DownloadEUROPE
A pilgrimage to ParacuellosOn February 13, a meeting of the Oblates in the Spanish sector of the Mediterranean Province was the context of this simple yet meaningful action which took place at Paracuellos del Jarama (Madrid).
After a quiet morning of fraternal encounter in the Oblate community at Diego de León, where we were able to share various themes related to the life of the Congregation and other more administrative issues, the afternoon’s activity consisted in a pilgrimage to the cemetery of Paracuellos.
The reason was twofold: to be able to see the recently erected commemorative monument of the Oblate Martyrs; and to take advantage of the confluence of a large number of Oblates so as to renew, in this very meaningful place, our religious vows in anticipation of February 17, the commemoration of the approval of the Constitutions and Rules of the Missionary Oblates.
This simple but significant gathering of Oblates ended by remembering "the best sons of St. Eugene”, the Martyrs, and living our brotherhood. (nosotrosomi.blogspot.com/)
In the "Letter to Consecrated People" which opened the Year of Consecrated Life (2015), Pope Francis invited religious to "look at the past with gratitude: to reap its inspirational impetus, to confess our fragility in order to live it as an experience of the merciful love of the Lord; to live the present with passion; to live the gospel radically and sincerely, in order to become become ‘experts in communion’ and to live the mystique of the encounter; to embrace the future with hope; to examine the horizons of the current world with vigilant caution.”
It was in this spirit that the Oblates lived the year 2016 and the bicentenary of the Congregation. It was actually on January 25, 1816, that Saint Eugene de Mazenod and his companions moved into the former Carmelite convent in Aix-en-Provence.
While it was a year rich in
commemorative events on the level of the entire Congregation, the Province of
France focused on two gatherings: a province assembly in February 2016 and a
meeting which brought together Oblates and their friends during the Festival of
Lights in Lyon on December 8.
Far from cultivating a more or less sterile nostalgia, rather, the idea was to take a look at the journey taken in order to discern policies that could inform the future. In this sense, after having taken the time to welcome people from all over France, Vincent GRUBER, the provincial, opened the day by asking Bertrand EVELIN to review these 200 years of Oblate life in France. Bertrand did so by focusing on the long and beautiful experience of the Oblates in the region of Lyon.
After a meal (conviviality is at
the heart of the Oblate charism!), it was time to hear testimonies: why in the
world would people organize their lives around the Oblate charism? Benoît
DOSQUET answered the question with a brief presentation on the "Sermon at the
Madeleine”.
Bernard WIRTH replied: "the world of the student” and "the world of the prisoner” from an interfaith perspective. He has been living in Thailand for more than 40 years, where he is also a university teacher and a prison chaplain.
Thierry and Sophie replied "companionship.”
They lead their lives as a couple by sharing and they wondered why and how, as
a couple, they were brought closer to the Oblate community of Chavril.
Dominique DESSOLIN answered "the search” for new expressions of spirituality; from Aix-en-Provence he carries on an interior quest through fraternal community among artists.
The afternoon was spent in small group discussions where all was able to express their questions and beliefs on the role of the laity in the Church and on the meaning of an evangelization faithful to the charism which Eugene de Mazenod used in his famous "Sermon at the Madeleine.”
The Festival of Lights demanded it: the evening program was obvious – a walk around the illuminated streets of Lyon.
Sunday was intellectually "lighter:” Eucharist with the parish community of Sainte Foy in order to remember that the Oblate charism is received and lived in the Church, before finishing this meeting around a buffet in the community of Chavril. (http://www.oblatfrance.com)
(Fr. Pawel WYSZKOWSKI, Superior of the Ukraine Delegation, recently traveled to the war zone in that country, together with scholastic Bro. Andryi HAVLICH. Here is his story of an ongoing crisis overlooked by much of the media.)
In Ukraine, for about three years, there has been war in the East. Some call it simply a "conflict”; the Western media has stopped mentioning it, but the reality deeply touches our Delegation in Ukraine and Russia, where 31 Oblates serve in 18 parishes scattered throughout the country. It is of concern to us, even though these houses are not located within the regions torn by the war with Russia.
As missionaries, we cannot ignore that which affects so deeply and bitterly the people of our country and their families, nor the people in our parishes, some of whom are the refugees from the war-torn areas.
The Oblate house nearest to the war area is a community in Poltava (in the Kharkiv - Zaporizhzhia diocese). Although the distance from the battle area is about 200 kilometers, the Oblates could hear distant military helicopters, transporting dozens of the wounded to the overcrowded hospitals.
Quite recently, together with the scholastic Andryi Havlich,
as part of the Christian Rescue Service, we set out for the battlefield to
serve soldiers and civilians. Since it was not possible to drive along the
bombed roads, we reached the destination by train.
We could take along only the following things: personal belongings, a cassock, oil for anointing the sick, the Blessed Sacrament, bandages, and a bulletproof vest. Other items were sent by ordinary mail. We had parcels containing items for civil population (e.g. everyday necessities, medication, food, clothing, blankets, cleaning detergents). A vehicle of the Christian Rescue Service met us at the station and took us to the place of service. It should be noted that this place is located on the front line, which often comes under heavy fire.
During our week there, we travelled to several places, spending just one night in a bed, sometimes on the floor, or on the ground in a tent - "as in a war.” As a part of the pastoral ministry we had conversations, heard confessions, anointed the sick, the wounded and the dying; we celebrated the Eucharist (in huts, tents, hospital corridors, attics and when it was warm, simply in the open air).
Over the past two years the people have endured much; for more than a half year there has been neither electricity nor heating. Salaries have not been paid for a year; every day they just live "in the present” and on their lips there is only one expectation: "that at last this war will be over!” Some have suffered strokes because of the shock; others have lost their homes; others have fallen into despair that has led to alcoholism; others live in hope and anticipation of better times.
The volunteers of the Christian Rescue Service and the Christian School of Life and Evangelization provide this service to good and simple people. The volunteers are young people who have devoted their time, hearts and courage to show through the example of their own lives that the victims of war are most important to God and God will never abandon them.
They serve children who are growing up beneath explosions of gunfire and shelling. Many of these children have spent more than one night in a cellar, hearing explosions that turned the night as white as the day. Upon hearing explosions, the children start to tremble but every new day, they have courage to leave for their kindergartens and schools.
The volunteers live in real poverty and lead a very modest life. Everything that they get from benefactors is passed on to the poor. They go there not only to bring one more type of "humanitarian aid” for the people or for the soldiers, but to bring them the Cross. Quite often our encounters are very touching. It is impressive to see the joy in the eyes of a man who has gone to confession for the first time in decades and who understands that God has found him, even under these adverse circumstances.
Many older people who lived through decades of communism during the Soviet era are unbaptized and have never been to church at all. But when spiritual help is offered to them, their emotional well-being improves; they feel safer and their stress is reduced. They are at peace, even when faced with horrors and death.
According to the United Nations, the overall number of documented deaths in the war in Donbass, which started on 6 April 2014, has been put at 9,800.
