On the weekend around 17th September, a group of Austrian Lay Salvatorians traveled to Bad Wurzach in Baden Würtenberg (South Germany). The group of lay Salvatorians based there was celebrating its 30th anniversary. It was a very joyful and beautiful reunion with Salvatorian brothers and sisters whom we had last seen before the Corona epidemic.

During the festive mass on Sunday, the group with Rosemarie Böcherer and Albrecht Klein gave a short review of the past time:

Already at the first meeting of about 20 people, they showed a great need to exchange questions of faith and life, for mutual support in the everyday challenges in the family, at work, in their own environment, also in their own church community. After a period of ups and downs, membership has now settled at around 30. The group grew out of the endeavor to see themselves as sisters and brothers and to live in a “fraternal Church” – in the community of Salvatorian lay people and in the “Salvatorian Family”, which consists of lay people, Salvatorian Sisters, and Fathers/Brothers.

They emphasized that one does not choose one’s brothers and sisters at first. Over the years, mutual acceptance has led to relationships, togetherness, and trust. An important element is the mutual support in prayer.

Everything they live and do is aimed at fulfilling their mission as baptized people in the church, namely to make God known in the world. They want to meet the challenges of life in the orientation toward Jesus Christ and sow faith, hope, and love around them.

Their activities: Blessing services on the local hill of God, Easter garden, offers for young people, support of Salvatorian projects worldwide, e.g. (school project in Colombia). The resulting network reaches far beyond the local region.

During an informal exchange with the current local coordinator Rita Willburger and some group members, the topic of joining the ICDS also came up. For various reasons, German Unity has spoken out against joining the ICDS. It became clear that some of the fears were not in line with reality. And for some other sore points, a little pragmatism and creativity could find a good solution. The most important thing is always to talk to each other and find solutions together.

Our group of visitors went home very enriched, with the promise to keep in touch via Zoom until the next personal meeting.

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Pictures of the Gallery made by Hubert Willburger - all rights reserved.

 

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