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Hope lives in our hearts
There is a hope which lives in our hearts. When will that new day dawn, that day when all people can finally live in justice and peace? The night is long, the journey never-ending… but God walks with us, and perhaps in the face of so much suffering only silence is left to Him to hide His tears and to tell us of His infinite compassion. Yes, we are being carried by a very great Love. Our world, so beautiful and so wounded, is watched over by Love, which never leaves us, staying beside us in our struggles, often without our knowing it, through all our suffering and the long nights of our lives. A stylised picture from Korea says it better than words: Christ holding the world in his arms, with infinite tenderness. Behind him is the cross, but the cross which gives life – the tree of life, bearing its fruit every month; “and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22.2).
In his homily for the feast of the life-giving cross, soon after the attacks in New York, Pastor P. Bühler commented on the texts for the day:
“… the world is in mourning. … Like the children of Israel, we have been bitten by fiery serpents: by terror, sadness, anguish, rage, anxiety. … That which we see in the world clashes with the promises of God’s Word. If we are willing to be honest with ourselves, with the world, with the texts, we cannot simply leap over and beyond this tension. We have to accept it, endure it, even if it stings and wounds us. We have to endure it until it is possible to carry it in faith. We would like so much to find the way out of this tension, through a great victory, shining bright, delivering us from all the serpents’ bites.
Thus President Bush promised the American people the victory of good over evil – as if it were perfectly clear which side is good and which is bad! I dread to think of what new evil may arise from this great good, so quickly assumed. ...“The cross does not restore us to life through a great victory which takes away death, doubt, anxiety, all the serpents’ bites … but by giving us a new way of seeing. … The serpents are still there and their bites reach us from all sides. But because these wounds have been swallowed up in the death of Christ, we have this certainty, which can be reborn in us unceasingly, that the serpents’ bites are not the last word, that they are received over and over again in God’s love for the world and the human beings who live there.”
Jesus loved us to the very end; he gave his life for his friends and his enemies. “Holiness is the only response to violence.” (Father Ch. Théobald) Sr. Anne-Geneviève wrote to us from Algiers. This is God’s response to evil: a greater Love. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23.34). What unfathomable forgiveness, which raises us up and turns us toward, sends us toward others. Jesus invites us to follow him, to enter into his struggle against the forces of evil, against everything which disfigures human beings. His appeal to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5.44) has a burning relevance in this world where insecurity and anxiety are growing, where the enemy is often seen in the face of the other and of anyone who is “different”. Only “love for one’s enemies”, a love disarmed, can bring down the walls of hate and break the unstoppable cycle of violence, opening up a real future.
We can keep on in this struggle only with Christ and in Christ. “Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is up to us to keep coming back to our Source, to contemplate the immense compassion of the Father whose face became visible in Jesus Christ, to turn towards the One who calls to our innermost being, begging for our love. Little by little, we dare to allow ourselves to be disarmed – to give up our “wanting to be in the right” and “justifying ourselves by putting others down”, as Patriarch Athenagoras reminds us, and our desire for revenge… – so that we live by the strength of love alone, of forgiveness, of the non-violence of the Gospel. What we are to do, he said, is to wage “the hardest war, the war against oneself” – to go to the roots of evil, and not mistake the other person for the enemy by identifying him or her with the evil he or she has done. For each of us, our only battlefield is our own heart.
“Unity and Holiness…
in the light of the Transfiguration”
The theme of our Council, focused our attention directly on the deepest source of communion, the life of the Holy Trinity in which we already are one. Unity and holiness go together. “Holiness takes no account at all of the divisions of the Church,” said Father Couturier. Holiness is not a moral perfection which we ourselves can attain, but rather the gift of the immense Love of God, communicating itself to us. Like a seed already planted within us, it grows and blossoms in our communion with God. It is a spiritual pathway on which we learn to give our consent to the poverty of our existence, so as to be open to God’s abundance. God calls all of us to holiness, to allow ourselves to be reconciled and made peaceful, permeated with the spirit of the Beatitudes. We are invited to enter into our full humanity, to “be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Rom 8.29).
Thus unity really comes from within, from this slow and patient transfiguration of our lives which takes place through the contemplation of Christ and the spiritual struggle that goes with it. This was already Mother Geneviève’s conviction. As important as ecumenical work was – and it was she who, in the 1950s, initiated the ecumenical meetings to prepare the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – it had to be built upon that which to her was fundamental: the struggle for the one Church for which Jesus prayed (Jn 17), growing towards one life in Christ, until the day when “God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15.28). This prospect certainly points to the unity of the Church, but also beyond it to embrace all humanity and even all creation.
“That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us…” (Jn 17.21a). Our Council retreat with Pastor Daniel Bourguet gave us strength for the inward journey towards BEING, towards “being ONE”. Whether we mean our “oneness together” or “oneness for each” of us, he emphasised, we find our oneness in God. It is a unity which is always in motion, never turned in on itself, never triumphant; a unity which is attractive because of the light it carries.
In our vocation, we are committed to this long process of becoming inwardly one, of simplifying, of being converted to obeying the Gospel. To become little by little, in our concrete relations with others, that we already are deep within: persons of communion. We learn to listen to one another, to receive one another, to receive what the other has to give, to dare to be poor in spirit together. To live the koinonia is both a gift and a task: to show forth the mystery of communion which is the Church. This is the challenge for monastic communities in particular, and was the theme of a conference led by Sr. Minke this spring. It hardly means that we are angels, but the continual necessity to begin over again. Even our failures, don’t they help us to grow in loving humility. Someone Else is at work in us… . Thus we move forward, carried by Christ’s prayer: “That they may all be one … so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn 17.21,23)
We pray and struggle for the unity of the churches, not as an end in itself, but so that together we may be a visible sign of the communion of love which God wants for all humanity, rejoicing in diversity, respecting differences and each person’s own path towards God. Today more than ever, perhaps, we are aware that we cannot be without other persons: we need them in order to become fully ourselves. We are all on the way towards the One whose imprint is on every human heart. The call to unity commits us to deepen our relations with the people of the first Covenant, says the Charta Oecumenica which was signed in April by the presidents of the Conference of European Churches and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, and to develop our dialogue with Islam and the other religions, to work for the reconciliation of peoples and cultures, to protect the creation.
Various contributions
Various contributions have nurtured our prayers and thinking, placing them in the context of today of the Church and the world: a session with Lytta Basset on the spirit of judgement, and the testimonies of Gottfried Hamann, Fr. Franz Müller o.p. and Marc Donzé, and of André Duruz, the former episcopal vicar at Neuchâtel, on their ecumenical involvement. We had the joy and the privilege of welcoming Mrs. E. Starobinski, who presented the Jewish approach to “Unity and Holiness”. Karin Stahl demonstrated the Contemplative Exercises as practised in Gries, Germany, where several of our sisters have been on retreat. The opportunity to learn to listen in silence, offered by Father Jalics, fulfils the desire of many people nowadays. It also corresponds to the parting words of Daniel Bourguet: “Please remember always to make room for silence. It is silence which gives birth to wonder.” We are filled with wonder when, one day, the certainty rises up in us that “God is love”. That was the theme of the first retreat at Grandchamp in 1931, 70 years ago! Véronique Laufer retraced for us the stages in its preparation, emphasising especially the constant concern of Mother Geneviève to have an essential space reserved for silence. Silence as poverty of spirit, letting go of the self in order to let God speak within us, receiving the Word of truth which frees us from falsehood and gives us birth into new life. We then enter into another way of seeing, in which we first discover other people, but also the world around us, which today is still a “battlefield”, as the temple of God’s presence.
Encounters
From day to day and from one encounter to the next, our life gives us many occasions to practise and to gain strength in an ever-deepening communion. Exchanges, ties of friendship old and new with numerous communities, sharing for extended periods in the daily life of the sisters of other monastic communities are all visitations like that of Mary to Elisabeth, privileged occasions in which it is given to us to welcome together the reality of our unity in God, and to add some new colours to our own palette.
At Grandchamp, around 30 leaders of communities and noviciates gathered for a session with Simone Pacot and Marie-Madeleine Laurent on the theme: “Community – a place for communion”. Others included the KAÏRE and the E.I.I.R. committee meeting; the International Interconfessional Congress of Religious at Subiaco; the Kommunitäten Treffen in Poland; the IX. Ecumenical Symposium at Bose in Italy; and a symposium on Dom Lambert Beauduin held in honour of the 75th anniversary of Chevetogne.
The horizons of our noviciate too are being widened. Sr. Regina participated in a session at Bose for Benedictines and Cistercians who are in charge of the noviciate in their communities. Our novices have benefited from an SDC inter-monastic Bible study. Twice, with Bianca newly entered into the noviciate, they have spent a day at Pâquier to learn about the life and spirituality of the Carmelites, and they have also had the privilege of a week studying Christology with Brother Pierre-Yves of Taizé.
Four sisters celebrating the 40th anniversary of their final vows – Sr. Paule, Sr. Laure, Sr. Monique and Sr. Anne-Geneviève – went on a joyous pilgrimage, accompanied by Sr. Minke and Sr. Myriam, to visit the Bernardines at Collombey. A joy to welcome Sr. Hanna of Saint Françoise Romaine, who came to us for her retreat before her final vows. There were also visits to Bec Hellouin, to the brothers at Rostrevor, to Corrymeela, Versailles, Eygalières, Taizé… . Sr. Minke accepted invitations to Pomeyrol, Bose, Cabanoule, Namur and Venières…, and Sr. Michèle accepted one from the sisters at the Cella d’Ordo Pacis, for their retreat.
Africa remains very present to us… a moving encounter with Laurien, then with an Anglican bishop Yered Kalimba, both of them authors of reconciliation in Rwanda. From Cameroun, Lucette and Ebenezer joined us for the Easter retreat led by Pastor Rüegg. We are beginning to have regular correspondence with our friends in Benin. This year Evelyne Roulet and Maurice Bodinier went there after Easter to lead two retreats, and in autumn we had a wonderful and joyful time of sharing with Richard, who like his brother Timothy is a member of the T.O.U.
A pilgrimage in Poland allowed Sr. Michèle to encounter a charming and hospitable people, but who have also suffered greatly, in the past and at present. The Jewish, Lutheran and Catholic communities especially impressed her. She experienced how much an attitude of humility and truth on both sides can do to open hearts and make possible the first steps towards reconciliation. “I am deeply grateful to my Polish sisters and brothers, to all these new friends! The words of Father Manfred Deselaers, a German priest who has lived at Auschwitz for 10 years, could serve as a résumé of this trip: ‘How could we have lost so completely the attitude of respect for human dignity? Auschwitz is still a painful wound, the memory of which should not make us sick, but rather more human – it should heal us. The answer to the cry of Auschwitz is not a theory about God, but rather, active love. We owe the vision of human dignity to the Jewish-Christian revelation.’ – As a Christian, I am profoundly grateful to the people of God for this revelation. – In 1972, at the beatification of Maximilian Kolbe, Cardinal Wojtila said, ‘…we have come to this site of extreme humiliation to celebrate the victory of human dignity…’ ”
In our different locations:
St Elisabeth
Sr. Claire-Irène and Sr. Maatje left for Saint Elisabeth (Jerusalem) on 11 September! Sr. Mechthild came to join them a few weeks later. Here is what Sr. Claire-Irène shared with us this summer:
“It is a great challenge to remain a sign of hope and life… . All we can do is simply keep standing in the presence of God, hanging onto God’s mercy. What we have to share is that which we try to live out among ourselves, day after day, in our great poverty and vulnerability: acts of reconciliation, forgiveness, trust, continually making new beginnings, in love for one another and the small joys of life, with our empty hands. If we are to be a place through which God can speak to the world, we must make room for Christ to give us the eyes of faith, the eyes of silent compassion. We must let Love grow in us, so that we may be a word of truth and may let light come through to pierce the darkness around us. We are beggars between heaven and earth, between that which already is and that which is not yet. We are there to receive the cry that rises up from the distress and confusion of so many people, for instance our neighbour, a Jew who seldom practices her faith – but the same could come from a Palestinian friend – who, on seeing me, gives vent to her anguish: “Where is God, anyway? If he existed, he wouldn’t let all these evil things happen…”. I try fumblingly to put together an answer, but nothing comes. So I keep quiet, feeling helpless. I keep silent more and more often, realising that what is required of me is not an answer, but simply to be present as a friend, in solidarity with those who are suffering, as a presence who listens with compassion. And when calm is restored, I have the overwhelming experience that we are joined together at another level, in the deep communion of the essential, where words are no longer necessary… .”
Algiers
In Algiers, in the midst of so much violence and discouragement, Sr. Renée and Sr. Anne-Geneviève share the often difficult daily life of the people around them. The departure of the brothers who were hoping to return to Tibhirine leaves an enormous empty space. “How shall we live in communion, in the acceptance of true pluralism which respects and accepts everyone, on the way to a common goal, as well in politics, as in the Church, and within families, – in the dialogue with Islam – ? This is the essential question being asked in this country and by this country,” Sr. Renée wrote.
Chalencon
At Chalencon, in Ardèche (France), with the arrival of Sr. Judith, the sisters have entered a new phase. Life is expanding: “the little seeds of life which we are sowing here in this small corner seem rather pathetic in the face of the great events which are shaking the world. But we are convinced that the very small steps and acts of love, of forgiveness and hope, which are within our reach, do have an impact.” A more diversified programme of retreats is now being offered, and our sisters are happy to be working together with several of the pastors in the Consistory. We will certainly have to think about some alterations to make the Home de Grâce a quieter and more functional building!
Sonnenhof
At Sonnenhof there has been another year of changes: Sr. Gabrielle has had to return to Grandchamp for health reasons, and Sr. Thérèse has taken over responsibility for the house, with the assistance of Sr. Dorothea. Sr. Birgit has taken the place of Sr. Veronika. Being a group of only eight instead of nine calls for much more creativity and availability! Help from nearby friends makes a real difference. A joy was the presence of Madame Drobot for a week of icon painting, this year in collaboration with Sr. Olga; this is a much sought-after retreat.
Woudsend
At Woudsend (the Netherlands), where Maria de Groot has now been for 20 years, having been joined some years later by Sr. Christianne, the work with women’s groups and mixed groups is continuing and expanding. There is creative potential in this sort of presence, which allows many people who are rather on the edges of the Church to remain in contact.
Grandchamp
At Grandchamp, as in the other locations, the call to reconciliation and unity keeps us all on our toes, and often catches up with us where we are most vulnerable. The situation today sometimes finds us lacking in the means to respond to the internal needs of the community, not to mention requests from outside! This stretches us to increase our attention to other persons at many levels, and to increase our solidarity and our “circulation” among our different locations. Besides the regular exchanges among sisters, we had the joy of welcoming Pastor Ruesch, a faithful friend of Sonnenhof, for our community Upper Room retreat, in German.
We have received good support for our work from a very diverse group of helpers, including Andreas, a young volunteer from Eirene, who is here for a whole year. All this has made it possible for us to welcome a large number of groups and persons, even adding to the programme of retreats. We had a session on memorising scripture through chanting, with Bernard and Anne Frinking, who will be back in 2002! There was a pilgrimage-retreat with Henricus from the Netherlands. Sr. Christel led an eight-day retreat in the manner of St. Ignatius, and has suggested a “spiritual journey in everyday life” in a series of evenings, an idea which, combined with the Entretiens (Conversations) de Grandchamp, makes it possible to respond a little more to local requests. In August, Françoise Wilhelmi and Sr. Christianne led the 20th session on “Fasting and Prayer”!
During the months when we have the most visitors, from Easter to mid-November, Grandchamp’s courtyard has been a huge construction site, with holes and trenches everywhere for work on the sewers. There was also major work on our neighbours’ houses and on the Amandier, where the west front has been magnificently restored!
In Pastor Bühler’s homily, when he spoke of the world being in mourning, he also mentioned mourning in our Community. Sr. Emmy had just lost her mother, and had flown to Indonesia, with Sr. Siong, to be with her family. They both took part in the funeral ceremony in the Batak tradition. Other sisters were affected by the passing away of family members, and all of us were touched by that of Father Corbon in Lebanon, of Marie-Thérèse Porcile in Uruguay, both of whom were passionate seekers of unity; of Rina Geftman in Israel, of Suzy Gaillard, Esther Faez, Ulla Petersen and Christel Schütte of T.O.U., of Théo Ammann, Daniel Brandt, Samuel Basset, our neighbour Claudine Hunkeler, and Frieda Bichsel, a neighbour of Sonnenhof…
In the light of the communion of saints in heaven and earth, in the midst of our divided world, we can sing the promise of a new heaven and a new earth, where “...he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev 21.4) This is a hope which, far from taking us away from the reality in which we live, allows us to live in the midst of it with our eyes fixed on the One who is, who was and is to come, the Prince of Peace!
To all of you, who support us in so many ways and carry us in your prayers and your friendship, our best wishes for a blessed Christmas!
Sr. Pierrette and her sisters
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