Missionaries in Paulsgrove

I am currently undertaking visitations of the Neo-Catechumenal Way families who are on mission in Paulsgrove. Last night, I visited the joyful home of Luka and Ivana Celent and their seven (soon to be eight) children, including their youngest baby, Edmund. The family came here five years ago from Croatia, from Split, in order to undertake mission. Ivana is trained as a doctor and Luka is a lecturer in engineering at the University of Portsmouth. Ivana is busy as the mother of the home, while the children are at St. Paul’s and St. Edmund’s. Luka has three brothers back home who are ordained priests. After prayers, the visit concluded with generous Croatian hospitality including some delicious cheese and savouries, and a chocolate cake you’d love! The Missio ad gentes is a long-term project centred in Paulsgrove in north Portsmouth and comprises a priest-chaplain, religious sisters, single laypersons and four families, all of whom have freely left their homes, jobs and countries in order to begin a new life here in England. The Missio ad Gentes involves a life of prayer for mission, study of the Gospels, celebration of Mass and the sacraments, a pledge to live as a truly Christian family and a plan of intentional outreach to people at work, those living on the same street and to school friends. The whole family is involved. I am making the home visits to listen to their experiences, to support them, to invoke God’s blessing and to assure them of the prayers and support of the clergy and people of our Diocese. I am constantly amazed by how well the parents have managed to learn English whilst their children, now bilingual, sound like natives of Pompey! Please pray for these families – and indeed of the mission of the Church in our Diocese. The Missio ad Gentes is a generational effort and it may be many years before the seeds they daily sow germinate and by God’s grace renew and build up the Church in our area.