23 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ------------------------6 th September 2009

It is good to be back in printed form! For the past few weeks some weekly scriptural reflections were on the St Joseph website – www.stjoeparis.org – as will these few words.

Tomorrow (Monday, 7 th September) until Saturday I will be making my annual retreat. In the past, larger Passionist communities would invite a retreat director to conduct what were called ‘spiritual exercises’. This time of solitude, reflection and prayer is strongly recommended by the Passionist regulations.

Earlier this year a priest in Ireland invited me to join a group of priests going to Trosly-Breuil, Paris, for a retreat directed by Jean Vanier, the founder of l’Arche (after Noah’s Ark). In 2001, I wrote a thesis on a spirituality of community arising from the insights of Jean Vanier for my Licentiate in Theology at the Angelicum University in Rome. The priest remembered this and offered me a place on the retreat.

Some years ago, I attended a lecture by Jean Vanier in Ireland and waited hours after the lecture to have a word with him. It was worth the wait. Now over 80 years of age, more than 100 l’Arche communities have spread in over thirty countries. This amazing layman extended his devotion to people with mental special needs, their families and friends, by founding along with Marie-Helene Mathieu a movement called Faith and Light.

Jean Vanier takes his fundamental inspiration from the Gospel. St Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists, was moved by the plight of the so many poor and suffering people who were unaware of God’s love for them and founded his congregation in 1720. When St Joseph’s church celebrates 150 years in Paris in some years time, there will be an opportunity to trace the vision of St Paul of the Cross as lived out here. The title of next week’s retreat is The Cry of the Poor. It will be good to be led by a man whom I consider a prophet of our age.

And what about you? I hope all got some rest over the summer months. It is good to have you back and may the coming months be filled with blessings. At the end of the month we welcome the children and young people preparing for sacraments and learning of the Gospel and its values. Couples will begin next month preparation for the sacrament of marriage. Some are enrolled for our RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) formation classes commencing next month. Choir practices resume that enhance the celebration of the Eucharist. Baptisms, Sacrament of penance/Spiritual direction, Bible study, Eucharistic ministers, readers, ushers, altar servers, parish administration, parish council, men’s spirituality, hospitality, altar linen, maintenance, flowers, church and house cleaning, cooking and so much more is part of life at St Joseph’s. Together we build the Kingdom.

In this first Bulletin back, I’ll leave the last word to Jean Vanier: “So we must take courage when the tempest blows in our lives and Jesus seems to be asleep. For in other parts of the world the sun is still shining, and Jesus is more clearly present.” [The Broken Body, p.127]

Aidan Troy (Aodahán, C.P.)