Lay Congress
A View from Crewe of OLAC 2022
25 years on from the first meeting, the second Oblate Lay Associations Congress (OLAC) recently took place, from 27-29 May 2022. In a remarkable feat, regions from around the world came together, united by their Oblate charism, for an event that was years in the making. After two and a half years of preparation, we...
Day 3 of OLAC2022: A new sense of mission
And with that, it was all over! For the best part of eighteen months and since our planning began for the participation of the Anglo-Irish Province – England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland – in the worldwide second Oblate Lay Associations Congress (OLAC), talking about an event taking place at the end of May 2022 always...
Day 2 of OLAC2022: Connecting with the global Oblate family
If food be the music of life, play on! So Shakespeare wrote all those years ago. And there is no doubt but that what we eat can play a big part in how we can enjoy our time – or otherwise. I have spent over 40 years going to Lourdes with the pilgrimage and when...
Day 1 of OLAC2022: Celebrating the Oblate communities around the world
So already, day one is over. After all the hassle of travelling yesterday, I went to bed, happy that at last I am here, that I have settled into my room, and awoke early, having had a reasonably good night’s sleep. There was a ‘social event’ last evening, but I decided that the wiser choice...
Arrival in Poland for OLAC2022
An early morning start! The alarm went off at 4:55am and even in the few moments of grogginess that is part of the waking up process, I was aware that, ‘today is the day.’ Almost eighteen months ago, Fr Oliver invited me to be one of the representatives of the Oblate lay people from Ireland...
