On the 6th of August 2004 I received a letter from the Provincial, Fr Chris Cutler informing me of his decision "to approve my application" to join the Claretians. I will begin my postulancy with the Hayes Community.  I was pleased with the news.

Let me introduce myself, as Fr Martin has kindly asked me to write a little of my background and also to make myself known to the larger Claretian family.

My name is Joseph Gomez and since 1984 I have been living in the UK. I was born in Malaysia where I grew up and did my secondary and tertiary education. I come from a family of four, three sisters and myself. At present I have no immediate family in Malaysia as all three sisters have settled abroad, two in Australia and one in France. My mother passed away just before I came to the UK.  Since completing my studies I?ve worked in various jobs in the UK and finally decided to train as a teacher in Religious Education. Perhaps the decision to be a teacher is because I have taught both in Malaysia and in the UK, and having spent a lot of my time in academic institutions, I thought I had something to offer. Yet throughout these intervening years I?ve also nurtured the idea of Religious Life and Priesthood as a real possibility. I looked at different orders and in God's mysterious ways I was led to the Claretians.

As most of you have experienced in life, God works in mysterious ways and here I am as a mature adult being called to the Claretians.  I am pleased to say the least because I have come to know the Claretians and recently had the opportunity to join them in their annual retreat. I was at first intimidated as I was nervous at meeting all of them in one go. This fear was unfounded as they received me warmly in their midst and I felt comfortable with people who are committed to their mission and yet have a sense of humour and I found that there was real companionship among them. The whole point of my postulancy is to get to know them better, to live and work alongside them. Although I realise that the founder St. Anthony Claret who we are told "that his awareness of his vocation began when he was 23 years old and that it was an adult vocation!" is far removed from my own journey in searching for God's will, yet it appears a pertinent point because in my own case it is an adult vocation to put it mildly and I had always desired to serve God as a Religious. Only in my case it took a longer period of time.

However notwithstanding this, I look forward to joining the community at Botwell House and to work within the wider Claretian family. I look forward to this year of postulancy. That's all for the moment.

Thank you Joseph for your words of introduction.  Please be assured of our prayers for you at this new and exciting time in your life.