On Monday 1 September, a liturgical service of sending out took place in our monastery church of St Joseph in Bonn, led by Father Provincial Jan Haffmans. In this service, 19 young people were sent out for a year as volunteers to various positions in 8 countries. They are going to Indonesia, Thailand, Peru, Bolivia, USA, UK, Ireland, and Spain. There they work in Redemptorist projects and organisations and in cooperation with them. Some of the volunteers even live directly in communities for the duration of their service and thus participate in the life and work of the congregation.
The project of the Province of St Clement is open to all young adults who consciously wish to spend a year volunteering as young Christians in association with us. Once again, this year, a large proportion of the volunteers come from our Bonn school, the Collegium Josephinum. However, we are also pleased that the project is attracting increasing interest and attention beyond our own youth work.
The year of voluntary service is an important year for the young people as an in-depth introduction to the faith and to Christian international commitment.
For us as a religious province, it is a valuable part of our pastoral work for young adults and a project that strengthens and deepens our international connections.
Father Provincial blessed and sent the volunteers with this prayer:
Dear Volunteers!
Dear Allegra, dear Annalena, dear Bernadette, dear Carl,
dear Christian, dear Claudio, dear David, dear Elias, dear Inga,
dear Julius, dear Kevin, dear Konrad, dear Magnus, dear Max, dear Mika, dear Noah, dear Pia and dear Sarah!
May the Lord bless your hands that they may be gentle,
that they may hold without restraint,
that they may give without calculation.
May the Lord bless your eyes,
that they may perceive need,
that they may not overlook the inconspicuous,
that they may see through the superficial.
May the Lord bless your ears,
so that they do not ignore the quiet voices,
so that they are sensitive to the voice of need,
so that they are closed to noise and chatter.
May the Lord bless your mouths,
that nothing may proceed from it that hurts and destroys,
that it may speak healing words,
that it may guard what has been entrusted to it.
May the Lord bless your heart,
that it may be a dwelling place for your spirit,
that it may give warmth and shelter,
that it may be rich in forgiveness,
that the triune God may bless and accompany you: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We then sang together the beautiful hymn from our European Youth Meeting in Limerick (Ireland). ‘Bridges of hope’
Greetings in Christ the Redeemer:
Herzliche Grüße (Best Wishes):
Fr. Jürgen Langer, CSsR.