meant that we didn't have as many people attending the evening programme as we would have liked. But those who came received a great deal from the mission. On the Thursday night, we had a Eucharistic procession through the street in front of the church. An Anglican friend of one of the missionaries said that he was so touched by the procession that he decided to come to all the events after that.


Eucharistic Procession

On the Saturday night, we had a youth event called, "Nightfever". Kev and I helped organise Nightfever for WYD in Sydney. This was the same type of thing, but on a smaller scale. We had a band (Kev was on acoustic guitar), a talk by Msgr Armitage - it was fantastic! We also had a play and a testimony, followed by a time of prayer in the church. It was definately a highlight of the mission.


Nightfever band


The crowd loved it!

The next morning was the last day of the mission. Archbishop Peter Smith celebrated the final Mass. Then we had a party in the hall. Many of the students were getting sad because the mission was coming to an end. That's what we want!

Archbishop Peter Smith and the Mission Team

On Sunday afternoon, we took the ESM students into the city for some sightseeing. It was nice to relax after such a hectic week.

Kev and Hele and Big Ben

On Monday morning we said our goodbyes to the parish. I will miss Laura - she did all the ground-work in preparation for the mission. She was a student of the ESM two years ago. It was great working with her.


Hele & Laura

We made our way to the airport via train. Lost a few students on the way because it was peak hour and they couldn't get on the train. But all turned out well and we ALL made it back to Rome safely.

Here is the Mission Prayer that Laura and I composed:

Jesus,
I seek Freedom
I look for Peace
I await Fulfillment
I crave Comfort
I need Security
I long for Happiness
I want more...

You know the desires of my heart, and you say,

“COME TO ME...
Let not your hearts be troubled”

You are the source of peace, joy and hope.

Let me know who you really are.
Let me become who I was created to be.
Let me know the truth.
Let me be more loving.
Let me know that that I am loved.
Let me come to you!

National Community Weekend

Last weekend we went back to Assisi for the meeting of Emmanuel Community members from all over Italy. It was only five weeks since we had been there with the ESM students, but this time we weren't organising anything, so it was more relaxed.

We arrived on Friday evening after a nice trip on the train. It gave me time to continue reading the first of the Narnia books in Italian. I may be finished by the time we return to Australia.

On Saturday morning we had Mass in the Basilica of Santa Chiara. Then we had a lot of time to pray in front of the San Damiano cross. The weather was wonderful, so we were able to enjoy the views, before listening to some great talks.

Hele and Kev

I just love Assisi. It is such a holy place and is so inspiring......

The gang from Rome

We were all so happy that we could hardly contain our excitement....

Carly and Kev

There were about 140 people at the Community Weekend, including about 14 Aussies. I was surprised at how many people from the Italian Community that I know now. Some of them I remember from when I did the ESM myself eight years ago.

Elena, Beppe, Lauretta and Hele

It was a great weekend.