vendredi 2 mai 2014
mardi 5 novembre 2013
Homélie rencontre des confrères MEP – Mardi 5 novembre 2013 Rm12,5-16 ; Lc 14,15-24
Homélie rencontre des confrères MEP – Mardi
5 novembre 2013
Rm12,5-16 ; Lc 14,15-24
« Heureux… », le mot résonne encore à nos oreilles…
Nous l’avons entendu, il n’y a pas si longtemps. Il avait la force d’une parole
qui se reçoit et qui est accueillie car elle dit notre désir ! Heureux… Ces
béatitudes, c’est du haut d’une montagne qu’elles ont été prononcées. Dans un
lieu qui dit la rencontre de Dieu ! Dans un lieu qui malgré la présence de
la foule, invite à déployer le regard vers des infinis qui se font
éternellement commencement. Ces béatitudes, elles nous ont dévoilés un bonheur
qui n’a sa pleine dimension que dans le Christ et le mystère de sa mort et sa
résurrection qu’il nous fait traverser.
Et voilà qu’aujourd’hui, une autre béatitude est prononcée.
Elle se présente comme une réponse spontanée à une parole entendue… Que
répondre à l’annonce du salut offert si ce n’est une parole qui dit la joie d’y
participer ? Reconnaître en Jésus l’homme-Dieu offrant le salut, c’est
rentrer dans cette béatitude, dans cette joie qui nous fait croire et espérer qu’un
jour nous serons assis à sa table !
Pourtant Jésus, le même qui nous invitait à la joie ne semble
pas partager l’enthousiasme de cette personne. Il ne le gratifie pas d’un
« en cela tu dis vrai » ou « tu n’es pas loin du Royaume ».
Non, face à son enthousiasme, Jésus oppose la réalité tragique, celle du cœur
humain, celle de la vie humaine. Il sait combien sont fragiles nos pensées et
fluctuant nos désirs. Il sait combien notre vie humaine, notre service
pastoral, nos désirs vont se retrouver confrontés à la complexité du réel, aux
faux semblants du péché et à cette peur viscéral de mourir et de vivre.
Et par une histoire des plus quotidiennes, il abaisse nos
enthousiasmes à l’acceptation pleine et entière de la réalité. Les béatitudes de
la montagne sont si proche de notre expérience humaine : la paix, la
docilité, les pleurs, la miséricorde… Dans les actions les plus quotidiennes,
elles font émerger Dieu et la surabondance de sa grâce. En revanche, la joie qui
jaillit du cœur de cet homme semble délier le repas du royaume du repas de
l’aujourd’hui ! L’émergence de sa joie eschatologique semble l’écarter de ce repas du maintenant du salut qui nous
conduit à la suite du Christ sur le chemin des béatitudes.
Alors Jésus le lui rappelle. Le repas est prêt mais les
destinataires ne le sont pas. Le repas est prêt mais les tâches quotidiennes,
la peur de la rencontre, les excuses faciles prennent le pas sur l’invitation.
L’aujourd’hui de la rencontre est reporté à demain. Et voilà que face à ce
refus, les pauvres, les boiteux, les estropiés viennent prendre place… Puis
tous ceux qui permettront à cette salle du banquet d’être pleine pour que rien
de la joie de la rencontre ne soit perdu. Face au refus de certains s’oppose l’acceptation
de beaucoup d’autres…
Qui sont ceux qui appellent sinon les missionnaires de
l’évangile, les hommes et les femmes qui ont donné et qui donnent leurs vies
pour l’évangile ! Qui sont ceux qui sont appelés sinon ceux qui ont été baptisés
et qui ont reçu en héritage la vie éternelle ! Qui sont ceux qui refusent,
ce sont ces mêmes missionnaires de l’évangile qui n’arrivent pas à accueillir
la joie du salut ! L’Evangile, bonne nouvelle du salut pour le monde, nous
place tour à tour dans ceux qui vont appeler et annoncer la joie de participer
à ce grand banquet mais aussi de ceux qui refusent de participer car ils ne
savent plus se laisser interpeller par la Parole de Salut. L’Evangile nous
place aussi dans cette masse de pauvres qui sont invités pour remplacer les
premiers. Paradoxe insupportable de nos vies… Ecart irréductible entre nos
désirs et la réalité de ce que nous sommes. Oui, nous sommes par notre
sacerdoce ministériel et baptismal appelé à annoncer le mystère de la joie du salut.
Mais cette annonce n’est rendue possible que dans un accueil profond de ce
mystère lui-même qui nous fait nous découvrir mendiant !
La joie de la béatitude, celle qui nous fait espérer contre
toute espérance que le Christ nous a sauvé, celle qui nous fait crier des
confins de notre être « Heureux celui qui participera au banquet… »
ne vient prendre sa force que dans la confrontation d’une autre parole. Cette
parole venue de la hauteur de la montagne et qui dit : Heureux, car
aujourd’hui tu pleures, tu te reconnais pécheur, tu travailles à la paix, tu
témoignes du pardon et de la justice ! Heureux car aujourd’hui en vivant
et accueillant ces béatitudes, tu accueilles ta pauvreté et te rend disponible
à cet Autre qui t’appelle… Heureux car le salut devient mystère qui s’accueille
dans les méandres d’un quotidien illisible, se vit dans les rencontres
journalières et s’annonce dans l’aujourd’hui… Heureux car le repas de la joie,
n’est pas si loin de nous…
Chers confrères, ce chemin des béatitudes, c’est celui qu’ont
vécu nos confrères dont nous faisons mémoire et celui que nous vivons
aujourd’hui dans nos différents ministères. Ces béatitudes sont celles
qui nous humanisant nous divinisent et nous conduise à nous recevoir dès
maintenant de la joie de Dieu. Car elles nous conduisent à la table des pécheurs,
à la table de l’eucharistie. Elles nous conduisent à ouvrir ce lieu fermé par
la peur pour que jaillisse l’Esprit nous invitant au plus profond de notre être
par ces mots : « heureux, heureux es tu, heureux sommes nous car nous
sommes invités au repas du Seigneur. » Amen !
dimanche 29 septembre 2013
vendredi 21 juin 2013
samedi 13 avril 2013
A French missionary discusses the Church in Vietnam today.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/vietnam-faith-vitality/
A French missionary discusses the Church in Vietnam today.
by JOHN M. GRONDELSKI 04/13/2013 Comment Father Étienne Frécon
Americans often associate Vietnam with the long U.S. military involvement there, but because of its earlier connections with France, the country is also home to a sizeable Catholic community. The Church in Vietnam owes its existence in part to the work of the Paris Missionary Society (Missions Etrangères de Paris, MEP), a secular institute that has been sending missionaries to Asia since 1658.
Each year, MEP priests meet in one Asian country to reflect on their missionary work. Gathering in Vietnam this past January for the first time since their expulsion in 1975, MEP priests got a chance to see the state of the Church there.
Father Étienne Frécon is an MEP priest studying Chinese in Taiwan. Ordained in 2011 and with previous pastoral work in France and England, he now celebrates Mass for French and English expatriates in Taipei.
He spoke with the Register about his visit to Vietnam and his impressions of the Church there.
You and other MEPs recently visited Vietnam. What was the purpose of the trip, and what did you do there?
Every year, we gather in one Asian country to build priestly community, reflect on missionary work and discover another local Church. This year, we spent 10 days in Vietnam, a very symbolic place for us because two apostolic vicars sent there by the pope in the 17th century to establish the hierarchy in Vietnam also represented the starting point of the MEP. We had to flee Vietnam with the communist victory in 1975 and have since been unable to send missionaries there.
We nevertheless tried to keep up contacts and, in 2013, were able to visit the churches set up by — and the graves of — our confreres. The bishops of Vietnam, most of whom studied at our house in Paris, invited us.
What were your impressions of the Church in Vietnam?
It’s amazing to see the vitality of the Vietnamese Church. With many martyrs and forsaken for so many years, the Church today is blooming. Eight percent of Vietnam is Catholic, most of whom are practicing and living real lives of discipleship. There are many priestly and religious vocations. Churches are full of life and have activities to reach out to youth, the poor and non-Christians.
Vietnam is a communist country whose government has been cited by some as violating religious freedom. What is the situation of Catholics in Vietnam? Can they worship freely? Does the government interfere in episcopal appointments?
The communist regime limited the Church’s freedom for many years, trying to get involved in ecclesiastical life to control the Church from the inside. There were, for example, quotas on the numbers of seminarians, and the work of religious communities was very controlled.
Today, the Church-state relationship is somewhat better. People can worship more freely and are allowed to go on pilgrimages. The Holy See appoints all bishops, and there are no vacant sees. Still, while the Church has more freedom to live its vocation, it can’t get involved in public issues. Human rights, defense of the poor and the dignity of the person remain issues where the Church can’t yet say very much.
Your community played a role in founding the Church in Vietnam. Can you tell us something about that work?
Most of the dioceses in Vietnam were set up by the MEP, long before French colonization. In 1650, a missionary in Tonkin, Jesuit [Father] Alexandre de Rhôdes, went to Rome to ask Pope Innocent X to send secular priests (not belonging to a religious order) to Asia to build up the local Church. In 1658, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith sent a group of French priests there, the beginnings of the MEP. One apostolic vicar was sent to the North (then called Tonkin); the other to the South (then called Cochinchina).
For the next 350 years, more than 900 priests labored there, and many became martyrs. With the communist takeover of the North in 1953, missionaries were expelled, many fleeing south. In 1975, they all had to leave. While we are still now allowed in, we help in many ways. We help lots of Vietnamese diocesan clergy to come to Paris to study theology, thus being faithful to our original charism: to build up local Churches.
Many Americans may not even know of the MEP. What else has your community done and is doing outside of Vietnam?
Historically, MEP sent missionaries to China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma and India. We were expelled from many places in the 20th century as local dictatorships arose. After a period without any vocations, we are now in the process of a great renewal: Twenty-seven seminarians are preparing to be missionaries. They will go to Asia to support local Churches: help form clergy, reach out to the poor, assist ethnic minorities and foster interreligious dialogue.
Every year, we also send 150 young laypeople for several months up to two years to experience missionary life in Asia. We respond to Jesus’ call: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
You’ve been in Taiwan for half a year, ministering to French and English-speaking expatriates here. What is your impression of the Catholic Church in Taiwan?
I am in Taiwan to learn Chinese. Because I can’t yet minister in Chinese, I help the foreign community, ministering in French and English. I will be posted in Singapore to work with Chinese communities there — and in Malaysia. The Church in Taiwan is far different from what I experienced in other places. It is small but quite old, well represented among ethnic minorities and does lots of social work. Her worship shows her inculturation into Chinese life. But, as in many secular countries, it’s hard to reach the young. As for my future, I will let the Holy Spirit, my superior and the bishop of Singapore decide — “Be it done according to your word!”
Register correspondent John M. Grondelski writes from Taipei, Taiwan.
INFORMATION
Paris Missionary Society website: MEPAsie.org
[a1]What does this mean?
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/vietnam-faith-vitality/#ixzz2QKXAIeUI
A French missionary discusses the Church in Vietnam today.
by JOHN M. GRONDELSKI 04/13/2013 Comment Father Étienne Frécon
Americans often associate Vietnam with the long U.S. military involvement there, but because of its earlier connections with France, the country is also home to a sizeable Catholic community. The Church in Vietnam owes its existence in part to the work of the Paris Missionary Society (Missions Etrangères de Paris, MEP), a secular institute that has been sending missionaries to Asia since 1658.
Each year, MEP priests meet in one Asian country to reflect on their missionary work. Gathering in Vietnam this past January for the first time since their expulsion in 1975, MEP priests got a chance to see the state of the Church there.
Father Étienne Frécon is an MEP priest studying Chinese in Taiwan. Ordained in 2011 and with previous pastoral work in France and England, he now celebrates Mass for French and English expatriates in Taipei.
He spoke with the Register about his visit to Vietnam and his impressions of the Church there.
You and other MEPs recently visited Vietnam. What was the purpose of the trip, and what did you do there?
Every year, we gather in one Asian country to build priestly community, reflect on missionary work and discover another local Church. This year, we spent 10 days in Vietnam, a very symbolic place for us because two apostolic vicars sent there by the pope in the 17th century to establish the hierarchy in Vietnam also represented the starting point of the MEP. We had to flee Vietnam with the communist victory in 1975 and have since been unable to send missionaries there.
We nevertheless tried to keep up contacts and, in 2013, were able to visit the churches set up by — and the graves of — our confreres. The bishops of Vietnam, most of whom studied at our house in Paris, invited us.
What were your impressions of the Church in Vietnam?
It’s amazing to see the vitality of the Vietnamese Church. With many martyrs and forsaken for so many years, the Church today is blooming. Eight percent of Vietnam is Catholic, most of whom are practicing and living real lives of discipleship. There are many priestly and religious vocations. Churches are full of life and have activities to reach out to youth, the poor and non-Christians.
Vietnam is a communist country whose government has been cited by some as violating religious freedom. What is the situation of Catholics in Vietnam? Can they worship freely? Does the government interfere in episcopal appointments?
The communist regime limited the Church’s freedom for many years, trying to get involved in ecclesiastical life to control the Church from the inside. There were, for example, quotas on the numbers of seminarians, and the work of religious communities was very controlled.
Today, the Church-state relationship is somewhat better. People can worship more freely and are allowed to go on pilgrimages. The Holy See appoints all bishops, and there are no vacant sees. Still, while the Church has more freedom to live its vocation, it can’t get involved in public issues. Human rights, defense of the poor and the dignity of the person remain issues where the Church can’t yet say very much.
Your community played a role in founding the Church in Vietnam. Can you tell us something about that work?
Most of the dioceses in Vietnam were set up by the MEP, long before French colonization. In 1650, a missionary in Tonkin, Jesuit [Father] Alexandre de Rhôdes, went to Rome to ask Pope Innocent X to send secular priests (not belonging to a religious order) to Asia to build up the local Church. In 1658, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith sent a group of French priests there, the beginnings of the MEP. One apostolic vicar was sent to the North (then called Tonkin); the other to the South (then called Cochinchina).
For the next 350 years, more than 900 priests labored there, and many became martyrs. With the communist takeover of the North in 1953, missionaries were expelled, many fleeing south. In 1975, they all had to leave. While we are still now allowed in, we help in many ways. We help lots of Vietnamese diocesan clergy to come to Paris to study theology, thus being faithful to our original charism: to build up local Churches.
Many Americans may not even know of the MEP. What else has your community done and is doing outside of Vietnam?
Historically, MEP sent missionaries to China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma and India. We were expelled from many places in the 20th century as local dictatorships arose. After a period without any vocations, we are now in the process of a great renewal: Twenty-seven seminarians are preparing to be missionaries. They will go to Asia to support local Churches: help form clergy, reach out to the poor, assist ethnic minorities and foster interreligious dialogue.
Every year, we also send 150 young laypeople for several months up to two years to experience missionary life in Asia. We respond to Jesus’ call: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
You’ve been in Taiwan for half a year, ministering to French and English-speaking expatriates here. What is your impression of the Catholic Church in Taiwan?
I am in Taiwan to learn Chinese. Because I can’t yet minister in Chinese, I help the foreign community, ministering in French and English. I will be posted in Singapore to work with Chinese communities there — and in Malaysia. The Church in Taiwan is far different from what I experienced in other places. It is small but quite old, well represented among ethnic minorities and does lots of social work. Her worship shows her inculturation into Chinese life. But, as in many secular countries, it’s hard to reach the young. As for my future, I will let the Holy Spirit, my superior and the bishop of Singapore decide — “Be it done according to your word!”
Register correspondent John M. Grondelski writes from Taipei, Taiwan.
INFORMATION
Paris Missionary Society website: MEPAsie.org
[a1]What does this mean?
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/vietnam-faith-vitality/#ixzz2QKXAIeUI
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