Following from my own experience and that of my wife, Isabel, at the First International La Salette Lay Encounter held on the Holy Mountain of La Salette in in France in September of 2011, we have been working to establish and expand a La Salette Lay Community in our parish in Moreno Valley, California. We are well aware that each La Salette Lay Community can be quite unique in its structure, formation, and ministry due to its own surroundings and the people who bring their gifts to the community.
On Saturday, May 4, 2013, our own La Salette Laity community gathered for prayer and formation. We discussed Mary’s words: “If you have wheat, you must not sow it.” This is a difficult question. After some prayerful exchange of ideas, it was suggested that people needed to be reconciled with God and then numerous blessings would follow. As Mary promised: “...even the stones will become heaps of wheat and the potatoes will be self-sown in the land.” These are the fruits of Reconciliation. This is the lifestyle to which we are all called.
We also discussed the content and design of a new brochure for potential new members of our La Salette Lay community. We pray that our small community will constantly expand in order for Mary’s message to be spread by more and more of “her children.”
The following is part of the content of our new brochure:
"Come, near my children, do not be afraid,
I have great news to tell you."
An Invitation to join
the La Salette Lay Community
Who are we? We are members of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette family. We are single and married, committed to making known the message of reconciliation handed down to us by the Blessed Virgin Mary in her apparition at La Salette, France on Sept. 19, 1846. Christ is our rule of life.
What do we do? We pray privately and in community. We work closely with the La Salette fathers, brothers and sisters in places where our skills and talents can further the La Salette charism in the important areas of peace, justice, ecology, as well as in ecumenical interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Our ministry may take place in various situations, including parishes, healthcare facilities, prisons, drug rehabilitation centers, schools, La Salette Shrines, Retreat Centers, mission areas, and on pilgrimages. We can work with people who are homebound or otherwise constrained, exercising the ministry of prayer in the world.
Who can join the La Salette Lay Community? Our community is open to mature lay Christians who are willing to share their individual gifts and talents with the people of God and to make the message of Our Lady of La Salette known to all her people. We invite you to come and see who we are.