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Up Sails! The international letter of Faith and Light N°23 December 2014

Contents

Editorial The Prince of Peace 2 Reports Back to Rwanda 4 The beautiful colors of Asia 6 A heart that is still beating 8 The fruits of Honduras 11

Testimonies In Syria, meet the challenge 12 Our brothers and sisters 14 in the Middle East In Jordan with Pope Francis 16 Bengladesh : a love which heals 18

Family album 20 Homage to Father Amourier 23

Publications 24

Agenda international 25

Solidarité internationale 25

Marie-Hélène's letter Greetings letter… 26

Merry Christmas! May Jesus, Prince of Peace

be our guide throughout the new year.

Faith and Light international 3 rue du Laos 75015 Paris France - T. + 33 1 53 69 44 30 foi.lumiere@wanadoo.fr www.faithandlight.org - http://fli-afoi.blogspot.fr/

To us a son is given! He has been named

‘Prince of Peace' Isaiah 9, 6

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D uring the past year, we have remem-bered, with very different feelings, the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, the seventieth

anniversary of the Normandy landings, the centenary of the beginning of the First World War and the twenty fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, every time we pay tribute to such events, it reminds us that peace is a precious gift, that it is some-thing we should think about every day be-cause it is a most fragile thing! Indeed, again this year, in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, there have been killings, massacres and the breaking up of the families who lived in a place where peace is sometimes precarious, but it was a value upon which each person thought they could rely. What is worst is that a lot of these kill-ings and massacres are carried out in the name of a God said to be merciful, in the name of religions whose values of prayer and charity are emphasised! There is, therefore, a great temptation to say that if these killings are carried out in the name of religion, it is necessary to escape from this harmful influence and only rely on our own resources: it is necessary to kill God and the religions in order to be able to live in peace! I fear that the remedy is far worse that the illness because atheist totalitarisms have killed or kill even more, be it in the name of communism, in the name of barbarities born

Editorial

from the pretention of having wanting to rise to the level of these gods that were thought to have been beaten, in the name of the drug business which feeds on the desperation engen-dered by nihilist and misleading philosophies and by the temptation to imitate so-called libe-rating but deeply destructive behaviours. At Christmas, we are going to celebrate the coming into our world of Jesus, the Word Incar-nate, who the prophet Isaiah called, more than seven centuries previously, the Prince of Peace (Is 9, 5). In this text, I see great hope for our world that seems to be moving towards times of great sorrow. We have the impression of being like this people who have walked in the darkness, like the inhabitants of this land of deep darkness (Is 9, 1); we see the wickedness burn like a fire, our country consumed by flames (Is 9, 17-18)! We need to trust in the small signs that are given to us: a great light has emerged and shines on us all (Is 9, 1)! End-less peace for us all (Is 9, 6)! The Prince of Peace is not a great person in this world, strong and powerful; he is a new-born swaddled and laid in a manger, as pro-claimed by the angels and the shepherds sing-ing: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he fa-vours” (Lk 2, 14). God wants happiness and peace for each one of us, but we must look for it by making ourselves small, simple and frag-ile, by trying to learn from this newborn, en-tirely dependent on his mother to feed him and a few animals to provide him with warmth!

GHISLAIN DU CHÉNÉ International coordinator

The Prince of Peace

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In our communities, we can discover – at every single meeting – how much the ‘cry of the poor’ can lead us to not look away but to pay close attention. We then realise that those who express their pain and suffering in this way, are the ones who are going to make us understand the value of the communion, who are going to help us to find peace within ourselves in order to be able to proclaim it to others. Jesus told Nicodemus that we need to be born again: in Faith and Light, we can be helped to recognise our own smallness, our own weaknesses and fragility, not to reject them but to incorporate them in order to don our own baptism clothes once more, this white outfit, “the expression of the culture of beauty, of the culture of life…” (Benedict XVI). Then armed with the memory of having also heard these beautiful words: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3, 17), we will be able to confi-dently go to the cradle in the wake of the shepherds. And like them, all those who hear us testify, will be amazed and filled with won-der at what we tell them (Lk 2, 18). We will therefore be able to reveal to the world that the Prince of Peace is the only one who can give us the means to live in harmony and in communion with one another. Merry Christmas to you all, to your families and to your communities; may the infant Je-sus lift up his countenance on you and give you peace (Nb 6, 26)!

At Christmas, we are going to celebrate

the coming into our world of Jesus,

the Word Incarnate,

who the prophet Isaiah called,

more than seven centuries previously,

the Prince of Peace.

Notre Dame de Grasse, XVth century, Museum of Toulouse, France

Notre Dame de Grasse, detail

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Report

Back to Rwanda

A lready almost every-body has arrived from Burundi, Goma and Bukavu for this

important meeting. Unfortu-nately there is nobody from Kenya….. But a nun who has arrived from Uganda is a good contact to help relight the flame in that beautiful coun-try.

The assembly will last three days, including a time of for-mation that I had been asked to give on the foundations of Faith and Light communities: their life, their members, their responsibilities and finan-ces…. That’s fortunate be-cause it’s what I was asked to do in Lithuania in May and everything is almost ready! I realise that this is a very com-mon request and in future years we will certainly need to

stress these fundamental ele-ments of our movement: the most important thing is that the communities are beautiful and that they radiate, that they have activities that allow them to flourish! Everything else is just a service of accom-paniment. I often repeat that "the structures are there to serve the communities and not the other way round!”

We have the joy of seeing Father Jean Gasenge, who had welcomed Marie-Hélène and Marie-Vincente upon their ar-rival in Kigali in 1982. Back then, they arrived in from Bu-rundi on their own and had no contacts in Rwanda. They were just about to be re-moved from the country when Providence (helped by Marie-Hélène’s presence of mind) ensured that Father Jean

crossed their path! He tells the story of what happened back then and I intervene to say that, now that the story of Faith and Light has been told by Marie-Hélène, the local sto-ries must also remain in-grained in people’s memories! I also have the joy of seeing another Jesuit Father, Martin Mudendeli, who I have known for twenty years! He started Faith and Light in Kenya, at the time when he was at Hekima College, and since then our paths have crossed on many occasions. In the lo-cal history of Faith and Light in Rwanda, there is also the work of Félicula, who passed away in 1989. On the final day, we all went together to lay flowers on her grave.

We are also visited by a member of the National

AFTER A LONG FLIGHT TO KIGALI VIA AMSTERDAM, HERE I AM BACK IN RWANDA! MY FIRST HUMAN CONTACT IN THE AIRPORT TERMINAL IS WITH A LADY WHO POINTS A KIND OF PISTOL AT MY FOREHEAD! I JUMP AND THEN REALISE THAT SHE’S TRYING TO FIND OUT IF I HAVE A FEVER… HEALTH PRECAUTIONS LINKED TO THE EBOLA VIRUS ARE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY. A FEW MINUTES LATER, HERE I AM WITH YVES, JUDEX AND CHE-

MUSA AND WE ARE HEADING TO THE CENTRE OF CHRISTUS WHERE THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY WILL BE HELD.

The delegates have come from Rwanda, Burundi, RDC and Uganda

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Rwandan committee for peo-ple with disabilities. This com-mittee seeks to promote the inclusion of people with dis-abilities in society and, to this end, coordinates the activities of the ministries in question. I am very happy to hear her say that this committee is a fruit of Faith and Light! As she men-tions that she is very grateful to us, I ask her if in return she could perhaps let us know places where there is no com-munity yet and where one could do some good.

The other parts of the as-sembly continue without any problems: the assembly de-fines and confirms the priori-ties for the province: they need to decide what is most pressing between the desire to radiate and grow the move-ment and the desire to con-solidate what already exists, but that will be the mission of the new provincial team. How-ever, I would suggest that it is solid foundations that will al-low the communities to radi-ate better, but of course this is only a suggestion…

The provincial team is made up of Godeberthe, provincial coordinator, and four vice-coordinators: Agnès (Burundi), Julienne (RDC), Lin and Jeanne d’Arc (Rwanda). They are all parents: Bébé, Cosette, Petit

Papa, Georges and Didier are very proud of their parents! Father Guillaume continues in his role as provincial chaplain and is a very good support.

On the programme is a meeting with the Archbishop of Kigali (but as the Arch-bishop resides right near the Presidential Palace… only five people can get through the police cordon, although more than thirty of us turn up!)

along with Father Smaragde Mbonyintege, Bishop of Kab-gayi and president of the con-ference of bishops in Rwanda. The Archbishop receives all of us! And he is extremely warm and full of good humour. The two bishops each receive a copy of Marie-Hélène’s book and a copy of the guidelines.

As I leave, I think to myself what a wonderful meeting it has been. I was delighted to be able to return to this coun-try that I have already visited three times and where I have many friends. We were all happy to see each other again and the day I left, nine people were with me at the airport and they all had just the one question: "when will you be back?" Yes, I’ll be back!

GDC

Father Guillaume Ndayishimiye with two servers

The new team

Godeberthe and Bishop Smaragde On the grave of Félicula

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T hey represented com-munities from the Phil-ippines, Singapore and Malaysia; the communi-

ties from Pakistan were un-able to come. I arrived two days earlier so that I could get over my jet lag after a journey lasting more than eighteen hours….Thanks to Valerie and Anne, I could discover the old town of Ma-nila, the intramuros: which includes the cathedral, which was rebuilt seven times as a result of various catastrophes, including several earthquakes; the church of the Augustinians, who were the first to evangel-ise the archipelago, and the Santiago fort. I could also dis-cover a little of the history and culture of the country before reaching the meeting venue in the Makati district. As Valerie had accepted the invitation I had extended

communities, voted on the priorities for the four years to come. I summarised these un-der three actions: forming, announcing and celebrating: Formation will be mainly

aimed at communities to remind them of the funda-mental principles of our

to her to become vice-international coordinator, she was not eligible and one of the main objectives of the as-sembly was to replace her. A very good nomination team had prepared this assembly very well and this made my role as external observer much easier! I took the time to remind everyone of the structures of Faith and Light and I started with the most important of these, the community, basing myself on the charter (and its preamble), which talks almost exclusively about the commu-nity and its importance. All the rest, the provinces and the international, is only there to act as instruments at the ser-vice of the communities. The work on the priorities for the province had also been well prepared and the assem-bly, after a time of reflection in

Report

The beautiful colours of Asia

AROUND FIFTY DELEGATES FROM COMMUNITIES IN THE “COLOURS OF ASIA” PROVINCE MET IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR THEIR SECOND ASSEMBLY. THIS LASTED THREE DAYS, FROM 26 TO 28 JULY.

Maggie Rivera, New coordinator

A beautiful province full of colors

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had the time to introduce themselves and to go round all of the province’s commu-nities to answer their ques-tions. Then it was time for the vote: there was only one per-son who could become coor-dinator and Maggie (from the Philippines) was elected to serve the province and its communities for the four years to come. Four people were ac-cepted as vice-coordinators: three from the Philippines and one from Malaysia, but nobody from Singapore. To put a passage from that day’s mass into practice (“Indeed I give you a wise and discern-ing mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you” 1 Kings 3, 12), the assembly wisely elected four people: Adeline, Anne, Cloyd and Paquit, and tasked this new team with asking the nomi-nation team (also new) to get to work to propose some-body from Singapore. The provincial team will decide how each community of the province will be accompa-nied and by which vice-coordinator.

movement and give them the tools to allow them to radiate. Retreats are also important and I think that it might be useful to pair formations and retreats together.

Announcing is particularly important for this prov-ince, which I feel has great potential for growth. Be-sides Pakistan, which is already part of the prov-ince, there is a community that has started up in India, Bangladesh has made con-tact again, and the new foundations of Father Isaac’s congregation in Indonesia and Vietnam could offer points of sup-port for starting Faith and Light in these countries….

Celebrations (which in-clude pilgrimages) are also important moments in the life of communities and it’s important to maintain this momentum so that com-munities are as beautiful as possible!

Someone from the nomina-tion team gave the final list of people who could be elected as coordinator/vice-coordinator and each person

The provincial assembly ended with a mass cele-brated by Cardinal Gauden-cio Rosales, Archbishop Emeritus of Manila and great friend of Faith and Light… ” I noted that in his homily he said “We in Faith and Light…” Thus bringing him-self closer to us! Every year, he invites the Philippines communities to meet at his home. Then each delegation de-parted again, their hearts filled with promise after a sending-off ceremony that was full of colour and joy. Thank you to everybody for your welcome and I am sure that your province will grow and become even more beautiful in the four years to come!

GDC

The new team: Adeline, Paquit, Maggie, Anne and Cloyd

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me. I immediately think of the clouds on the Faith and Light emblem – but it also has the sun on it! Hubert’s smile lights up the evening with a special colour. I feel really welcome. With Hubert at my side, I pass through some very pretty and historic places…. Interspersed with the intense green of the huge, dense, interminable German forests. The rain that is falling drenches eve-rything. It’s like God’s spirit that touches, caresses and floods each being with a special caress.

We arrive at Weisendorf where the assembly will be held. I am welcomed again! The Faith and Light commu-

T he plane lands at Nur-emberg. I look out of the window and see a leaden sky and rain. It

is a sad, sombre day. There is no trace of sun on the hori-zon and huge clouds have taken over the sky. But a sur-prise is in store for me… Hubert is there to welcome

nities in the Netherlands, Ger-many, Austria and Luxem-bourg make up one province, one heart and one family. That’s a miracle that is only possible when Jesus is really at the centre. No borders, no barriers…. Each country brings the richness of its cul-ture and its particular charac-teristics. All of this is compati-ble and important. A province that includes several coun-tries, such as this one, does not reduce the identity of each country but rather con-firms it. Above and beyond countries and nationalities, we are called to be one be-cause the fundamental iden-tity we share is that we are all children of God and this makes us brothers and one

A heart that is still beating

Report

VICE-INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR, RAUL IZQUIERDO, ACCOMPANIES THE PROVINCES OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, BUT ALSO THE “HEART OF EUROPE” PROVINCE. THIS IS HIS ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY, WHICH WAS HELD IN GERMANY FROM 29 MAY FROM 1ST JUNE..

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The preoccupations and the difficulties of the prov-ince are the same as every-where: communities are dy-ing out, they do not have a coordinator or a chaplain, members are disappearing due to illness or age or the lack of young friends…. Cer-tain disagreements, misun-derstandings or poorly healed wounds open up again or have not healed well…. But alongside all of that, there are joys too: the

family. The rest matters little. In 2010, we started our

journey together as the “Heart of Europe” province. Now, four years later, it is time for the assembly. We forget what we were so that we can focus on what we are today and what we are called to be. The structures of Faith and Light have been modi-fied and adapted… It is a liv-ing family where the struc-tures are a support for what is really essential: the links between people, whose heart is those with an intel-lectual disability.

Thank you to Leiny, who interpreted from German to Spanish and vice versa. I felt more integrated; I could un-derstand and make myself understood. Thanks to her, language was no longer an obstacle. There was also some English and of course an universal language: friendship and love.

birth of a new community, the pilgrimage to Steyl for the 40th anniversary of Faith and Light which involved 300 people, a meeting at Tainach…

We had times of commu-nity and individual prayer, celebrations of the Eucharist or talks; times of formation; little sharing groups; and of course times of celebration or music. Dancing and joy were very much the order of the day! Persons with a handicap always brought to the essential.

The "Heart of Europe" province has many riches and gifts: its communities, the commitment of a great number of its members and they live ecumenism (there are people from different Christian confessions). Their languages are different and rather than experiencing this as a difficulty, they experi-ence it as a challenge, a call to open up to others and to support each other. These are solid communities, in very strong cultural environ-

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ple who can accept to be vice provincial coordinator. It is not a problem. Someone in the Netherlands can very well accompany the communities in Austria. It is a team that accompanies. What is impor-tant is that the communities are not left alone in their growth process in their life.

I won’t forget the meeting with the communities near-by. That day, the sun was shining. A barbecue was or-ganised in the courtyard: German sausages, salads, pasta and of course beer from a barrel served in tank-ards, just as it should be!

The day ended with the Eucharist, a real celebration around bread and wine. We were all, without exception, invited to celebrate God’s love. Then it was time for the sending forth of the new team and of each one of us.

When everything seems lost, traces of Jesus on the ground show us that it is he who was carrying us. The heart of the province was still beating – it was very much

ments, in the midst of the spiritual drought of the West…. They maintain strong links. These are people of faith and joy. I cried and laughed with them. There were moments of emotion, silence, shouts of joy and gratitude.

We experienced the wash-ing of the feet ceremony, as we often do at Faith and Light. This is a sign of service and of giving yourself, like Jesus did.

Then it was time for dis-cernment. The province re-elected Hetty as provincial coordinator. Thank you Hetty for your availability, your commitment... And your smile! The Nomination com-mittee had prepared every-thing extremely well. We were a little concerned and had some anxieties but this election time turned out to be a blessing. I welcome the new provincial team: Hubert (Germany), Nicole (Luxem-bourg), Trudi (the Nether-lands), Father Jos (the Neth-erlands) as chaplain, Denise (Luxembourg) as treasurer. All of them were embraced, thanked and sent off on their mission. Good luck!

I am also grateful to the Nomination committee for their work realised with ge-nerosity and efficiency. A provincial team was sent into mission by the assembly for the whole province. The new structures of Faith and Light are more flexible and allow a better accompaniment of the provinces. All the countries do not always have the peo-

Nicole, Denise, Père Jos, Hetty, Trudy and Hubert

Raúl and Hetty

still alive. The only words I have are ones of gratitude and hope. With Jesus watch-ing over us, everything be-comes hopeful. His hope. The hope that we need. The hope that we are living.

"Cheese" to the "Heart of Europe" province!

RAUL IZQUIERDO

Vice-international coordinator

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Report

O ne of the objectives of this meeting was for Maria-Silvia (vice international coordi-

nator), Father Hugo (pro-vincial chaplain) and I to pass on to the participants what we had received at Leeds at the July 2013 international meeting. Our communities’ strong points and their areas for growth were also on the agenda.

We used the following themes to report back on the international meeting: struc-tures in Faith and Light, dis-cernment and elections, spiri-tuality, accompaniment, the 2013-2018 priorities defined by the General Assembly, fi-nances and identity and mis-sion in Faith and Light. Each participant received a copy of the DVD produced by the in-ternational secretariat con-taining all the talks and the various PowerPoint presenta-tions.

Each vice-coordinator was asked to report back on the life of one of the communities that they accompany. Then, we focused on the priorities for the province, which are similar to the priorities for Faith and Light international.

The meeting was very rich. We had three chaplains. The vice-coordinators who were unable to come were re-placed by young people who brought plenty of freshness along with them.

Two communities from Honduras came to meet us after travelling for three hours to reach us. Lastly, we went to visit the L’Arche community at Tegucigalpa. I offer my heartfelt thanks to international solidarity, which allowed this meeting to happen. Thanks also to Guénaël, in charge of finances at the secretariat, for her sup-port, which helped assuage many of our concerns. Thanks

The fruits of Honduras

are also due to Maria-Silvia, to Father Hugo and to the vice coordinators who worked very hard to prepare the meeting and worked particu-larly hard during our stay.

LORENZO JULIEN Provincial coordinator

BETWEEN 9 AND 13 JULY, 14 PEOPLE MET AT TEGUCIGALPA IN HONDURAS FOR THE “OPEN HEARTS” PROVIN-

CIAL COUNCIL, ON THE THEME OF “CALLED TO BEAR FRUIT”. THEY CAME FROM HONDURAS, MEXICO, THE DO-

MINICAN REPUBLIC AND NICARAGUA. HERE LORENZO JULIEN, PROVINCIAL COORDINATOR, DESCRIBES THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COUNCIL AND HOW THE MEETING UNFOLDED, A MEETING THAT TOOK PLACE THANKS TO HELP FROM INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY.

With the communities of Honduras

Called to bear fruit

Lorenzo Julien

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Testimony

F aith and Light community is a learning place where we discover a way of liv-ing, a way of life. We are called to live these fruits that we bear not only in

the community but wherever we are. This has helped us drastically in our presence with the displaced persons in the temporary housing centres in Syria. Faith and Light communities have enabled us to be ready to overcome all prejudgments and make all obstacles between us and the displaced in the housing centers fall apart. They are different from us when it comes to religion, culture, environment and we were raised and educated to be cautious when dealing with them, be afraid of them, avoid being open to them. We accepted the chal-lenge to start relationships with them and get to meet them as persons, to know their faces, their names, their stories, their history in spite of our differences. After a number of meet-ings, a lady told me "do you know that we used to be afraid of you Christians"? Today after hav-ing met you and loved you, we discovered that we are not the only ones to be afraid of them but they were afraid of us too. Faith and Light communities have also taught us to be present amidst sufferings and fears. When we meet people suffering in the centers, we get to know about their pain, they have all left their homes and properties, they

lost their neighbourhood and their memories. Most of them have lost beloved ones, some have suffered disfiguration. They became poor, sick , afraid of their new environment where they have been displaced. Their social fabric was torn up and today they have to re-build a new social fabric fearing for their fu-ture and the unknown, fearing death and dis-figuration. Their fears provoke our fears, fear of death, our death and the death of beloved ones, fear of disfigurement and fear of the fu-ture, fear of new surroundings, fear of the consequences of the crisis and psychological and social distortions. When we meet with them and express our pain and fears, to-gether we experience moments of divine peace, that we are unable to explain. The only thing we know is that these are moments of peace that create in us the feeling of relief, belonging and friendship. we feel we are sup-ported. After one of the meetings, a mother said: "you have alleviated our pain, you have relieved us, we will be looking forward to seeing you again". Faith and Light has taught us to take time to build a relationships and trust: usually dis-placed people expect and ask for financial aid from anyone or any institution visiting them. They asked us what we were going to give them, clothes, money, medicines... we replied: no we are here to spend time with you, to talk, cry, laugh, play, discuss, learn... Their reaction

In Syria, meet the challenge

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was indifference. But with the continuation of meetings and presence, dialogue and the re-lationship started with each and every one of them. We knew them by their names and they knew us by our names. We started conversa-tions and exchanging stories. Respect and lis-tening were mutual. The ladies started feeling they were important as persons who have the right to express themselves, ask questions and learn. In one of the meetings, we asked a lady for her opinion about the role of the husband in raising the children, she said, "my opinion?" as if this was one of the very few times she is asked for her opinion. Today, Christians are very anxious about their future in the Middle East, where the gap between Christians and Muslims is getting bigger, fears and hatred are growing. The is-sue is what can we do? Some have lost hope, others are looking for ways to increase the chances and ways to live together in the Mid-dle East. He who has experienced Faith and Light knows that the community with the disabled people at the heart of it can be source of unity and peace. We should put this treasure that we have, at the service of our society suffering and going through this crisis. The ability of disabled people to go beyond barriers, be present and build relationships and their ca-

pacity to forgive make the communities with the persons with disabilities at its heart, a place of gathering for people from different religions, cultures, and environments. Communities open the path to meet oth-ers, and build bridges. This reduces fears and hatred and contributes to building a society of peace.

M.H.

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A t this time of great distress for Chris-tians in the Middle East, we launched a long chain of prayer (an urgent appeal for peace) by inviting

everyone to pray the wonderful prayer of Saint Francis each day: “Lord, make me an in-strument of your peace”.

I think that we should also participate in all the local initiatives to remind us of the exis-tence of our communities in many countries in this region, where much persecution exists.

I was thinking of our Faith and Light com-munities in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Ku-wait, Iran, Armenia and of the “Love and Joy” communities in Iraq when I asked to take part in a conference to support Christians of the East, organised on 24 September by the Town Hall of the 7th arrondissement in Paris.

In the afternoon the associations (Œuvre d’orient, Aide à l’Église en détresse, Fraternité en Irak) were able to present their activities and many people came to speak to us and were very interested by the existence of Faith and Light and by our conviction that the littlest ones amongst us can be sources of unity, hope and joy in a world torn apart. Carla, the former coordinator of the ILA Trinity province, came to find us and could offer more details (and some-times in Arabic) on our activities in all the countries where Faith and Light is present.

In the evening, before the two round ta-bles, each association had three minutes to introduce itself and explain how it was active in the Middle East. It so happened that the evening before, we had received a message from Mirna, who told us about everything that was happening in Aleppo and how Faith and Light had prepared all those who are devot-ing themselves tirelessly to the refugees and the homeless. It was providential and I bor-rowed the conclusion to her message - it was much better and more concrete than any-thing I could have said myself! (See page 13)

And I also added just how touched I was by this testimony that showed just how much those who you hear have no value actually have extraordinary gifts!

The two roundtables that followed this were preceded by an intervention from Ms Rachida Dati, mayor of Paris’s seventh arron-dissement. She had come to tell us about the murder of Hervé Gourdel, a disgraceful, bar-barous act that had just been announced….

This cast a cloud over the atmosphere of the evening, but I think that hope won out, because the speakers were all wonderful. Their testimonies, their points of view and their comments were extremely strong and resonated far beyond the marriage ceremony room of the town hall where we were!

I cannot summarise all of them here, but their words would certainly deserve it: here is a little synopsis of what I retained.

Ms Rachida Dati: 75 % of persecutions in the world are persecutions against Christians. France has an important role to play here and this commitment is founded on the Christian roots of France, a country with Catholic tradi-tions. What you are doing in your associations is of paramount importance!

Our brothers in the Middle East

Testimony

Ms Rachida Dati

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Bishop Pascal Gollnisch, Director-General of l’Œuvre d’Orient, raised plenty of troubling questions: This terrorist group was born in Syria: how

is it that with all our modern surveillance techniques he was not tracked down?

The bishops in Syria had warned of this: why were they not listened to?

Who assisted them? Why has Turkey, in particular its southern re-

gion close to Syria, suddenly become a tourist destination? I demand an international inves-tigation!

Bishop Georges Casmoussa, former syro-catholic archbishop from Mosul (by tele-phone): There are 20,000 deplaced people, who left eve-rything behind within 24 hours in order to es-cape with their lives, to protect the honour of their wives and daughters and to remain loyal to their faith.

Bishop Youssef Thomas, Caldeen Arch-bishop of Kirkuk: 700 refugee families have been welcomed in my diocese, nobody is sleeping rough. There is one family with a four-roomed house where they have welcomed 71! The grandfather was hospi-talised and his children suggested that they make some of their hosts leave. His response was: “what are you doing to our tradition of wel-come?” There needs to be a response to reflect our gratefulness (along the lines of "righteous among the nations") for all those who will have carried out heroic acts to protect Chris-tians.

Anouar Kbibech, President of the Rassemble-ment des Musulmans de France [Muslim Council of France]. As it happens, Anouar is a former work colleague. I have many times had the opportunity to start an inter-religious dia-logue with him, in particular following his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at Bernardins in 2008, a meeting which he found extremely moving: We need to say in mosques in France that the only jihad that counts is the jihad of fraternity, the jihad of integration, the jihad of living together.

As it says in the Koran, let us compete in the accomplishment of good deeds.

There were many other interventions, and

you could really quote from all of them…

In his conclusion following the two round-table discussions, Monseigneur Pascal Goll-nisch reminded participants of the impor-tance of work carried out in all these countries for people with an intellectual disability! I went up to thank him and we agreed that we would meet up soon.

As I left, I greeted Father Georges Assadou-rian (who had spoken during the second round-table) who told me that he had been Mirna’s neighbour in Aleppo! We then shared memo-ries of our dear Mirna with some emotion.

To conclude, in case you have not fully un-derstood everything that is going on in the Middle East, I’ll quote what one Lebanese par-ticipant said: “If you think you’ve understood what is going on in Lebanon, it’s because they haven’t explained it properly to you.”

GDC

Bishop P. Gollnish Bishop G. Casmoussa

Bishop Y. Thomas Anouar Kbibech

Fr G. Assadourian

16

Pope Francis to the refugees and young people with disabilities

As part of my pilgrimage I have greatly de-sired to meet with you who have had to leave your homes and your country as a result of violence and conflict. Here in Jordan you have found welcome and refuge. I have wanted also to meet with you, dear young people who bear the burden of physical dis-abilities.

The place where we are meeting commemo-rates Jesus’ baptism. Coming here to the Jor-dan to be baptized by John, Jesus showed his humility and his participation in our human condition. He stooped down to us and by his love he restored our dignity and brought us salvation. Jesus’ humility never fails to move us, the fact that he bends down to wounded humanity in order to heal us: he bends down

M ore than 70 people from Faith and

Light were there for this meeting.

Everyone was happy and enthu-

siastic to meet the Pope and to

share this moment with other associations.

The meeting began with a prayer and a

blessing. Then, the Holy Father gave a speech

in Italian. Although we didn’t understand a

word of what he said, we were extremely

touched by the expression on his face. He

concealed a pain behind his smiling face.

Then, a few participants gave testimonies that

were very touching. The final one was given by

one of our Faith and Light sisters in a

wheelchair. At the end of her testimony, the

Pope came up to her to greet her and everyone

else spontaneously got up to greet her as well.

The meeting was an exceptional one. We all

felt the presence of an intense and special

grace. At Faith and Light, we have had the joy

of meeting Jean Paul II and Benedict XVI, but

our meeting with Pope Francis was different

because he had wanted to meet us at any cost.

He is known for his profound love for people

with disabilities. We felt that he was a member

of our community and that we knew him well.

Each of us returned home thanking the Lord

for this grace that gave us so much strength

and confidence, as well as an inner peace

combined with pain at the sight of so many

people who are suffering and are marginalised.

We thank the Lord for choosing Pope Francis,

who brings the Church even closer to those

who are suffering and those who are poor, as

Francis d'Assisi did.

LINA MASRI Vice Coordinator for Jordan

With Pope Francis

Testimony

24 MAY 2014 IN JORDAN WAS NOT JUST ANY OTHER DAY. OUT OF A CONCERN TO MEET THE MOST SUFFERING MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, POPE FRANCIS ASKED TO MEET PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, ORPHANS, OLDER PEOPLE AND THE SICK, AS WELL AS THE SYRIAN AND IRAQI REFUGEES. ALTHOUGH HIS TRIP TO JORDAN WAS VERY SHORT, HE PARTICULARLY INSISTED ON MEETING THESE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO HIS HEART.

17

to heal all our wounds! For our part, we are profoundly affected by the tragedies and suf-fering of our times, particularly those caused by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. I think particularly of our beloved Syria, rent by nearly three years of civil strife which has led to countless deaths and forced millions to flee and seek exile in other countries. All of us want peace! But as we observe this tragic conflict, seeing these wounds, seeing so many people who have left their homeland, forced to do so, I ask myself: who is selling arms to these people to make war? Behold the root of evil! Hatred and financial greed in the manufacturing and sale of arms. This should make us think about who is responsi-ble for this situation, for providing arms to those in conflict and thereby sustaining such conflict. Let us think about this and with sin-cere hearts let us call upon these poor crimi-nals to change their ways.

I thank the Jordanian authorities and peo-ple for the generous welcome they have ex-tended to the immense number of refugees from Syria and Iraq. I also thank all those who offer them assistance and solidarity. I think too of the charitable work undertaken by Church institutions such as Caritas Jordan and others, who assist the needy regardless of their religious beliefs, ethnic origin or poli-tics; in this way they reveal the radiant face of Jesus, full of kindness and love. May the Al-mighty and Merciful God bless all of you and every effort you make to alleviate the suffer-ings caused by war!

I urge the international community not to leave Jordan, who is so welcoming and so courageous, alone in the task of meeting the humanitarian emergency caused by the arri-val of so great a number of refugees, but to continue and even increase its support and assistance.

I renew my heartfelt appeal for peace in Syria. May the violence cease and may hu-manitarian law be respected, thus ensuring much needed assistance to those who are suffering! May all parties abandon the at-tempt to resolve issues by the use of arms and return to negotiations. A solution will only be found through dialogue and re-straint, through compassion for those who suffer, through the search for a political solu-tion and through a sense of fraternal respon-sibility.

Dear young people, I ask you to join me in praying for peace. You can do this by offering your daily efforts and struggles to God; in this way your prayer will become particularly precious and effective. I also encourage you to assist, through your generosity and sensi-tivity, in building a society which is respectful of the vulnerable, the sick, children and the elderly. Despite your difficulties in life, you are a sign of hope. You have a place in God’s heart, you are in my prayers. I am grateful that so many of you are here, and for your warmth, joy and enthusiasm. Thank you!

As our meeting concludes, I pray once more that reason and restraint will prevail and that, with the help of the international com-munity, Syria will rediscover the path of peace. May God change the hearts of the vio-lent. May God change the hearts of those who seek war. May God change the hearts of those who manufacture and sell arms and may he strengthen the hearts and minds of peacemakers and grant them every blessing. May God bless you all!

At the scene of Jesus' baptism Lina surrounded by her friends from Faith and Light

18

A s Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was blind?” Jesus

answered “Neither he or his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might me made visible through him.” (John 9:2-3) Jesus denies sin as such a cause of disability and emphasizes the purpose; that infirmity can be providential. This short article is an attempt to share my experience of a boundless gift of merciful God in my life. This is only possible now after many years of both suffering and joy, so that people and friends may realize both the spiritual po-tential as well as the pain for a family of hav-ing a seriously disabled child. My aim is to help you and especially the parents of someone who is disabled, to under-stand how God can work through them and through you to reveal that the weak, the meek and the humble are truly blessed by God and the kingdom of God can be experienced now in their presence. Among our four children, Vincent is the second and our only son. At present he is 35 years old. From his birth till six months old he was a very handsome and normally active child. Like any other family we had great dreams and hopes for him. However at the age of six months, Vincent fell very ill. As a consequence of the extremely high fever with convulsions and seizures associated with ill-ness, he became disabled both mentally and physically. From that time onwards, until now he cannot do anything for himself. He cannot speak, eat or move by himself. In this way all our dreams and hopes for him was shattered. He has never talked with us, nor could he ex-press his love, hunger, thirst, joy or pain to us

Our love for the poor can heal us

Testimony

in words. Like job, we felt at times that God had deserted us and was punishing us un-justly. This brief article provides the opportunity for him to talk through his parents about the trauma that a family experiences in such a situation and also shows how God communi-cates the love of Christ through Vincent. I also seek to show how some of most profound work in fulfilling Jesus’ call to serve the least of his brothers and sisters takes out of sight by people such as Vincent’s mother who toils day in and day out behind the scenes. The image of the love of Christ that imme-diately comes to my mind while I think of Vin-cent is the face of his mother, my dear wife Nomita Rebecca. Her tireless love and care of

AFTER 35 YEARS LIVING WITH HIS PROFOUNDLY DISABLED SON, VINCENT, DOMINIC ROSARIO, FORMER LEADER FOR FAITH AND LIGHT IN BANGLADESH, HAS FOUND INNER PEACE. HERE HE TESTIFIES ABOUT WHAT VINCENT AND HIS WIFE’S LOVE HAVE HELPED HIM DISCOVER...

19

Vincent, as well as the physical exhaustion and mental anguish that she has suffered, is always in my mind. Unless one has witnessed with one’s own eyes this motherly love, this true life-story of the mother and son’s insepa-rable bond, it is impossible to believe it. In God’s salvation plan for man, there was necessity of Virgin Mary, I believe that in the life of our Vincent, the role of the compassion-ate mother Nomita Rebecca is a similar role. There is no doubt that God will one day raise up such mother to heaven and give her place among angels for her lifelong selfless dedi-cated love and service. All these years we have been praying to God for our son’s miraculous recovery. Al-though he has not healed yet, I have had my own inner healing by the grace of God. The person, whom I used to think of as sick, has healed me. Now I have learned to accept the reality of our son’s disability and, through lov-ing Vincent, I have found a new peace in my heart. My life was full of darkness because of my son’s situation. At one time in my life he was the heaviest cross for me to bear. Yet, that same person today has become my best teacher and spiritual guide foe my life. His love has taught me to go deep into Jesus’ Teaching. As a living companion, he has also been helping me every moment to go for-ward. I believe on the day of the last Judgment the lord will tell “Those who among you suf-fered lifelong intolerable mental and physical sufferings while serving the suffering children, come forward first. For you I have prepared an inexhaustible treasury that no eyes have seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

DOMINIC ROSARIO Former coordinator for Bangladesh

Dominic and Nomita Rebecca

All these years we have been praying to

God for our son’s miraculous recovery.

Although he has not healed yet, I have had

my own inner healing by the grace of God.

20

Family album

PROVINCIAL BANNER!

We would like to thank Ile de France West province, who asked us to embroider their banner for them. This brought us some money to help with the running costs of the Fanovozsantsoa com-munity in Madagascar. Here it is, double-sided! Thank you again.

Adeline

SARAH’S CONFIRMATION

On 31 August Sarah Ander-son, from Cornerstone Com-munity in Christchurch New Zealand, was confirmed with others from St Joseph’s Par-ish by Bishop Barry Jones. Sarah also received Holy Communion for the first time. Sarah’s mother, Cathy, adapted the Parish pro-gramme to meet her special needs. Mary de Leijer, her sponsor, who sat with Sarah and the other candidates said later “Sarah answered every response so enthusias-tically, and she meant every

sacrament of Confirmation with around a hundred adults from our diocese. She wasn’t swallowed up by this large crowd and was able to just be herself: joyful, deter-mined and profound! As the Vicar General of the Diocese was our former cu-rate, he was very keen to show her off, notably when the white scarf was pre-sented, when he called her over to join him!

When each person was in-vited to call out: “Here I am!” as their name was called, eve-ryone in the church heard it loud and clear!

Julie was very much sur-rounded by her friends, fam-ily and by our Mustard Seeds community. There were at least fifty of us and Julie must have been the one who brought the greatest number of supporters with her on this special day! On her way out of that long and wonderful ceremony, Julie was beaming with joy at having received this great sacrament!

GdC

word that she said. A moving experience, for me, of real faith” We all enjoyed the celebra-tion afterwards with Sarah and her family.

It is such a joy to see Sarah joining the rest of the parish receiving Jesus in the Eucha-rist at Sunday Mass.

Anne-Marie Pike

...AND JULIE’S! Saturday 3 May was a big day for Julie, who received the

Sarah and Mary

Julie, on the day of her confirmationJulie, on the day of her confirmation

21

FAREWELL, ANNIE

On 17 July, Jean-Anne (Annie) Wilford left us for the Heavens, surrounded by her family and those who loved her tenderly. Annie was full of joy; loving, kind and at-tentive. She had been part of the "Indian Creek" communi-ty since 1989. Her friends have always been taken aback by her kindness and her memory. She liked singing and praying for people. She dreamt of Jesus, of angels and of the Heavens. Annie had a wide smile that lit up everything. She loved rabbits, watches, sunglasses, bracelets and the colour pink. She lived with her heart and has been an exam-ple to us of how to love like Jesus. She had many stuffed ani-mals but her dream was to have a real rabbit. While we were waiting in the yard of the house before leaving for the celebration, a little rabbit arrived and stayed there for almost an hour. He was so cute and, sitting there, he was watching us…

Pam Landis, USA

fully throughout his priest-hood. Bob has also been a member of the international ecumenical commission for many years.

Of course Faith and Light was there to accompany Bob on his jubilee day and it was a very joyful afternoon! Many congratulations, Bob!

Peter Hellens Saint Anne community, UK North

Direct from Cameroon

Thank you for the message “An urgent call for peace”. We are in a union of prayer with our brothers throug-hout the world.

Thank you for our parcel of guidelines that was trans-ported by Sister Véronique. I have a new job in the su-burbs of Yaounde.

As for the Faith and Light communities in Cameroon, in July we registered a fifth community in Bafang in July, called “Tulip”, as I explained to Mr. Ghislain. Another is expected to follow soon in Bafoussam, I am not in contact with it yet. I plan to

JOSETTE SARAH

Ex-coordinator of the “La Petite Semence" community of Vacoas (Mauritius), Josette has rejoined the House of the Father. She was in-humed on Sunday 1st June. Josette leaves behind a hus-band, a daughter and a son, Josian, who has a disability. Josette was one of the foun-ders of Faith and Light on Mauritius and never stopped following in the footsteps of Mary and Jesus. Despite the daily struggles, she never gave up. Her generosity, her grace and her humility will stay ingrained on our hearts. From now on, Josette will be praying for the Faith and Light communities through-out the world. We are pray-ing for her family.

Judex Violette Vice-international coordinator

A WONDERFUL JUBILEE

On 27 September, we all participated in an Eucharistic celebration for toast the 40 years of Bob Brooke’s priest-hood. Bob, an Anglican Priest, has always had a great love for Faith and Light, which he has served faith-

Josian and Josette

Annie

22

visit them soon and I will keep you posted. As well as the four existing communities, St Jean-Baptiste (Bonankjo), Notre-Dame de Fatima (N'Kong-samba), “Mother Tere-sa ” (Yaoundé), “Rising Sun” (Douala), “Tulip” (Ba-fang), there's also the Ba-foussam community but we don’t know its name yet. I hope the return to work goes well and see you soon. In a union of prayer.

Sister Anne-Marie Ngono Vice-coordinator, Cameroon

Back to Guyana

As Loïc and Isabelle Lainé nee-ded to go to Guyana to visit their children, whilst there they also acted as “external observers” for the “Cris de Joie” community elections.

We were very warmly welco-med with a mass celebrated by the bishop of Cayenne, Father Emmanuel Lafont, who is very close to the com-munity. The celebration took place at the St Pierre de Ma-toury college, which has be-come their new meeting pla-ce. It is the parish of their new chaplain.

ched by the trust the com-munity showed in him. These meetings with the Cris de Joie are a real pleasure. There must be a testimony we can ask them to provide on the subject of brothers and sisters, who have an im-portant role in the commu-nity. This is linked to creole family customs….

Loïc and Isabelle Lainé France

New provincial coordinators

We are delighted to announ-ce the elections of: E k a G a c h e c h i l a d ze

(Georgia) for the Between the Seas province.

Mike Brault for the USA West province.

At the end of the celebra-tion, Mgr Lafont confirmed Yann, the only white person in the community, who is a friend of ours. The bishop shared in the rest of the meeting, and was also there for the voting. There wasn't much time left for the election, which the community had already pre-pared well using the advice that had been sent to them beforehand by Stéfanie, the former leader! We adapted the procedure a little, and after a first round of voting, and then a time of community discernment, the community chose two peo-ple to share the responsibili-ty: Marie Christine Lehacaut and Manuel Elfort. They both accepted this role with confi-dence. Marie-Christine is the sister of Johan, a youth with a disability, who comes along to the community with his parents, Robinson and Liliane. She is around forty years old and works as an accountant at EDF. Ma-nuel is the father of four boys, including one boy with multiple disabilities. He is a gentle and very discreet man, who was greatly tou-

Community Notre Dame de Fatima

23

“GOD, MY GOD, YOU ARE WONDERFUL!”

He always liked to say that phrase… On the morning of 17 July, Father Pierre Amourier, of the Diocese of Avignon and the former chaplain of the France Rhône Azur province, passed away. He was a marvellous man, a man of God, a man who loved Faith and Light and a guide. When I was coordinator of the province, we had organ-ised a big pilgrimage to Rome together. Thanks to him and to his title as “Bishop”, the doors of Rome’s four major basilicas opened to welcome our 250 pilgrims from the province. I have happy memories of our visit to the rector of St Mary Major as part of the preparation, to ask if we could play the guitar. We hadn’t been granted au-thorisation to play the guitar in Saint Peter’s, but we were resolved to obtain authorisa-tion from St Mary Major. We also wanted it to be the chaplain of the Lyon com-munities who would preside the mass, who was Father Thierry at that time. Then came the response from the rector: Impossible! No guitar and

to preside at the main altar in the basilica you must be a bishop!

But, the Father said softly, the Holy Spirit and we thought that it would be really good!

Ah?

Homage to Father Amourier

FRIENDS, LET US SING OUR JOY! GOD IS ALIVE, HALLELUJAH!

Lourdes 1971: the birth of the Faith and Light movement with Jean VANIER and Marie Hélène MATHIEU, at Notre Dame de Lourdes… This was a leap of Faith taken by families of chil-dren, young people and adults who were described back then as having a mental disability. For two years, we had prepared this pilgrimage with several families from the diocese of Avignon. At that time there was no community, but we lived meetings and times of fraternal sharing. I accompanied them as I did for church services. These children, young people and adults, who were injured in their bodies and understan-ding, are well-loved by the Lord; He invited me to be alongside them as a messenger of his Love. In my sacerdotal life, being cha-plain of Faith and Light com-munities has led me to share a spiritual life. With their disabili-ty, each of them has helped me to recognise my own poverty. In turn, the testimonies of Faith from families has fortified my own Faith. I give thanks to the Lord for this mission that he has entrusted to me, because it has led me to recognise my own disabilities and live with them in hope. Those with whom I have shared community life have transfor-med my outlook and opened my heart. Today, I am no longer a com-munity chaplain, but in the spirit of the Guidelines, I try to share in the life of the move-ment throughout the world. GOD, my GOD, You are marvel-lous!

Father Pierre AMOURIER October 2012

Yes, really! And, stupefied by the Fa-ther’s conviction, we heard him say: Well, OK to both then! And the most memorable thing about that story is that Father Thierry Brac de la Per-rière became a bishop shortly afterwards! Father Amourier passed away at the age of 92. His funeral was a wonderful mo-ment, charged with emo-tion. Sophie Alexis and I left Marseille at dawn to go and see the Father one final time. Huddled up against one an-other, we entrusted Faith and Light in France to him... 40 priests celebrated to-gether and three deacons were present… The mass was very beautiful and lasted two hours. Then, we were at the beautiful ceme-tery in Avignon, under the cypress and olive trees and surrounded by the song of the cicadas. À Dieu, dear Father.

CORINNE CHATAIN

General secretary

Rome in 1996

24

JEAN VANIER, PORTRAIT OF A FREE MAN

By Anne Sophie Constant

This book paints a lively por-

trait of an extraordinary per-

son. The author highlights

the influences, decrypts the

events, picks out the

chances and encounters that

together were able to shape

such a unique destiny. She

brings alive the exceptional

story of a free man.

Editions Albin Michel, 244

pages, 18€

COLLECTED PRAYERS

BY JEAN VANIER

Prayers from different spiri-tual horizons, sourced from all different centuries and places by Jean Vanier and illustrated by the "Le Pot-en-Ciel ” art workshop at L’Ar-che Belœil (Canada). Editions Fidélité, 80 pages, 14.95 €

Publications

“NEVER AGAIN ALONE,

THE ADVENTURE OF FAITH AND LIGHT”

After being translated into Portuguese, Brazilian

Portuguese and Italian, Marie-Hélène Mathieu’s book

has now been published in Polish and in English…

From 12 to 16

September,

Marie-Hélène was

in Poland for the

release of her

book.

As the tireless

messenger for

Faith and Light

that she is, she

then travelled to

Washington DC

from 8 to 10

November for the

publication of her

book in English.

The book is

available via

various online

sites.

see our website: www.faithandlight.org

www.foietlumiere.org

25

8-11 november: conference Never again alone for the release of the book in English, Washington DC (USA), with Marie-Hélène Mathieu

15 november: annual meeting for the 25 communities in Ireland, Athlone 21 november: provincial council Light of the Orient (North Korea ,Hong Kong, Japan,

Taiwan), Taiwan 29 november: provincial council for France North and Belgium, Paris 6 december: Christimas carols in the streets of York (UK North) ain favor of Faith and Light 24-25 january: formation session for the vice-coordinators of the nine provinces of

France, Issy les Moulineaux

International agenda

What have your contributions used for since September ?

"Bridge of Friendship" (Brazil South, Argentina, Paraguay) Visit to communities: 1440 € Provincial assembly: 649 €

"Reborn" (Brazil North West ) Formation session for the community leaders: 2200 € Formation session / retreat: 1290 € Meeting of the vice provincial coordinators: 970 € Meeting of the provincial team: 730 € Accompaniment of communities: 972 €

"Rainbow" (Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles) Formation session in Madagascar: 1200 €

"Egypt Center" Formation session for the new members: 730 € Summer camps: 800 € Meeting of the provincial team: 300 €

You want to make a donation ?

In several countries, Faith and Light is a recognized and registered charity association. As in France, you may be entitled to a tax deduction for each donation made locally.

Check with your provincial association.

Online donation: www.faithandlight.org

Solidarity

Editorial direction: Ghislain du Chéné - Chief editor ans layout: Corinne Chatain

26

Marie-Hélène's letter

W hat is more, whatever time of year it is, it is very difficult writing to someone who is facing an ordeal, experiencing bereave-ment, waiting, or writing to someone

upon the birth of a child with a disability, or to some-one facing up to an accident or illness... We are afraid of being clumsy, or of wounding someone through insincere or trite words, especially if we have not ex-perienced the same situation.

This is even more the case at times of celebration. Within the atmosphere of joy, pain is felt more keenly. Alone after the death of her husband, with Loïc and Thadée, their two children with severe disabilities, Camille writes: “I feel like a poor little girl, with empty hands and a cold heart… I don’t recognise the warm family gatherings before the midnight mass. I don’t recognise the joy of children as they discover the stuffed slippers before the chimney. Christmas has become the time of unbearable solitude.”

What words can we find for Camille in her desola-tion? Our secret temptation is to put our pen aside. We are like the priest and the Levite in front of the bleeding traveller on the edge of the path. We have nothing to treat him: no time and not enough heart. And so, resigned, guilt-ridden or simply hardened, we continue our journey. On the way of his cross, Jesus meets Veronica. She does not deliberate: her heart tells him to remove her veil so that he can wipe her unrecognisable face.

I would like to write, but how to express it? The “manual on the art of writing letters ” is no use. There is no code to be used in such circumstances. A letter is a link between two unique people. Are we writing to an intimate acquaintance, a close friend or a relative?” What is their family, professional or social life like? What are they suffering from? What are they thirsty for? What is their faith? Some are waiting for the com-fort of a message, others refuse this, such is the extent of their pain.

How can we dip our pen into their heart so that our letter brings with it a small chink of light: a reminder of a real meeting?

On the death of my father, Virginie, a young woman with a disability, wrote to me: “Happy New Year. I want to console you for the death of your Papa.

You mustn’t cry; he is in the Heavens. I love you very much. When you can't do something, I will help you. I want to draw a beautiful drawing for you – one that I think you will really like.” Like Virginie, we should not embarrass ourselves over stylistic formulae. Be genu-ine. Seek out what could offer comfort. Remind people of your friendship. If it is possible for us, offer support, a helping hand or to babysit their children... Include a little gift, a candle or a book. Choose a card whose iconography and text convey the words which we are not readily able to express. We are lucky that Christ-mas precedes the New Year, as if to illuminate the whole New Year with its light. Don’t succumb to the tendency to make everything banal by referring en masse to “the end of year festivities”.

What can we wish more concretely for those who are suffering in their flesh or in their spirit, or in the case of one of their close family or friends? Each morn-ing, like a new breath, find a little joy, a visit, a tele-phone call, the smile of our child, a service to offer, a flower, a thank you, a meeting or perhaps mass...

What would I wish for you who I know, and for the many more of you who I do not know at all? Happy New Year…. "God alone is good” (Mc 8,12). It there-fore with Him and for Him that the year will be good. Let’s enter this New Year, like Moses into the sea. The other bank appears to be a desert, but the desert is the place of the Meeting with Him. Go with renewed confi-dence, because he has been with us every day since the first Christmas in the world. From the bottom of my heart, I hope to walk some of the way with you this year again, and I particularly wish that on your jour-ney, there will be friends - both old and new - who will share a little of the burden with you. Finally, for you and all your nearest and dearest, I quote from the blessing of Saint Francis d’Assisi, which he extracted from the Book of Numbers (6, 24-25). “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he radiate his face for you, may he take you in grace and give you his peace. ”

MARIE-HÉLÈNE MATHIEU

Greetings letter

THE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERIOD IS ALWAYS A SPECIAL MOMENT FOR EXTENDING GREETINGS TO OTHERS AND FOR RENEWING CONTACT WITH SOME PEOPLE WITH WHOM WE HAVE UNINTENTIONALLY LOST CONTACT. BUT HOW TO DO THIS WITH FRIENDS OR ACQUAINTANCES WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM DISTRESS? WHAT KIND OF WELL WISHES DO WE ATTEMPT TO OFFER TO THOSE WHO ARE EXPERIENCING ADVERSITY?*

* From ‘Ombres et Lumière' N°166