Br. Charles shares some thoughts on the Vocation Weekend...

"Three young men visited our Clapham community in November to see first hand what Redemptorist life might be like if they decided to pursue a vocation with the Congregation. All came from different parts of the UK, and were hosted for the weekend by our formation community comprising Bros. Gerard, Charles and Peter, together with their formator Fr. Charlie Corrigan and vocations director Fr. Richard Reid. After a relaxed cuppa and a tour of the monastery, the weekend kicked off with a shared meal with the community, followed by night prayer and then some refreshments and socialising.

After morning prayer, mass and breakfast on Saturday, Br. Peter led a session with the guys on vocations and ministry, followed by a session led by Br Gerard on the Redemptorist charism, and the missionary work and history of the Congregation. Lunch was again shared with the community, before a 'free' afternoon which everyone used to explore a little of the city. One of our discerners chose an epic walk across the city, whilst the others took a tour of Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, including prayer at the tomb of Edward the Confessor.

In the evening, we attended the weekly novena devotions to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the church, a feature of Redemptorist parish life across the globe. Back in the monastery, after an informal evening meal of pizza, we settled down for a showing of the movie 'The Way', in which Michael Sheen and companions travel the Camino de Santiago in search of solace, peace and redemption.

On Sunday we all went to mass together and then had our usual Sunday roast lunch with the community, another opportunity for our discerners to talk with our community members about Redemptorist life, and for us to find out more about them and their stories so far.

The vocations weekend coincided with both the 150th Anniversary celebrations of our parish primary school and the confirmations of the young people of the parish, so our discerners certainly got a snapshot of how busy a parish can be!

The discerners had come into contact with the Redemptorists at last year's 'Invocation 2011' vocations expo held at Oscott seminary in Birmingham. Wherever the Lord is leading them, and all those discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, we assure them of our prayers!"