Last June, the CL community in Ireland spent the bank holiday weekend together for their annual holiday in Castledaly, a nice country house in the heart of the island. It was an opportunity to spend time with close friends, but also to reconnect with people we do not see often, verifying in our experience the phrase from Chapter 8 of The Religious Sense, "Here is the paradox, freedom is dependence on God". We were a group of around seventy people ranging in age from 6 months to 60 years, whose lives have been touched by the encounter with Christ within this same companionship.

We all arrived at the holiday with different expectations, but being open to the proposal made things happen and changed us. This was particularly evident in the dedication and care of the food organisers, the cleaning teams, the games and trip planners, those who prepared the songs and the frizzi: everyone was clearly answering to a proposal, and this allowed us to become protagonists. We were all – adults and the older teens from Student Youth (GS) – called back to that co-responsibility and "communal leadership" that the Pope recently reminded us of, which became more and more contagious among us.



One of the friends who joined us during the holiday was Matteo (Seve), who had spent some time in Ireland in his youth. He spoke to us of his time in Uganda, recounting his struggles and the people he had met there who have changed the course of his life by the way they looked at him, through their gaze. A friend who had the opportunity to speak with him recounts how, although not knowing him, she too “experienced first-hand what he meant by 'their gaze'.” Being together and reminding each other of the One who gives meaning to everything really does change the way we are.



During the days spent together we made the experience of what Seve called the vocational friendship, that is, the friendship that helps us in living our relationship with Christ, our dependence upon God, which makes us free. We returned home with an even bigger desire to continue on this path together in the months to come.

Below are the testimonies from some friends who participated in the community holiday.

The CL holidays this June in Castledaly, near Athlone, were really wonderful.  The proposal for the weekend was to think about our experience in relation to a phrase from Chapter 8 of The Religious Sense, ‘Here is the paradox, freedom is dependence on God’.  In the light of this proposal, we spent time together, a group of about seventy people, ranging in age from 6 months to 60 years.  I really liked saying morning prayer together outdoors in the Irish sunshine each day. For me, the phrase that we were meditating on was a kind of enabler to make our time together a deeper and richer experience.  After many years I met Matteo, who had spent some time in Ireland in his youth.  Since then he has lived a full and rich life.  He gave us a testimony of that life.  He spoke of the struggles and the people he met, of the people who changed the trajectory of his life by the way they looked at him, by their gaze.  He spoke of his time in Uganda, his face full of passion and love for what he has lived.  I had the opportunity to speak to him, to ask him some questions that were important to me.  In this conversation, I experienced firsthand what he meant by ‘their gaze’.  Another evening my dear, lifelong friend and I talked to each other, in such a way that even after more than forty years of friendship I could feel it become something more profound.  You feel a difference when you speak to each other’s souls!  There were other such conversations with people I have known for less time. To be together, reminding each other of the One who is the meaning of everything, changes how we are.  Even cleaning up after meals becomes something beautiful, an opportunity!  These moments with the community are important to me because in a world that perpetually tells us that freedom is doing what you want, these friends remind me where my freedom lies, my true freedom. 
Jackie



We went to the annual CL holidays without any big expectations at first, but we came away with a greater awareness of what a gift our community is to our lives. These holidays have been the opportunity to spend time with close friends, but also with people that we do not see very often or that we had not seen for a while. What we saw during these few days we spent together were people of all ages, whose lives had been touched by the encounter with Christ through the same friendship we experience and on the same journey we are on. Among many examples, it was striking to see the way some teenagers were spending time with young and old, in a simple way but with joy and full of life.
We saw so many witnesses of affection for our community, as the place where Christ lives among us: in the passion and attention of the food organisers, the cleaning teams, the games and trips planners and the singers. We had a visit from an old friend from Italy, who, in his testimony, gave us so many examples of what a life lived in Christ is capable of. Through his stories we were reminded of what true freedom is and where to find it. These days gave us a bigger desire to continue our journey, within this companionship, in the months to come.
Raffi and Owen



Around 70 people took part in our community holiday in Ireland this year in Castledaly, County Westmeath. It was a holiday that bore witness to what it means to live co-responsibility – that “communal leadership” to which the Pope has recently recalled us. From those who managed the meals and the kitchen routine, those who prepared the songs and the "frizzi", those who organised the games, to those who coordinated the outings, everyone was clearly answering to a proposal. Co-responsibility was contagious and worked by osmosis: it was moving to look at the older teens, members of the Youth Group (GS), interacting and playing with the youngest kids with both joy and commitment.
In experiencing that they were valued actors of the holiday, just like the adults, they were then able to look at others in the same way. This was also what our guest from Italy (after many years in Uganda), Seve, described had happened to him in the testimony he gave. His teacher had looked at him not to just reprimand him, but to offer himself as a companion on Seve's journey to find the fulfillment of his deep desire. When we find a friend like this, it is natural to follow that new companion and stay with them. That is the vocational friendship that helps us to live our own vocation, no matter where we are, at school, at home, at work, with friends that we do not choose, but that are given to us.
Stella