God fills our sails and leads us through storms

At the end of September, four sailboats sailed through the Zadar archipelago as part of the Life at Sea program, this year bringing together participants from the United Kingdom, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, France, and Croatia. This program has been organized for the last three years by the Center Ignatius in Croatia.

Common prayer, meditation on God's word, silence, Holy Mass, cooking, and singing were just some of the activities of this spiritual retreat.

One of the 36 participants, Pedro Aoun from Paris, said that this program is one of the best ways to get to know Ignatian spirituality.

“It was my first time sailing and I got the chance to mix it with two of my favourite things: Ignatian spirituality and international encounters. No better way to fully experience what Saint Ignatius calls us to do: find God in all things. We were 8 people on our boat, from 5 different nationalities, sharing together our daily life for a week. It is unbelievable how quickly familiarity took over and deep conversations followed with people who, a few days ago, were complete strangers to me.”

The seven-day program was created by the head of the Center Ignatius, Father Tvrtko Barun, together with his colleagues.

“Life at sea is an opportunity for a person to get closer to God in unusual circumstances. One of the goals of our Center Ignatius is to promote discernment as a regular habit for those who choose to follow Christ. We are glad that there is such a great response to all the spiritual retreats on the sailboat, especially those of international character where we can grow and learn through mutual differences.

Maria Wyard from London said that she will remember that it is God who fills our sails and leads us through storms.

“I will keep in prayer and grateful remembrance the unity and love of the Church across the world. At a time when there are many divisions and much distrust, being in a boat comprised of people from diverse backgrounds and learning to love each other as Christ called us to was a great gift of hope.

Klara Žaja