Kindred Spirits

Whatever you may have read to the contrary, and despite the faults and flaws of the fallen human beings who belong to it, the Catholic Church is alive, well and thriving! Lay organisations like the Catenians are a great sign of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church and it’s good to know there are many such movements out there, each with their own charism and particular area of ministry.

One movement that has a good deal in common with the Catenians is Equipes Notre Dame (“Teams of Our Lady”). It’s an international organisation known in Britain as Teams GB and exists to support married couples as they live out the sacrament of matrimony with all its implications. Catholic in origin but by no means exclusively Catholic in membership, Teams was started in France in the 1940’s by Fr Caffarel and has flourished so much that there are now 10,000 Teams across the world with over 100 in Britain. Just over a year ago Fr Terry Martin, parish priest of St John’s, founded a Team in Horsham – known, logically enough, as Horsham 1 – to which Edek and myself belong.

The “Teams method” of living out married spirituality consists of attending monthly meetings and of following a flexible rule of life on a daily basis. At the meetings four or five couples meet together with a chaplain to eat, share the highs and lows of their lives, pray, read Scripture and study a spiritual topic. The meetings are relaxed and joyful affairs in which we experience support and spiritual sustenance alongside friendship and, inevitably, loads of laughter! The rule of life consists of a set of “Endeavours”: essentially encouragements to help us pray and read Scripture daily and sit down regularly with our spouse to really talk.

I can’t over-emphasise how valuable Edek and I have found Teams GB. Marriage is as much a path to personal sanctity as the religious or clerical life and it’s good to be reminded of that and helped in our efforts. Marriage and family life are enormous blessings but we all know they ain’t always easy! I do feel that the Teams movement has loads in common with the Catenian Association – they are kindred spirits in that both share the aims of “strengthening family life through friendship and faith”. Our witness to the love of God as expressed in the commitment of marriage is much needed in a world that often has difficulty understanding either.

Sadly, as Fr Terry moves on from his post as Horsham’s parish priest, he is also unable to continue being Horsham 1’s chaplain and so we have a vacancy to fill... Last night he attended his last Team meeting and here you can see him with the Holy Family icon we presented to him as a token of our (very great) appreciation.

You can find out more about Teams GB at their website, www.teamsgb.org.uk.