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A quarterly magazine FOI No. 41 – June – July – August 2014 – 5.50 €

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A CHAMPION’S HEART a

version n o c f o t secre e h t o P t d ty Win h g i m e h From t

ST O C E T N E

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Editorial by Father Laurent FABRE

Special report 4

A champion’s heart

14

Ecumenism

20

Christian Training

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Youth pages

14 • A look at the meeting, “The Christians of the Middle East” in Lyon. - M. Younès 16 • “The horizon of grace,” a work by André Birmele. - A. Strojny 18 • Prayer

20 • Bible. From the mighty wind to conversion – J. Cazeau 22 • Faith and art. Interview with Marko Rupnik – B. Lagrut 24 • A missionary family – N. and P. Nowicki

26 • How to achieve Fair play with JC? A. Vanhems 28 • Testimonies

30

Life in the Community

35

Young Talent

30 • A world tour …to Chad – L. Watine 32 • Rest and holidays in the Community, by a celibate and a family

35 • Anselme Servain

FOI magazine (Fraternité Œcuménique Internationale, International Ecumenical Fraternity) is published by the Chemin Neuf Community, 10 rue Henri IV, 69287 Lyon Cedex 02, France Publication director: P. Laurent Fabre Executive director: Jean-Charles Paté, Editor in chief: Pascale Paté, Editorial committee: Franck Démaret, P. François Lestang, Marie-Farouza Maximos, Isabelle Rambert, P. Gabriel Roussineau, P. Adam Strojny. Graphic design: Annick Vermot (06 98 61 98 76), Photo credits: AFP : Bertrand Langlois, Carl De Souza, Doug Pensinger, Olivier Morin, Romeo Gacad, Pool, Getty Images : Scott Heavey, Warren Little, CIRIC : Ziad Alset, fotolia.com : angelo.gi, Andres Rodriguez, kasiap, herreneck, Eisenhans, fovivafoto, TTstudio Subscriptions: Nicole Zébrowski, Administration-Management: AME, Production: Bruna Atallah, Printing: Saxoprint.fr, Registration of copyright: June 2014, CPPAP : 0315 G 83338, ISSN : 1770-5436

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Editorial “Let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22, 17)

“For the last few days ten or so of us have been fortunate enough to be able to meet and accompany every day on an individual basis around sixty people who are on a retreat to do what are called “the 30-day Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola” in a really magnificent setting above Lake Sarnen, in the Monastery of the Bethanian Dominican Sisters. As we are very near St Nicolas de Flue, and on the Way of St James, every day we also see young and not-so-young pilgrims, with their backpacks, either leaving for or coming back from Compostela, and all this right in the middle of Switzerland.

For anybody who doesn’t believe in God, this sort of sport of 30 days of silence in a monastery, or this long walk to Compostela in Spain is somewhat mysterious or incomprehensible.

A Dutch TV crew with film cameras and kilometres of cable descended on two Chemin Neuf abbeys, one in the Netherlands, St Paul d’Oosterhout Abbey, and the other in Charente Maritime in France, Sablonceaux Abbey, not far from Royan. The project, which was a great success, was to reveal to the general public something of this mystery… the mystery of prayer and of meeting God in solitude. In both cases, in France as in the Netherlands, it was a question of offering celebrities the unique experience of a silent retreat, under the guidance of a Jesuit priest. Most of them weren’t believers. The experience was very conclusive and the programme is still being shown six times this month.

Father Laurent FaBRE Founder and leader of the Chemin Neuf Community

This new craze for pilgrimages, this thirst for solitude, these TV reality programmes which speak to us about prayer are only the reflection of two great sources of thirst: firstly, a need for authenticity, for truth… finding out the truth about oneself, getting away from the whirlwind of our daily lives and our consumer society to find oneself at last, and, on the other hand, why not say it, this thirst for God of whom Claudel said so well: “Dig around in my heart, and if you find anything other than a desire for immortality, then throw it onto the manure heap, let the woodlice eat it” (Tête d’or, 1st version, 2nd part).

In other words, finding oneself ultimately means finding God. Many people have had this experience, so why not you?”

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THE FILM

A champion’s heart

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Christians in sport

Pray, play, say!

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TESTIMONIES

They ran towards God

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FILMS AND BOOKS

Holiday reading

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FOI • N°41 • June - July - August 2014

Special report

A champion’s

heart The film for April 2014, “A heart of a champion” (> www.youtube.com), takes up the question of high-level sport and faith. We are looking at footballers, cyclists, rugby players, fencers, long distance runners, hockey players, tennis players.

Apart from the fact that they are professional sportsmen and women, they have something else in common; they have all had an encounter with God in the course of their lives as champions, whether as winners or losers. And they all have something to explain, on or off the sports-field, singly or collectively. A number of these committed Christians joined the Church, became priests, and did not give up running or playing, but rather used their passion for their sport to transmit the Word of God and to irrigate with living water a world that is more and more obsessed with success at all costs, where performance often obscures any spiritual dimension in the efforts that are made.

This report has been prepared as a collaboration between Gilles LELUC, a journalist, Net for God and FOI magazine. Each month a video is produced, translated, and sent to people in over 72 countries around the world. This has created a network of prayer, the NET FOR GOD International Ecumenical Fraternity. (www.netforgod.tv) The film in DVD form can be purchased on ame-boutique.com

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Faith on trial

The film

Ricardo dos Santos Leite, nicknamed Kakà, a Brazilian footballer with AC Milan

A taste for overcoming adversity, for combat, for a personal challenge, pushing oneself to the limit, the quest for performance and victory: how do you reconcile the spirit of competition with the spirit of the Gospel when you are a Christian and a pre-eminent sportsman or woman? It seems that sport puts “Christians in Stadiums” into demanding situations as it calls for a threefold effort; physical, mental and spiritual. Which means putting intensive contests into the arena of their own faith.

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“Have I the right to aim to be first?

To beat everyone else?” Can this fit together with the message of Jesus which says, “The first shall be last, and the last, first.”?

Rene Pichon is a priest from Chambery and formerly a semi-professional long-distance runner. He has won an impressive number of regional championships, fifteen titles over 5,000 and 10,000 metres, and had also had many highly placed finishes in French national cross-country championships. But there’s a problem: while René Pichon is moving from stadium to stadium – we are in the 1960s – the young champion who is planning to become a priest enters the seminary in Annecy.

A thorny questions starts to gnaw at him, “I was called to be the bringer of the good news: ‘Love one another’.

But in a competition, it’s, ‘Beat all the others’.”

And then, “Someone who should be cultivating his soul, his inwardness, his spiritual life... Isn’t it strange to

be investing so much energy and so many hours every day in getting fit?”

René Pichon knows other seminarists who have been told to stop being involved in serious sport. He is some years younger and has the good fortune that times are changing. He is allowed to carry on with his training while he is studying, which allows him to see for himself if it is possible to live in these two different universes, which until now are often seen to be in opposition. He needs to know what sport can really be for a seeker of God. “I found that competition was the way of bringing out the best in oneself, and so the necessary condition for surpassing oneself, which also pushes the others to surpass themselves.” It turns out to be “another way of loving, a demanding love where facing adversity brings a sense of involvement. With an enemy, I aim at destruction, but with an opponent, I help him to surpass himself.” And reciprocally, “When you have good opponents, you go much further yourself. You vanquish yourself.”

Special report Elysabeth Hunt, a field hockey player with Reading HC, an English team (a personal photograph provided

by Elysabeth Hunt)

Ambition,adriverforfaith To the question of ambition, the priest replies, “I’d even say that this is what drives faith.” And he quotes the sermon on the mount, “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” “So being a Christian doesn’t mean aiming to be mediocre,” but, ”Go as far as possible to be like him who is perfect, God.” Leave the comfort of your unproductive ways and launch yourself without hesitation up to the heights, become “the lead climber, the one who helps the others to get across the difficult sections”. The ambition of the humble climber, not of the star. The ambition of the servant, not of the idol. For René Pichon, a chaplain to young people for forty years, sport can prove to be the real chance for putting muscles onto ones faith, like the athlete who methodically does his exercises and wins a string of championships by a love for that ultimate perfection that you never attain.

This transposition to sport of the Christian love of sharing, of self-giving, of the offering of one’s efforts to God, is something that Elysabeth Hunt, the captain of the English national field hockey team has also experienced.

“Sport is an environment which is sometimes difficult for Christians; it is

often the case that only results matter. There is always the temptation to cheat, to insult or to be aggressive toward the referees. A Christian can distinguish herself by living by different values and leading her team mates to question things, to give them the opportunity to talk about their faith.”

For the truly Christian sportswoman “plays for God”, continues Elysabeth, “an audience of one” whom it is right to honour in all circumstances, as much in the moments of great jubilation, of victory, as during the times of irritation with your opponent, or “when I think the referee has made a bad decision.” To see defeats in perspective, bless victories and give thanks to God over and above the results, whether they are good or disappointing. “I try to remind myself that God always loves me, whether I come off the pitch as a heroine or whether the crowd is booing me. Whether I’ve played a good game or not, whether I’m playing for the local club or for my country.

The important thing is to know that my identity is in God.” Being Christian, whilst aiming to win, to get good results, is also the difficult way of faith followed by the Brazilian footballer Kakà. Having become

famous through both his talent on the football pitch and his Christian and Evangelical witness – many supporters remember his gesture at the end of the European cup final, kneeling on the pitch holding up his shirt with its message of praise for Jesus – this player admits that he has had to go through many trials, notably including physical injuries, as his relationship with God matured. “I started to learn that when Jesus comes into your life, he gives a time of grace. This means that I do not merit anything. I thank God for everything that I receive from him because it is freely given. I do my best, I prepare myself as well as possible. I do everything that I can. I plant, I water, and the fruit comes from Him. So, whether I win or lose, it does not belong to me.”

“I thank God for everything that I receive from him because it is freely given.

I do my best.”

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Pray, play, and say!

The organisation Christians in sport, was officially founded in Oxford in 1980, and its objective is evangelisation through sport at every level, school, university and professional. (> www.christiansinsport. org). Since then, its mission has spread to over 150 countries. Its byword? Pray for your opponent, play against him, and speak to him about Christ. Andrew Wingfield Digby, aged 63, an Anglican priest and famous cricketer has been involved in this organisation from the beginning. Questioned by NetForGod, he explained:

“Our mission? This was to make the kingdom of God and his standards known in the world of sport. We encouraged recognised sportsmen and women to join a parish. I would aim to guide top level sportsmen in a friendly, pastoral way, without ever referring to their particular sport, but talking about their family, with the normal respect due to their personal lives.

I never treated them as heroes. In this way we tried to get sportsmen to learn about God and to encourage the churches to take an interest in the world of sport.”

“In this environment people often asked me to pray that they would win. But you never pray to win. You pray to be able to give your best, you thank God for the talent he gave you, you commit your talent to God, for the sport. You ask him to be with you during the match. We must also pray that our opponents play at their best, because there is no interest in winning against them if they are not playing well. It is always difficult for me to pray in this way, even at my age, because I like winning, but it is the true prayer of the Christian sportsman who wants to win against an opponent who has played at his best level.”

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® Courtesy of Oxford Mail/The Oxford Times (Newsquest Oxfordshire)

“How to live the tension between sport and my commitment to Christ has been the key preoccupation of my life. When I was starting training to become a minister for Christ, I remember kneeling by my bed and making a promise to God to stop playing cricket unless it was his will. I thought I should commit all my time to becoming a curate and that the university would tell me the same thing. But my director of studies who was not in the least interested in sport told me the complete opposite.

‘Andrew, you must carry on playing. God has given you a talent and you must use it.’ This was an amazing thing. I felt that God was telling me to play cricket because I had been prepared to give it up.

There were three or four Christians who were playing sport at the highest level at the university and we decided to meet each week and then to build up our contacts with other Christians involved in sport in our country. This is how Christians in sport got started. This movement stood for the recognition that God had given us the ability to be good at sport, but that this was a gift, not a right. We were prepared to give up this talent for his sake if he did not want us to use it. And to use it, if it was his will, as our mission, playing for his glory, and witnessing to him to our friends, our team mates and our opponents.”

Special report Surpassing himself

Andrew Wingfield Digby

An international star, the idol of thousands of young people, Kakà has not forgotten his origins, how he was converted, how he grew up in an Evangelical family. A fall in a thermal swimming pool resulted in a serious fracture in his back; not only did he recover, but he saw this occurrence as “being liberated by God”. Although he has told he would remain paralysed, he recovered fully to be able to play and became a successful well-known footballer at the highest level, while remaining infinitely grateful to him whom he considered was his saviour. Remembering this painful ordeal, Kakà states, “This was the opportunity that was given to me to be able to bear a strong and hard-hitting testimony.”

“God’s champions” are not unaware of their faith. Whether they show it visibly or live it discretely within themselves, it is seen as a precious gift to be conveyed off the pitch to one’s teammates, to the supporters eager for an autograph. When with these young people who admire him so much, Kakà adopts a friendly and confident tone. ”I

encourage them to look for a profession, a career that they would like, the one that is deepest in their hearts, but also to seek Jesus, because they need him. Jesus can satisfy our needs. He is the saviour, unique and sufficient.” In the end, it is God who is the healer, the consoler of the sportsman, but also the purifier when an effort has led to its full achievement. God rewards the competitor in his tired, exhausted, overwhelmed body. “The body does not enclose the soul; on the contrary, it can be the soul’s springboard,” explains René Pichon. “When you work with your body, you experience feelings of being lifted up to something greater than yourself, towards the infinite, to fullness.” Because “at the limit of our body, there is the spiritual world. Sport is ultimately a spirituality and not only a physical activity,” explains the priest from Chambery. There is the promise, beyond our stretched body of a “surpassing of oneself” that has been freed from its worst cramps and its greatest vanities.

Gilles LELUC

Kelly Clark, American snowboarding champion, the most successful in history.

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TheyrantowardsGod

Joe Rocokoko, New Zealand rugby player, capped 68 times for the national team, 3rd World Cup, 2003

® DR

“At the end of 2004, I realised that I had to do something about my spiritual life. I knew a young church leader and I asked him to help me. I really wanted to put my life right with God. He told me that he had to leave to go abroad the next morning at 4 a.m. But this did not put me off. I met him in a café at the airport and I prayed with him to give my life to Christ. From that time on, God put other Christians in my path and they helped me to grow in my relationship with him. God showed

me just how powerful prayer is and how he is faithful if we are patient. I continue to thank him for all that he has done for me. I still have struggles from time to time but God is there to strengthen me and he helps me in my difficulties. I do not need to worry any more. My favourite verses in the Bible, Isaiah Chapter 40, verses 30-31 have really been a help to me. Here is what they say, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the

FOI • N°41 • June - July - August 2014

Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Michael Chang, American tennis player, winner of the French Open in 1989 “I became a Christian in 1988 at the age of 15. I had been doing a lot of spiritual searching. I think that this is a special age when one is asking a lot of questions about the important things in life. I was asking myself a whole lot of questions. My grandparents gave me a Bible and they wanted me to read it every day. And one evening, when I had nothing special to do, I decided to study the Bible seriously

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® DR

to see what it had to say to me... I discovered that the subjects discussed in the Bible concerning relationships of friendship and love were really right, true and in a sense, they were the ones that I would have liked for my life. So I began to read up the life of Jesus and to understand his love for everybody. And so I accepted him as my Lord and Saviour.”

Special report ® DR

Hudo Bölts, German cyclist, winner of the San Sebastian Classic in 1996 and the Dauphiné Libéré in 1997

I found a dream job, professional cyclist. Cycling shaped my life. Through this, I met a lot of people and it was through this sport that I came to faith in God. In 1988, I was sitting in the Olympic village in Seoul; I was depressed and was being called as an ‘Olympic tourist’. When the teams were selected I was just the second reserve. A pastor for sportsmen approached me and spoke to me at length. I understood that despite my disappointment,

I would have other opportunities in life and in cycling in particular. I remembered how my mother had shared her faith with us. When I was young I was a real scatterbrain, but that experience in Seoul made me discover a true faith in God and his son Jesus Christ. I became more thoughtful and sensible. […] Today, after a tiring and wearing and exhausting competition, I look for a time of quiet … sometimes in a small chapel in the woods. When I am there,

I speak to God and get my strength back; I thank him for his protection and support. If I find that a team-mate is interested in my faith in God, I speak to him. [I would like my team-mates to discover the path to God, like me.

James 1,9 is very important for me, ‘Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up’ ”

® DR Laura Flessel-Colovic, French fencer, six times world champion, two gold medals at the 1996 Olympics “My mother took me to church regularly, along with my brothers and sisters.

I still often go. But I find that your faith is essentially inside you. It lives inside me all the time. During my career it was not always possible for me to get to a church to pray, and then it was the church that came to me.

During all those hours that I’ve spent fencing, in training and in competition, I’ve been able to draw on my faith as

a major source of energy and motivation. It even happened sometimes that I went to pray in another place of worship like an Orthodox church, and I would light a candle there when I was travelling, just before a competition.”

* Testimonies take from the web site www.egliseetsport.fr

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Holidayreading The sky’s the limit; everyone has their own Everest, (Le ciel pour seule limite, à chacun son Everest),

by Philippe Martinez Published by Presses De La Renaissance. (In French only.)

Philippe Martinez sets himself a challenge – to climb Everest. But he isn’t doing it just for the thrill of it.

His aim is to hold a Christian service on the Roof of the World and to leave a Bible buried there. This gripping book adroitly weaves together a sporting feat, suspense and mental drama.

Also available as a DVD.

The Mountain Bible, Published by Editions

Le chemin de la vie. (In French only.)

This new small Bible is a New Testament written in contemporary French. It also contains stories and testimonies richly illustrated with fabulous photos. It aims to be a bridge between the Creator and His creation.

A sprinter for God, (Sprinteuse pour Dieu), by Marie Françoise Lubeth, Published by Editions Presses De La Renaissance. (In French only.)

Marie France Lubeth retraces her childhood as a penniless girl in the council estates of Lille, her rebellion and frustration when confronted with her family’s situation and her need to lose herself in sport, which took her as far as the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. A hard worker and fighter, she tenaciously struggled to create her own happiness until the day when everything fell apart around her. It was at that moment when Jesus Christ crossed her path.

I made a promise, by Nicola Legrottaglie, Published by Evangelista Media.

Born in Gioia del Colle in 1976, Nicola Legrottaglie played as a defender for Juventus, one of the most successful teams in the Italian Serie A. But today, if he is asked ‘Who are you?’ he unhesitatingly replies ‘I am Brother Nicola, I have met Jesus, I read the Bible.’ As a footballer, he reached the peak of his career in 2003.

I have changed, by Jesse Owens and Paul Neimark, Published by Morrow.

At the 1936 Olympic Games, Adolf Hitler wanted to prove the superiority of the Aryan race. Jesse Owens demonstrated that he was mistaken. In his spiritual autobiography, the Olympic star tells how he found God.

The surfer’s Bible, Published by the American Bible Society.

In this book, you will read the stories of often top class surfers who have travelled the world in search of satisfaction in the surf and how they found real satisfaction through meeting the God who made the waves.

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The race of my life, by René Pichon, Published by Editions Le Cerf. (In French

only.)

In these pages, you will learn about the life of a young man from peasant stock in Savoie, who went on to compete at national level, while at the same time studying at a seminary and, later, while undertaking his ministry as a priest. How does one reconcile Christ’s injunction that ‘The first shall be last’ with the logic of competition?

Special report The Legend of Bagger Vance. DVD directed by Robert Redford.

A child prodigy from Savannah, a precocious golf champion, boyfriend of the ravishing and ultra wealthy Adele Invergordon, Rannulph Junuh is sent to the front in the first world war, where he is struck by the full force of the horror of the conflict. After several years’ of silence, the disenchanted war hero returns anonymously to Savannah, haunted by the awful memories of what he lived through.

To save a life. DVD directed by Bryan Baugh.

Jake, a talented young basketball player is the star of his high school. He has everything he needs to make him happy: a girlfriend and lots of friends who flock round him. But his life changes when Roger, his childhood friend, kills himself before his eyes. Jakes feels himself partly to blame for the drama… With the help of a pastor, he decides to take under his wing the underprivileged students at his high school, at the risk of distancing himself from his family…

Soul Surfer. DVD directed by Sean McNamara.

Soul Surfer tells the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark when she was 13 years old.

Despite this accident, this young girl never stopped competing in her favourite sport and became NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) champion in 2005 and runner up in the ASP (Association of Surfing professionals) world junior championship in 2009.

Facing the Giants. DVD directed by Alex Kendrick.

Throughout Grant Taylor’s entire time as coach of the Shiloh Eagles, they have never won anything. While he is pondering whether to give up, a chance encounter prompts him to persevere.

The Rookie. DVD directed by John Lee Hancock.

Jimmy Morris is a chemistry teacher who also coaches baseball in his Texan high school. His own career as a pitcher was brought to an end by a shoulder injury 12 years earlier. Now, aged 35 and married with children, he makes a bet with his team. If his players win the regional championship, he promises to go back to competing with a major league team.

Jappeloup. DVD directed by Christian Duguay. (In French only.)

At the beginning of the 1980s, Pierre Durand gave up a promising career as a lawyer to devote himself body and soul to his passion – show-jumping. Supported by his father, he bets everything on a young horse that no-one really believes in – Jappeloup.

Escape to Victory. DVD directed by John Huston.

How to escape from a prisoner of war camp by beating the Nazis in a football match.

College. DVD directed by James W Horne and Buster Keaton.

Visions of Eight. DVD directed by Juti Ozerov, Mai Zetterling, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, Kon Ichikawa,Claude Lelouch, Milos Forman, John Schlesinger.

An unreleased film made by 8 directors during the Munich Olympics.

Eight visions of the Olympic Games and the athletes; winning and losing performances, female athletes…

In love with a girl who is surrounded by the hunkiest guys in college, a solitary student must surpass himself to win her over. A masterpiece from the 1920s, directed by and starring the slapstick genius Buster Keaton.

FOI • N°41 • June - July - August 2014

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VIE Ecumenism

Ecume

E

Middle Eastern Christians and Islam

Which way for Middle Eastern Christians?

How to build and maintain an environment whereby individuals may live together in harmony and which assures the future of Middle Eastern Christians with the perspective of what they are called to be, witnesses of the Good News?

More than 200 participants and some 30 speakers predominantly from Middle Eastern countries attended an international conference at the Catholic University of Lyon in France from 26th to 29th March 2014. The patriarch of the Chaldean Church set the mood of the meeting right from the start in his opening address, “Seeking truth and fraternity”.

They came from Egypt, the Holy Land, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq… there were several bishops, university professors and people actually involved on the ground; and each and every one of them spoke about the difficult condition of many Middle Eastern Christians and deliberated over actions that could be taken in a situation which has now reached crisis level.

From a practical point of view, it is essential to remove two attitudes of mind which invariably lead to ultimate failure: viewing oneself as victims, which leads to self-isolation, and denial, which anaesthetises consciences and hides reality. When vocation is invoked, it implies a return to the examination of one’s behaviour in the present context, in conjunction with the other person who creates this context. Here, for the Middle East Christians, the other is the Moslem with whom a common history is shared as well as a number of other values, cultural, even religious.

“Here, for the Middle Eastern Christians, the other is the Moslem with whom a common history is shared as well as a number of other values, cultural, even religious.”

Michel YOUNES,

Professor of Theology Catholic University of Lyon

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The progression of the conference followed the dynamics of this situation through a series of presentations, workshops and round-tables. The first day was devoted to the geopolitical position. Over the last thirty years or so, the radicalisation of Islam on the political front and its jihadist approach have had major consequences on Middle Eastern Christians, bringing some to want

to escape from what had become an intolerable situation.

As the actual situation in each country is different, the exchanges in the course of the workshops allowed a better understanding of the situation prevailing in each country.

The second day of the conference focused on the diaspora and solidarity. A wider view is necessary when speaking about Middle East Christians. The diaspora i.e. Middle Eastern Christians living in the West, is part and parcel of this reality. Which position should they be adopting towards the region from which they come, taking into account their experience or sometimes even their own suffering? Which role should they be called upon to play while living in the West, especially how to relate to Islam, bearing in mind their historical links, their cultural or religious beliefs.

The participants concentrated on their relationships towards Moslems on the final day of the conference, with two prevailing questions in mind: do the various Middle Eastern Churches in their diversity reflect a negative historical division or does it signal an ability to adopt a new approach on such differences, be they ritual, cultural or religious? And, which type of relationship or dialogue would be best to implement in terms of one’s actual presence vis à vis the Moslems in the course of daily living in the current situation?

One realises then to what extent the problem of Middle East Christians is both complex and urgent. To act implies a certain measure of detachment so as not to allow one’s own feelings or one’s own imagination to take over and foment hyper-sensitive, negative or

nismEcumenism

Ecumenism

Ecumenism

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1. International conference at the Catholic University of Lyon (26 – 29 March 2014)

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irrational reactions.

On the other hand, not to act or not to fathom or be aware of the seriousness of the situation would be tantamount to failing in one’s responsibility.

It is a duty of all to support Middle Eastern Christians, at least morally, and this duty falls on everyone: on Western Christians as well as Middle Eastern Christians living in the West; on nations, in particular the nations in the western world, with their great concern for upholding democracy and human rights; and similarly on Jews and Moslems, in particular Moslems in the region, who claim to be witnesses to a religious faith.

The credibility of people who have a strong faith is measured today by the care and attention they show towards people who do not share their convictions and who are de facto in a minority situation. In this way, the continued existence of Middle Eastern Christians becomes a necessity not only for Oriental Christians who live in the West as well as western Christians, but also for the nations where these Christians live.

Pascal Gollnisch1 said, “If Christians were to disappear, this would mean that the

2. In Syria, Maaloula is one of the main religious centres of early Christendom. Aramaic, the language of Christ, is still spoken there.

countries where they lived have not been successful in the process of changing to democracy.

Peace in the NearEast is not possible if minorities are eliminated.”

The extensive exchanges during this conference led to a five-point final declaration.

1. Deepen the thinking on the vocation of Middle Eastern Christians and more specifically in the way they witness.

To lose this dimension would result in the risk of losing the essentials of this presence. To be united with Middle Eastern Christians is primarily to be in communion with witnesses of the Good News.

2. Strengthen the effort towards ecumenism: without ecumenism, all communities become weaker.

Organisations that bring together Churches sharing the same spirituality already exist; are they to be made to become more visible in adopting a common denomination, such as, for example, the “Union of Middle Eastern Churches” so as to promote a common action which respects differences and protects the richness of traditions?

3. Work together to achieve recognised uniform citizenship. By abandoning the majority/minority principle, it needs cooperation with the Moslems

at all levels so as to bring about constitutional changes for citizenship so that all are given equal status. Experience acquired by the West can prove to be a sound basis. Putting pressure on nations, especially western nations, is also required so that they remain constantly on the look-out that human rights are respected and freedom of conscience practised throughout this region.

4. Re-establish one’s awareness of the history of Christian communities, promoting cultural mediation to bring about a fertile cohabitation.

Continuously adapt one’s vocabulary, whether liturgical or theological. Should the creation of university faculties, or even institutes for further studies in Europe and in the Middle East, be encouraged, with mutual exchanges of knowledge and competency?

5. Set up a common investment strategy. This does not mean providing assistance merely for survival, but to ensure a deep-rooted territorial, viable, economic investment for it is only through long-term investment that employment will be sustained and that families will remain in the region. v

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Director of “Oeuvre d’Orient” in an interview with the magazine Geo

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Theological works

“The horizon of grace” “The horizon of grace. The Christian faith” 1 is the title of the latest book by André Birmelé, a Lutheran pastor and honorary dean of the Protestant Theological Faculty of the University of Strasbourg.

Following on from his previous two major publications, “Salvation in ecumenical dialogues” (Cerf – Labor et Fides, 1986) and “Ecclesial communion” (Cerf – Labor et Fides, 2000) which focused on specific ecumenical issues, here André Birmelé presents a global approach to all of the main tenets of the Christian faith.

Father Adam STROJNY, ccn Professor of Theology

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Indeed, this book is a commentary on the Christian faith which, even if it doesn’t include thousands of notes and references, is well rooted in the Christian tradition and nourished by a multitude of ecumenical theological studies, documents and debates. Often only the briefest of details are given as to the author’s sources but they lay bare the wealth of reflection which has made it possible to make and interpret dogmatic assertions.

The book gives us a genuine theological synthesis which introduces us to that intelligence of faith that can be shared by Christians of different denominations.

Faith is seen as a relationship based on receiving grace; it acknowledges the abundance of grace to be reaped in personal and church life; lastly it calls for a free and conscious response from men and women today. The work doesn’t stop at the level of an apology. For the author an apology is powerless to transmit faith in today’s world. Instead, he encourages Christians to “show by their lives and testimonies that their choice is worth living and that their faith gives them a life full of love and hope” 2. A Christian’s vocation is “to be an angel of God in this world; to proclaim the living God who brings an end to the anguish of bewildered

“The book gives us a genuine theological synthesis which introduces us to that intelligence of faith that can be shared

by Christians of different denominations.”

human beings; to roll away the numerous stones on the chaotic paths of this world” 3.

This work fulfils the intention stated in the preface to “show how and why the numerous subjects that have caused divisions between Churches are now the focus of a mutual understanding, the basis of reconciled diversity”.4 The author explains various controversies around the understanding of Christology, the theology of grace and ecclesiological subjects. This proves the starting point for a long history of the questions which have caused difficulties in relations between Christians and in understanding the real central issues.

It is worth noting that Pastor A. Birmelé replies in a very approachable fashion to a methodological need recognised

by Cardinal W. Kasper in an article published in “The passion of grace”: We must distinguish “between venomous and dead opposition and opposition which is fruitful and serves life.

As the whole of life is a series of oppositions or, in other words, complementary polarities, such oppositions must exist within the Church. It’s better to be a debating Church than a dead one. Dead or deadly, these oppositions only become so when they quite literally become “mad truths”, that is isolated and absolutist truths which are taken out of context and which, subsequently, make the community of believers mad.

Ecumenism might also be defined as this work of seeking to draw out from these truths, which are not in

nismEcumenism

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themselves false (no heresy is so false or ridiculous that it doesn’t contain a grain of truth), the poison of unilateral separation so as to reposition them in their wider context and thus maintain their relative rights. In this way, all believers would be enriched and the community of believers could live in peace. All Christians are not to be forced to master the gymnastics of our theological cerebral contortions.”5 “The horizon of grace” facilitates this enrichment in the peaceful understanding of major debates, without getting bogged down in the technical details.

In many fields, such as the proclamation of the one God, the acknowledgement of the Bible as the Word of God, the understanding of the nature of sin and grace, also the resurrection of Christ, salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit, the Church and eschatology, A. Birmelé categorises things in the way mentioned by W. Kaspar.

Major subjects of discussion such as sola gratia, the sacraments (with the thorny issues of the meaning of baptism and the real presence in the Eucharist) are broached in the light of the Word of God and of an ecumenical rereading of the great Tradition of the Church. The author recognises that the nature of the Church remains a difficult subject of dialogue between Christians. He issues a strong call to the Roman Catholic Church, “The ability to recognise another Church as a full and legitimate expression of the one Church of Jesus Christ is really the final question that needs to be asked of the Roman Catholic tradition, the question which is key to it being decided whether or not it

Ecumenism

can be ecumenical.”6 Even if one book cannot exhaust all questions, the abundance of arguments dealt with by A. Birmelé provides a good illustration of the solid basis that unites Christians in their faith.

May this book make its contribution in the acceptance of the captivating life God wants to introduce humans to “by placing them on the horizon of grace” 7.

André Birmelé at a conference on Baptism in the Spirit, March 2013 in Switzerland.

“We must distinguish between venomous and dead opposition and opposition which is fruitful and serves life.”

W. Kasper

1 -A. Birmelé, The horizon of grace. The Christian faith, Paris, Cerf - Olivetan, 2013.

2- The horizon of grace, 54.

3- The horizon of grace, 443.

4- The horizon of grace, 9.

5- W. Kaspar, “A retrospective and prospective look at gratitude, not without hope”, in The passion…, op.cit., 307.

It should be noted in the passage that Pope François also prefers “a Church that is hurt, wounded and dirty from being pulled along the paths rather than a Church that is sick from being closed and comfortable, holding on to its own securities”, Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, n. 49.

6- The horizon of grace, 369.

7- The horizon of grace, 473.

8- M. Deneken - E. Parmentier, eds., The passion of grace, a medley for André Birmelé, Labor et Fides, Strasbourg, 2014.

9- “The introduction” in The passion…, op.cit, p. 11.

As a response to his latest work, a book has been published in honour of A. Birmelé by his friends, colleagues and former doctoral students, Protestant and Catholic. The title echoes the horizon…and goes as far as to talk about the “Passion of grace”(8).

Indeed, André Birmelé is passionate about life in God’s grace and about an ecumenical approach in sharing the treasure of the Christian faith.

Those who know him well, through working and debating with him, don’t hesitate to consider him “one of the most zealous workers in the vast construction site of Church and Christian unity (…) a typical specimen of third generation Homo ecumenicus”.

(9) Our FOI magazine joins this expression of gratitude towards somebody who is also a great friend of the Chemin Neuf Community and the architect of several ecumenical sessions which he has helped us lead in several countries.

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Prayer Praye

Prayer

“Before it can

become bread, wheat has a long road to travel, a labour during which the protective layers, the husk, the shell, the foliage are removed, so that the hidden goodness in each heart can be laid bare; the ear in the chaff, the grain in the ear, the flour in the grain. The journey towards becoming bread is the road followed by those who love unceasingly.

We sow the grain

in the dark earth, it rots, and then little shoots appear. In January, it is good to see them waving as they spring up through the snow. Now, if we stop there, we have defeated the dark earth and the white snow, but we are not yet bread.

To achieve this, we have to reach higher, show ourselves until June, when the ear droops towards the earth, as if it wanted to return there, saying “it is finished”.

Instead of this, harvest time comes, and if the stalk says “I’ve

had enough of this violence with sickles”, it will not become bread. Then come threshing, milling and fire, all hard for the grain. […] This is where hope changes its name and becomes perseverance, courage, resistance.

So, what does this long journey achieve? God transforms this trial

into opportunity. Suffering is not a necessity, but it can become the seedbed of hope. It is the place where we can be powerless, where each of us can choose either to slide towards the precipice of despair or to place himself into the hands of the Potter. “Into your hands I place my life”.

The Farmer - God - keeps the heart of each of us safe, blows on the ear to bring out the grain, then removes the husk to bring out the flour. God will do it for the good of each one of us.

Ermes Ronchi, Le petit livre de l’Espérance - EdB

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Christian Training Bible : Pentecost

From the great Wind to the secret of conversion The wind of Elijah and Ezekiel, the fires of Sinai and the multiplicity of tongues just like before the Tower of Babel – so here today we see the Law and the Prophets reunited for this Sabbath of Sabbaths, on the “fiftieth” (in English) Day of Pentecost (in Greek). We are used to looking forward, and seeing in Pentecost the departure point of the great expansion of the Church.

However, it is better temporarily to forget the expansion and rather to look backwards.

Jacques CAZEAUX Exegete, researcher

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Let’s listen closely to three pages from Acts The narrative of Pentecost has become the thing of fable, beyond representation. The issue is that it is not about a film. The page is a sacred illuminated miniature, and so it has been chewed over, indeed initially baked and then annealed in the oven of the Scriptures of Israel.

For Jesus’ Apostles, the feast of Pentecost is that of Israel. Now, in Israel it is the feast celebrating the giving of the Law. It was designed to re-open the ears of every Israelite, to hear the Word of YHWH God on Sinai, the Law. It was designed, destined for the ear, to replace the Canaanite Feast of the First Fruits, wherein the Baals wanted to dazzle the eyes with the wonderful spectacle of fruitful Nature, with which humanity would be in solidarity, that is to say, alienation.

Firstly it is useless to lean on each word of the narrative, imagining moreover that the Apostles were hiding in the Upper Room and that the Spirit suddenly gave them the courage to speak out in a hostile Jerusalem - a novel whose text says nothing, but which often serves as a homily destined to bring Christians out of their torpor, to conquer the world.

This is what is in the text: • following a prodigious disturbance, the preaching of the Apostles gets through to some of the sons of Israel from the countries of the Diaspora, and it divides them, whilst the drama of Babel is wiped out;

• this preaching is a celebration of the great deeds of God – the name or the story of Jesus are not yet spoken.

• But, contrary to the Lectionary, you have to keep going: then comes the speech of Peter, which re-centres his audience on the Judeans and Jerusalem.

Peter speaks about Jesus, about his Resurrection, but the physical aspect of it all is smouldering under the words of the Psalms, celebrating the Presence of YHWH God. Peter brings the three astounding events – tempest, tongues and Resurrection – back to a reading of the Scriptures. So much so that instead of asking Peter, as one would have expected, to get Jesus to come, having decided that from now on they were to listen to him, the hearers beat their breasts, each asking what they must do, and the answer falls, almost disappointing after such an upheaval: Repent and and be immersed, each one of you, in the name of Jesus the Anointed One, for freedom from your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

“From the crowd we pass to the individual; from outer spectacle we pass to inner conscience; from the fantasy-like personage of the Risen One, to hearing the Word” From the crowd we pass to the individual; from outer spectacle we pass to inner conscience; from the fantasylike personage of the Risen One, to hearing the Word which accompanied him throughout his whole life and which

an training training an training The twelve Apostles in the porch of the church of Caudan (56 – French Department of Morbihan) Sculpted in wood by Francis Pellerin (1962)

embalmed him in his death for the Life which is God himself.

Neither expansion, nor departure point.

Peter re-centres the regard of the Nations, just like that of the Magi of old, towards Jerusalem, the depositary in spite of itself of the Scriptures, the Word of the Father whose Presence make Jesus the Son and sustains him throughout His Life.

And so, the narrative follows the trajectory of the adventure of Elijah.

This prophet experiences firstly a great wind, then a mighty earthquake, then a violent fire, but YHWH is not in these great things: suddenly, Elijah perceives a miniscule breeze, from where comes the Voice (1 Kings, ch. 19). The listener at Pentecost must in their own turn come down from the great Wind, from the great emotion of the crowds, to the miniscule conversion of the heart.

Moreover, the episode of Pentecost is the third in a sequence going from the Lifting Up of Jesus to the end of this speech

by Peter. Firstly, the narrative of the Ascension shows the disciples fascinated by the old temptation of the kingship: in them the Israel of old revives the desire to see that grandiose image, the almost divine king: it is the original crime of Israel.

After this comes (often forgotten but decisive) the reconstitution of the group of The Twelve, undone by the betrayal of Judas. This central episode calls the disciples back to the political reality of Israel, the Federation of the Twelve.

This was the sacrament of Israel: this system of independent Tribes was its rampart against the kingship, the cause of centralisation, of the tyrannical will,

of war, of ambition, all wound around a crime against God, the fascination with the king which ruined the Presence of the only God and human dignity.

Now, this central episode of the choice of Matthias is stripped of everything of wonder. So, at the level of humanity, of Israelite, it speaks the truth of Israel, by renouncing in each one the desire for power. Between two prodigious pages, the Ascension and Pentecost, the book of Acts has placed their truth, the humble faith-confession of Israel.

Galilee and the confession of faith of each person in Israel Let’s read carefully. A modest sign should alert the listener to these three pages: the mention of Galilee. Curiously, the Angel that asks the disciples to look no longer up at the Sky then designates them according to their province, Men of Galilee. Further on, the astonishment of the people of the Diaspora, on the day of Pentecost, makes them ask: These men… are they not all from Galilee?

And finally, after having quoted Joel, Peter presents Jesus as from Nazareth, or from Galilee. In three strokes of the brush, the name of Galilee resounds from afar, from the very country of Jesus the Galilean, from his vibrant being of the Word of YHWH God. In fact, to the ears of one familiar with the Scriptures, Galilee evokes the crime whose horror dictated the redaction of the Scriptures, the kingship, formerly coming out of the People’s desire for power. Let’s listen to Isaiah: he

announces to the king Ahaz, who believes himself master of Jerusalem and therefore king of the people of YHWH God, that the Light will rise in Zebulun and Naphtali, two tribes of Galilee, and not in Jerusalem! Galilee at that stage had long been lost to Israel. This was because of the schism separating Israel into two enemy kingdoms. And this schism was the fruit of the institution of the kingship in Israel. Faced with this lost Galilee, Jerusalem was then disqualified, with its royal palace and its Temple – Jesus repeated it, before his Passion.

In this illuminated miniature of Acts, to say “Galilee” has an immediate impact, like in our time “Colombey-les-deuxEglises”, or “Verdun”, or “Gallipoli”, for example. Only, it is not to recall for Israel a national glory, but instead its major crime, and so invite it to a confession.

The name Galilee is not part of the central episode, the choice of a Twelfth Apostle, but the substance of it is clear here: the one chosen must have followed Jesus since the immersion by John. Not since the miracles, but since the Jordan, this particular water whose mere name calls each one to confess their faith.

To call out at Pentecost “Have no fear, evangelise the whole world” has only this meaning: “Renounce the Evil which is in you. May your confession be contagious.”

The lightning bolts of Sinai, the original Wind and here the Breath strike straight to that place in each one, a miniscule point, hard as diamond, but secret – like Jesus three times in the Sermon on the Mount.v

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Christian Training

Art and Faith: Marko Rupnik

When the truth becomes flesh, that flesh is love Marco Rupnik is a mosaic artist. After a childhood in Slovenia where he heard the call to become a priest, he entered the Company of Jesus. His artistic gifts led him to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. He also obtained a doctorate in theology.

After a time of ministry working for Italian-Slovenian reconciliation, he was called to found the Aletti Centre.

F.O.I : In your view, how did your vocation begin?

Marko Rupnik: I was born in Slovenia, in the Alpine part, the last child after three girls. I have always done drawings, so much so that everyone close to me became worried about my studies because the only thing I was interested in was painting and drawing…and skijumping. My call to priesthood was a result of a desire for the infinite. As a child I used to look at the mountain and my father would say to me: In life there must always be a mountain in front of you, a mountain to get over.” And I was always asking myself: what is behind it?

At the deepest level of my being, there was the desire to know “what is behind it”. The unity of things becomes noticeable when one discovers that reality is a symbol: inside one thing I find there another which is deeper. The art of contemplation, that’s what it is. My father used to work in the fields, and as soon as the snow had melted, he would leave. Before work he would bless the field. I saw his hands. There was something majestic, liturgical about him.

After work my sisters would bring him the meal. Again he blessed the bread.

The he would eat. There was a mystery behind these things which attracted me.

F.O.I : How do you decide on one project rather than another?

Marko RUPNIK, sj

Slovenian Jesuit, Mosaic artist

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MR: Basically, discernment is an attitude, a particular state of availability. In a moment, a particular scent becomes

detectable. It is the scent of God. When I am contacted about a project, I take time to listen, like a spiritual father listening to the person he is accompanying. Freely. This listening requires detachment. When in such a moment of detachment, often the first idea that comes to mind is from God. Another criterion for discernment is the sense of the Church. If there is no living experience of Christ, of the body, of our ecclesial dimension, then it is not worth the trouble. The project is not about the triumph of “self” but an affirmation of the Church, an affirmation of what we in truth really are, such as we experience in the Eucharist.

F.O.I : For you the project was born from within the Church. Why? MR: After the Renaissance, art became the production of a subject, the expression of a subject. Contemporary art today is a confessional where the artist gives expression to all that he is. But what is art if it cannot be defined as beauty? That is not to say that beauty must be equated with formal perfection. For us Christians, beauty is revealed truth, revealed truth is love and fulfilled love is beauty. How is love fulfilled? With perfect shapes? Not at all.

With the Cross, the Passion, the paschal mystery. It is very different.

We have inherited a five centuries old culture based entirely on the individual.

In classical thought, each individual is the expression of his nature. Now, human nature is wounded, tainted and it is normal that the individual wants

an training training an training to affirm himself, to save himself. The Greek Fathers understood baptism as something which allows the individual to move on to the person, from being an individual who is no more than the realisation of his own nature to being the person who expresses the newness which he receives from God in his nature. If we no longer have liturgical art, it is because liturgical art expresses the faith of the Church. In modern art on the other hand the individual expresses himself. In an art gallery one could well ask an artist: “What are you trying to express?” Personally, I do not express the ideas of Rupnik. I serve the outlook, the faith of the Church.

F.O.I : The choice of living together is a priority at the Aletti Centre. How does that work?

MR : Many years ago a young man arrived at a convent. He wanted to learn how to paint frescoes from the master. He carried with him his pencils and brushes. What did the master do? He locked them up in the cupboard. Why? Because life must come first. Live with me, enter into a new life, and when you are fully caught up in it, it will easy to give expression to it. Without that, you will do pretty things but they will just be “cosmetic.” It is the same thing here at the Aletti School. We live our life.

The school lasts four years and during those four years the person is asked to live here. Teaching techniques and processes is no problem. But the most important thing cannot be taught. It can only be witnessed to in daily life.

When a project is proposed to me, l begin to think “in” pictures. We westerners start thinking in concepts and it is only afterwards that we look for illustrations! Then I return, we talk, I prefer a project which has a church starting point. With some projects this can take two years of discussions. With the assistance of Maria Stella here in Rome, a period of creation ensues. With the other artists at the Aletti Centre, the figures are created here in Rome, then taken on site. I never design an outline. For example, what will be done at Krakow1 I have it “from the inside”.

I take the time to tell them how I see things, but do not give them an outline, because that would risk becoming a slave to the drawing. When I arrive on

site, I begin to draw on the wall and the artists begin to work. My role is to hold it all together, to make sure all the parts match each other. Sometimes an artist begins to do something which is quite different from what I had thought. In this situation what should I do? I modify all the other parts so as to harmonise with him. All the time one prays for the Holy Spirit to give us charity. I am convinced that our work is indwelt by God because it is done in friendship.v From the interview with Blandine Lagrut, ccn

1 - The building of the sanctuary dedicated to John-Paul II

THE ALETTI CENTRE

The “Ezio Aletti” Centre for study and research was founded in Rome in 1991. It is specially for artists from central and eastern Europe, to create the opportunity for sharing with their western colleagues. It encourages coexistence and encounter between eastern and western Christians.

The Aletti Centre was personally inaugurated by Pope John-Paul 2 on December 12th 1993 and belongs to the Jesuit mission. Its leader is Father Marko Rupnik.

The work of the Centre is characterised by an approach to study and research which has a relational context, always “emphasising interpersonal relationships” (Peter Hans Kolvenbach, Jesuit Superior General to 2008).

“Here, you can already see how to live together, get to know yourself better.

The depth of the scene is a communal royal road for research into a deeper communion between the Churches.” (Jean-Paul II, December 1993) In an original way the Centre combines theological, spiritual and cultural factors which are often dealt with separately in contemporary Christian culture. It puts on a wide range of activities: art, education, and publishing.

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Christian Training

Couple and family: Missionary family

Family, witness to the Good News

Each Christian is called to the harvest, not alone but with others. This fundamental principle of mission also applies to the basic cell of society: the family. It is the fundamental place in which to discover the joys and poverties of living together, to learn to serve others, first within and then opening toward the outside. The family, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, may even be sent out on the “roads of the world”.

Peter and Nicole Nowicki, ccn

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Welcome joys and poverties as a family Family life teaches us to see how God loves us: the Lord loves each person in our family in a particular way and he invites us regularly to sharpen our eyes to re-choose our family, our children.

To that end, as parents, it is good to consecrate time for tending the family, taking care to preserve it, to give signposts, keep time for simply being together, simple festivities which add sparkle and break the routine.

Paying attention to our family also means not being afraid to take note of certain tensions, limits, weaknesses in our relationships or our choices, to experience our poverties (patience, communication), to accept not having the answer to everything. In our relations with the outer world, we can also reflect upon the balance between family life, the world of work and social life.

It is within the love that God has for our family that we can leave our models of the ideal family, accept weakness as the place where the Lord can meet us and move from dream to reality.

God himself invites us, as parents, to share his happiness in loving. Our

vocation as a family finds its reason in the words of Christ: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Sent by the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit To commit ourselves as parents to follow Christ and to include our children, even if they are not yet able to choose, is difficult. But so is every choice directing the lives of our children: a move because of our work, our life-style, school…The risk of “making a mistake” is inevitable.

We are called upon to defend our choices before our children, who will respect the more our positions if they feel personally loved and that our leitmotiv is Love above all.

What is the road to “holiness” to which we are called? How can we put Christ in the centre of our family life? It is the Word of God that will show us the way.

1. Jesus’ disciples receive the call to become “fishers of men” (Mt 4.19).

Why not our families? Invited to go forth, they must also stay near the Lord (Jn 1.39).

an training training an training 2. The Beatitudes lead us radically to Christ. And if we re-read in the family the meaning of “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, “Blessed are the meek” (Mt 5.3-4)?

3. The Word of God makes us reconsider our relationship with money, which is a tool rather than an end, for the simplifying of life and sharing. In Mt 6.19: “Do not store up treasures on earth, where rust and worms destroy”.

In Mt 6.24: “No man can serve two masters at the same time”.

4. In our human relations, we learn to

live “chastity”, that is not to lay a hand on another, reconciliation (Mt 5.43), not to judge (Mt 7.1). This amounts to living the golden rule: “Do to others what you would have them do to you…this sums up the Law and the Prophets”, (Mt 7.12).

5. Believe in the force of Prayer, both personal and as a family, to move mountains and to educate our children in the meeting with mystery; live the Our Father, corner-stone of our domestic church; learn to discover together his Providence: “Ask and you will receive” (Mt 7.7).

6. Jesus sends us out as Missionaries: “Make disciples, baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28.19). What a programme! How far have we got in our desire, our thirst to follow Christ?

We are called to become missionary families witnessing to the hope that is in us, hoping that, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, those around us will meet and love the risen Jesus.

Follow Jesus in the heart of our family life But being a “missionary family” also concerns our daily life which we must cultivate, as Jesus invites us to do in the Parable of the Sower (Lk 8.11-15).

At home, each day repeat with love little acts: cook meals, care for a child, etc.

Work so the family can live, but without becoming over-involved in one’s work, lead a balanced family life, renounce a professional “career”, if it is detrimental to the family and our couple.

Be attentive to family prayer, receive the sacraments, protect one’s couple.

Find in love a delicate balance with our children to transmit our faith to

them by simple means, for example, table blessing. Educate their hearts while respecting them and being ready to listen. Lead them to comply with demands – for a degree of regularity for example – without being authoritarian.

Enter the Church and the world, witnessing to the faithfulness of the Lord in our couple, with our children, sharing generously the gifts we have received through service (as a family if possible) to those around us, spontaneous help to those who ask for it, and sharing of finances explained to our children (or by inviting them to do likewise with their small savings…).

There are many forms of commitment in the Church and in the world; the important thing is not to be alone, a family alone is a family in danger! For certain people, this call to follow Jesus Christ, poor and humble, will involve them in a community, conscious that our primary mission is to educate our children and live our everyday lives as a Missionary Family.v

Cana Family Cana Family has developed in France a pedagogy in response to the exhortation sent forth by Pope JohnPaul II to families, November 10 1980: “Christ committed himself entirely with his human face, his affectivity, all his consciousness as a man and the son of God… The pastorality of Christian homes, while giving human sciences their proper place, should first of all teach marriage partners and all members of the little domestic church to see how God loves”.

The Cana Family week is designed for rediscovering the beauty of our family through good times in play, in discussions and in walking together towards the joy of pardon.

This summer, Cana Family will be held for the first time outside France, in Poland, from August 4 to10. How lucky these families are to take a week under the eyes of God to grow in unity!

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An expression commonly used in the context of sport, ‘fair’ in the sense of clear, open, honest, no cheating, and ‘play’ – the way the game is played. So “to be” playing fair implies behaving honestly in a game and, by extension, in all the circumstances of life. So much for definitions. Let’s get on to the field!

JC has all the clues to making you an adept at fair play, an angel, on the sports field, at home, in class and even waiting in line for school meals!

Here are the 4 virtues of sport according to JC.

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Agnès Vanhems

1. Courage and humility: JC leads you to take the great leap In running shoes as in life, it takes a minimum of courage to keep moving forward. In France, 65% of people over 15 engage in some form of physical activity at least once a week .(1) If you happen to be in the remaining percentage, because you are timid, lazy or indolent, you should know that when you follow JC: “He gives his strength to the weary; and increases the power of the weak”. (Isaiah 40 v 29) So all is not lost!

And remember that when he drew up the teams he clearly said:”…fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine”.

(Isaiah 43 v 1)

Sport teaches you how to go beyond your limitations and your fears. Hang gliding provides a good example. You take your courage in both feet, you run and run and then you jump! Not in order to fall below, but rather to soar up and to come back filled with divine oxygen ready to embrace the world!

This is what we know as joy, real joy.

And it’s like that with God. There comes a moment when you decide to take that leap of trust, courage and humility in order to soar higher. Seen from above the world is very beautiful!

Throwing yourself into sport, with JC enables you to experience that sense of accomplishment, of success, of the union of body and mind, feelings that are marked by a profound joy familiar to all who practice sports.

2. Perseverance and discipline : JC encourages you!

“Keep going, don’t give up!” shouts Victor’s trainer during the 10 mile race. Victor, an all-round sportsman, comments: “I felt I was sprouting wings

to get back into the middle of the pack”.

The result at the end of the races: Victor stood on the second step of the podium. JC is like Vincent’s trainer, he encourages you to give of yourself completely in all that you do, so that you might reach heaven. “….he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”. (Matthew 24 v 13) Perseverance and discipline produce results. But with all that, no sport exists without effort!

Effort enables you to savour the result. Reaching the summit would not give the same pleasure if you hadn’t perspired a little as you climbed to admire its heights. Similarly, short of a miracle or moment of grace (and it could happen to you!), you will not get to the top of Mont Blanc in three quick strides with your crampons. You have to learn to do a climb in stages and follow an appropriate training. It’s a matter of discipline. You accept and abide by the rules of the game. You also respects the limits of your body when it demands that you stop when you try to go too far. This is where you become a professional at ‘fair play’: when you have been honest in your game and in recognizing your limits.

3. Team spirit: JC teaches you to play as a member of a team In choosing to play a collective sport, you develop a team spirit. In a boat or kayak it’s in your interest that you row in the same direction as your brother and that you follow the captain’s instructions! If the Apostles had not listened to JC they would have capsized.

Without paying attention to your brother and respecting his differences (of character, background, culture, weakness), and without a minimal amount of patience there can be no

victory. “Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble”. (1 John 2 v 10). Playing in a collective sport trains you to live in brotherhood, to “love one’s neighbour” as JC would say.

Team spirit also means relying on each other, accepting the strengths and weaknesses of your team mates and helping them to bear them. For example: orienteering. In order to win you need to be aware of the pace of each member, to support each other physically and morally and maintain team solidarity right through the competition.

4. Hope for victory: JC will help you to win!

The real victory lies in practicing fair play all the way! Accepting to play also means accepting the possibility of losing. Victory that is often externalized in the material form of a cup, a medal, or doing a round of the track, is not complete. Victory in fact is more than the mere winning of a game. It is an internal experience.

Because you have given of your best, because you have communed with others, because you have observed the rules of the game and listened to the advice of JC, true victory gives you the profound feeling of joy at having won, for yourself and with others.

You know that JC expects to see you at the Welcome to Paradise Festival this summer at Hautecombe. The invitation has been made, joy is guaranteed.

welcometoparadise.fr 1 - Les Chiffres-clés du Sport, Feb.2013; document publishd by the Ministère des Sports, de la Jeunesse, de l’Education populaire et de la Vie Associative.

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Sport opens up relationships with others “Near the place where I live, there is a small football ground. Often, Romanians hang out there and sometimes they play football. I decided to go and play there with some friends and we played with the Romanians, the people that nobody likes because they are “squatters”….We all had a great time and I almost managed to unders-

tand what they said to me ! Truly, sport removes many barriers, and it’s fantastic to be able to spend moments like that with people who may be strangers, new and different. It’s a bit like making micro-friendships”.

Marc, 21 yrs.

Recovering mental and physical balance For quite a number of years, as far as sport and my faith were concerned, my attitude was pretty “basic”. I wasn’t really interested in sport and my religious practice lacked conviction…….

I was slipping further and further away from faith in my belief even though I still went to church and led fellowship groups. And then, I decided to get out of this phase. So I gave up smoking in order to take up sport ! For several months I kept up my regular 60 minutes a day at the club. At the same time, I went on a diet and was able to lose my superfluous 10 kilos.

During these months, I realized just how much the sporting activity and

the fact of losing weight made me feel freer and more chaste. My outlook changed. I became more optimistic, my capacities improved, I would even say that, from then on, I adopted a more Christian way of seeing things !

And this was reflected in the meetings I led and in my relationships with other people.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit : therefore the healthier this body is, the more the Holy Spirit can be at work in our life and shine through it ! Now, there are ups and downs, but clearly, the more faithful I am to my time spent on sport, the more faithful I am to the Lord”.

Michel, 24 yrs.

Learning to have confidence “I was never a very sporting person.

At least, I never thought of myself as being one. An only child, as a girl, I took classical ballet classes for 15 years and jazz-modern for 10, and there were occasional bike rides along the river bank. In my student days I added a few jogging sessions and explored the field of contemporary dance. But as I grew up I felt I lacked something my friends had. Most of them had been “boosted” throughout their childhood

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by brothers and sisters and could ride their bikes uphill, run for at least 15 minutes, play tennis and badminton.

The hardest thing for me to admit was that I didn’t have any confidence in my body. And so I couldn’t make the most of my abilities even when all my friends and family assured me that I possessed all the necessary competencies. It was when I confided this shame to my sporting friends that I learned to accept myself and began gradually

to attempt new experiences such as mountain-bike riding, but above all I started to have confidence; I remember particularly certain trails over stony slopes or crossing a river on stepping stones. At the beginning, these activities terrified me; today they seem quite ordinary”.

Adeline, 26 yrs.

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18-30 yr.olds • FESTIVAL Welcome to Paradise 3-10 August at Hautecombe (73).

A week’s holiday between lake and mountains with more than 1700 young people drawn from the four corners of the Earth. An ‘à la carte’ program, everyone is free to choose whatever might nourish body, soul and mind.

Welcome to Paradise

• LIFE CHOICES RETREAT 11th to 17th August at Montagnieu (38). A week of silence following the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, to be able to tune in to the Word of God, to learn to make choices concerning one’s studies, work, relationships and vocation, in the light of the Holy Spirit.

• COMMUNITY TRAINING COURSE 6 July-17 August at Hautecombe (73). Six weeks in which to renew one’s resources and to discover community life in the company of 30 young people from different countries and churches. Experience a period of training and service followed by the Welcome to Paradise Festival and the Life Choices Retreat.

• YOUTH PILGRIMAGE 20 July-3 August. Two weeks for researching the Bible with your feet !

An intense spiritual and fraternal experience, a chance to deepen one’s faith, walking in the steps of Jesus, meeting people who live in the Holy Land today, and also important moments shared with the national pilgrimage.

• L ANGUAGE SCHOOL 6 - 19 July in Storrington, West Sussex (UK).

Two weeks with 40 young people, 19-35 year olds from various countries, to perfect your English, enjoy community life and deepen your spiritual life.

• Secretariat 18-30 yrs: 01 47 74 93 73 or 06 30 14 06 96 jeunes.france@chemin-neuf.org www.jeunes.chemin-neuf.fr

14-18 yr.olds

• SABouge : from 7-12 July for 14-15 year olds: a week for living each day to the full. From Games to talks, times of praise and worship to theme evenings, many opportunities to build friendships, to enjoy great times together, to let God move the frontiers of our hearts to get to know him better.

• Step by Step : 7-12 July for 1618 year olds: A travelling camp through the Charente region to the Abbey of Sablonceaux.

A week of fraternal living and prayer, getting to know yourself and others by surpassing yourself and going to the very end. Evening gatherings round the fire, sleeping at the farm, or under the stars….!

Vital team spirit guaranteed.

•S ablonceaux Festival: from 14th to 19th July for 14-18 year olds: 5 days of “Crazy”holidays. A program offering a range of artistic or sports activities to choose from.

From prayer to sport by way of music and encounters, all in a festive spirit, an ambiance that makes it a week to remember.

• Secretariat 14-18 yrs: 04 78 15 07 98 or 06 61 61 02 72 14-18ans@chemin-neuf.org www.14-18ans.chemin-neuf.fr

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A world tour... destination

Chad

THE COUNTRY IN CONTEXT Chad is a central African country north of Cameroon and the Central African Republic and south of Libya. Its capital is NíDjamena.

Geographically and culturally, Chad is a bridge between North Africa and black Africa. It is the fifth largest country in Africa.

chad: Republic Area: 1 284 000 SQ km Capital: N’djamena Population: 10 980 000 habitants Principal cities: Abéché,sarh,Doba,Moundou ...

Official languages: French and Arabic Currency: cfa Franc Independence: 11th August 1960

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Northern Chad makes up two thirds of the country and is a desert and semi-desert region, being part of the Sahara and the Sahel. The south is wetter savannah. Lake Chad, which gives its name to the country, is its main body of water.

The State of Chad is a product of European colonisation. Its borders are the result of negotiations between the French and Germans in the 1880s.

But the country of Chad has a rich and relatively well-known history. It is without doubt one of the cradles of humanity (as witnessed by the recent ToumaÔ discovery). It was the location of three great Sahelian kingdoms: Kanem-Bornou, Baguirmi and Ouaddaï.

From the end of the 19th century till the beginning of the 20th, France gradually asserted its sovereignty over the whole territory of modern Chad which it incorporated into French Equatorial Africa in 1920.

The country gained independence in 1960. It has nevertheless kept a special relationship with its former coloniser which has intervened militarily several times. The country has seen repeated disturbances related to internal dissensions and, more recently in 2008, to the spread of the Darfour conflict (Sudan).

In 2003, the country became an oil exporter while its economy was mainly based on the production of cotton, peanuts and beef. This considerably increased the financial resources of the state whose current leader is Idriss DÈby. Nonetheless, the United Nations Development Programme still classifies Chad as the fourth least developed country in the world.

The official languages are French and Arabic, but the language Chadians use everyday depends on their ethnic group, of which there are more than 50 in the country!

The two most-widely practised religions in Chad are Islam and Christianity. Islam is the majority religion in the northern two thirds of the country, while Christianity (Catholics and evangelical Protestants) predominates in the southern third. The country was evangelised less than a century ago. There is a great thirst for deepening faith in Jesus Christ, despite mirages of modernism.. v

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1. Luc and Sophie, a couple on a JET mission (Jeunes à l’ETranger, Volunteers abroad) 2. Cycle Samuel, summer 2013 3. Thérèse, a doctor in the diocesan AIDS screening and treatment centre 4. Roberto and Renzina, the couple in charge of the community in Chad

THE COMMUNITY IN CHAD The presence of the Community in Chad goes back to an appeal in 1995 from Mgr Vandamme, then archbishop of N’Djamena. He wanted to have Cana sessions for couples in his diocese. Successive sessions, in NíDjamena as well as in the south of Chad, have made it possible for many couples to benefit from Cana fellowship, even in very remote villages. These couples are often nicknamed “Deux / deux” (Two/two) as they are seen living as a couple in public, which is not generally the case for Chadian couples.

In 2006, Mgr Kouraleyou, bishop of Moundou, called on the community to look after the Gabriel Balet Centre, his dioceseís residential centre, situated in the bush at Ku-Jéricho, about fifty kilometres from Moundou, Chadís second city. It is in the south-west of the country, an agricultural region which is majority Christian and animist. Father Jacques Monfort and some brothers and sisters from the Community took responsibility for this new mission.

It was very soon extended to include the medical direction of the new diocesan AIDS screening and treatment centre. Brigitte Faure, and then Thérèse Ehouzou, with help from some doctor brothers from the Community, were to take on this challenging mission.

Gradually, new European and African brothers and sisters would take over the mission. After Félicité Moizard, Roberto and Renzina Rota are now in charge of the Community in Chad.

Mathieu and Germaine Roné were the first Chadians to commit to the Community in July 2011. Since then, other couples and singles have followed them, including Felix and Augustine Belkoulayo, national Cana leaders.

Every year, the Community in Chad welcomes people wishing to join the Community, those in Bethlehem (postulants) and Nazareth (novices), and rejoices in commitments made by couples and young people.

The Gabriel Balet Centre can host Cana

sessions and retreats, spiritual exercises, leadership training and the Cycle Samuel. This training series goes over Cycle A basics. It takes two years, with two sessions of five weeks each, and welcomes young people and families.

At this Centre, the Community runs a small dispensary and a nursery school for the neighbouring population of KuJéricho. These are the first fruits of a grand project for a school and health centre which is under development, at the request of the bishop of Moundou.

As for the youth mission, it developed rapidly under the instigation of Father Franck Diant. Weekends, retreats and Jericho sessions reach several hundred young people who come from all over the country. JCN fellowships (ìJeunes du Chemin Neufî) have been in existence since 2013.

Today, the Community praises the Holy Spirit for the road already travelled and dreams of a student residence. v Luc Watine, ccn

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Testimonies

How to have a good holiday

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Holidays in community

Last summer, I was lucky enough to have some unforgettable holidays with Christophe, Thomas and Pierre-Louis! We did the famous ‘Tour of Mont Blanc’ by ‘trail running’. Yes, that’s right! In five days of running and hiking we covered 170 kilometres, and what’s more, went up and down 10,000 metres. Our point of departure and arrival was Les Houches – we crossed over from France into Italy and Switzerland!

»

For me, holidays provide a break when I can get a sense of perspective on my life, to look at my activities – and sometimes my spirit of activism – from a higher vantage point.

I would use three words to explain what does me good and allows me to rebuild my strength: friends, sport and nature.

You need to make a bit of an effort to ring up someone you have just met in passing to invite them for a drink. This applies to a person, or a family, or a larger group with whom you can share a good meal, talk about good times shared together, catch up on news, and above all have a good laugh.

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What I remember about the holidays was the joy and simplicity of our life with the brothers and sisters of the Community.

The trip could be complicated, exhausting and tough, but all I remember is being very joyful! We laughed all the time. I still remember how we went over the difficult Grand Col Ferret pass, completely lost in fog, laughing together as we made a video to post on Facebook.

What’s more, it wasn’t just a sporting challenge, but a special experience of

prayer. It was difficult to pray as we went along as one does on pilgrimage, for example. We were going too quickly and needed to concentrate on where we put our feet. God’s gift to us was the times of prayer with our brothers and sisters.

I remember one morning office on the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, with its superb view of the valley below, where we praised the Lord for His Creation!

As regards physical activity, going for a swim, a walk, or kicking a ball around is a great way to unwind. After some vigorous exercise, it is always such a joy – and a reason to thank God – to realise, even more than before, that I am blessed with good health.

When I was 18, I had a great experience of the love of God. I was filled with a great sense of peace, and heard the Lord promise that he would never leave me, but guide me for the whole of my life. Shortly afterwards, I found that nature and the elements spoke to me: trees, mountains, great open spaces.

That’s despite all the complaining I did as a child when my parents made us go

on walks. At that time, I did not understand how one could waste all that time in the middle of nowhere. Nowadays, when I walk in natural surroundings, the beauty of creation always speaks to me of God and of His presence of words and silence. It was He, the Creator of all things, who was the first to rest from His work. I try to imitate Him in my own way.

Gionata Fausone

Loïc Welchner

munity life in the comm comm mmunity Anne-Sophie

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Stephane

Pierre-Thomas

Augustin

Benoit

Blanche

Romane Holidays in family !

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Romane (12 years old): “I like it when we have some time on holiday just between girls – but not all the time! I remember once when my big brother took me along to do something with him – jumping over the waves. That was just too good! I like going to museums.

When we are all staying in a big family house, we have less time for ourselves as a family. When we are just with our own family, we can take the time to tell each other what we have liked best.

That’s not possible when we are in a bigger group because we don’t have enough time together.”

Blanche (9 years old): “I really like being together as a family, because we all laugh a lot. I like going for family walks, and I like being with my big brothers, who do lots of funny things.”

Augustin (19 years old): “Family holidays are a chance to be all together for a week or two. That’s a

change from family life at home, where we are all doing our own thing.

We have time to do things together, and that makes us feel more united. We have a good laugh together; we help each other and look after each other.

Personally, it has allowed me to get to know my parents, my brothers and sisters, and to love them just as they are.

You know I choose my friends, but not my family! Thanks to living together on holiday, an understanding grows between us. My big brother and I have built up a real friendship as brother and sister. But the best thing for me are the evenings when we share photos, and simply remember the good times we have spent together. What really matters is not to live a long time, but to have lived happily!”

Benoit (21 years old): “What I like about family holidays, is first of all that we are all together, and that allows us to have different types of activities, where younger

and older children can play separately or together. It is also a chance to see that we tend to like the same things, and that we get along well together.

We can be ourselves, no-one judges anyone else. We have all known each other since we were born. We can be honest with each other. Overall, we feel happy and loved!”

Stéphane : “All in all, what I like to do during the holidays is to be able to complete projects which take time, and to do them together: build a wall, discover a new region, or a new country. I think I have gradually come to like doing new things. My first thought used to be to sit myself down and stop running around. No doubt this was because of a need to recuperate or find myself again after an intense period of work.

I also like the idea of having a celebration: whenever there is a birthday, or a marriage, or any special occasion to be together with the family, in particular.

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It’s all a good lesson in humility, a great opportunity of seeing what each of us is capable, of learning to help each other and to give each other care and attention. I love to see bonds being created between the children in those special moments. Holidays often mean a big effort in terms of organisation, but are also a source of wonder and great joy! I like to entrust our holidays to the Holy Spirit, praying that each of us is able to experience just what we need.”

... Un chemin neuf a new way, for your holidays!

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Anne-Sophie: “For me, holidays begin by being about a particular activity, like meeting people, or discovering new things … but rather quickly signify headaches, and frustration. How can we reconcile the things that each of us has to do and each of us wants to do, with the desire to be part of our extended fami-

ly, or a group of friends, and the need to spend some time just between us?

We have been able to go off on holiday as a family for at least one week each year, doing things which fit our different ages and capacities, in particular Pierre-Thomas with his handicap.

We always need to be inventive, and above all daring: going for a walk in the mountains, and then marching along with donkeys carrying PierreThomas. Again, we have gone on long trips, often seeking out adventures.

Leaving familiar things behind, going to unknown places has meant that we have become equal, because we all need to make an effort to adapt, as Pierre-Thomas has to do every day. For him, it is always a chance to discover new things he can do!

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There is also the opportunity to give time to other people, for example during a mission, and I certainly like that as well. What tends to stress me sometimes is the difficulty of getting all the family to agree on what we want. It takes time to sort things out together.

And then there is the question of how things are going to work out for PierreThomas (15 years old). We don’t want him to feel lost, and at the time we want to have a bit of a break from all the special care and daily attention we normally have to give him. I have to admit that we have been able to do things with Pierre-Thomas that looked impossible at first sight. Boldness has always paid off for us.

I am happy to see how we have gradually begun to give everyone a mixture of times when we are all together and times when we each have our own activity (going on a camp or something like that …) It is an important time when we can all have a breather during the year.”

communauté du chemin neuf

Contact: agnes.dechamps@gmail.com

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Talents

I am 14, and I’ve loved photography since I was really small, but I think I really began it seriously about a year ago. Through my photos, I’ve been trying to study our identity, our existence. I’m inspired by a lot of things, but my favourite subjects are nature, Celtic mythology, or dark scenes, in which I try to show myself in selfportraits. These self-portraits aim to help me accept myself, learn to know myself….

For me, photography is a breath of fresh air in my daily life, which has helped me to get through difficult times.

Young talent

I recently began Land Art, creating my own natural backdrops for my photos.

I have made a series called “Silences”; all the photos were in black and white, taken in a church. This series is a study of people with noone to talk to, who live in a noisy world, while they themselves are committed to silence.

I’ve also begun a project “week 52”, 1 photo a week for 1 year, which I’ve posted on a blog: http://anselmeservain.wordpress.com

ANSELMe

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