How can we use the power of language to avoid conflict and arrive at
peaceful solutions?
 
When there is a conflict, be it emotional or social, our way of
communicating changes.  We stop listening
to the other person, we take no responsibility for the matter, we decide that
it is either good or bad and we allow ourselves to be carried away by our
feelings … We can be sincere about our feelings without offending others,
certainly by means of empathy, and more profoundly by means of compassion
understood as knowing how to listen to the feelings of others and knowing how
to express our own without pre-judging.
(From the introduction to
the book  “Non-violent Communication” by
Marshall B. Rosenberg )
On the Day of Peace and Non-violence, we offer you the
following story which confirms the above quotation and helps us to reflect.

When he was studying Law at London University, a professor named Peters took a dislike to him but the student – who was Gandhi – did not let this affect him and their meetings were very pleasant.
One day Professor Peters was eating in the dining room
of the university and the student came with his tray and sat down beside him. The
Professor said to him haughtily, “Mr. Ganhdi, you do not understand… A pig and
a bird do not sit down to eat together.” To which Gandhi replied, “Don’t worry,
Professor.  I will fly away” and he
changed tables.
Mr. Peters, red with rage, decided to get his revenge
at the next examination but the student answered all the questions brilliantly.
He then put the following question to him, “Mr Gandhi, you are walking along
the street and you find a handbag containing wisdom and a lot of money. Which
would you take?”  Without hesitation,
Gandhi replied, “The money, of course, Professor!”
Professor Peters smiled and said to him, “If I were in
your place I would have taken the wisdom.”  “Each of us would take
what he hadn’t got already” replied the student.  Professor Peters was furious, wrote “Idiot”
on the exam paper and handed it back to the young Gandhi. Gandhi took the paper
and sat down. After a few minutes he said to the professor, “Mr. Peters, you
signed the paper but you forgot to write the result”.
A peaceful, intelligent and sincere way of responding…
 
 

WORLD DAY FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
 
Acccording to the latest official bulletin of UNHCR (The United Nations
High Commission for Refugees) more than 45
million people are either refugees or have been forcibly removed from their
homes.   This figure shows a dramatic
increase in the number of displaced people since the beginning of the
century.  These refugees are mostly from
Syria, Mali, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  War continues to be the main reaon for this situation.
 
“ Each time
you blink, another person has had to flee from her/his home.  This means that 23,000 more people are
displaced each day” explains Antonio Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees in
Geneva.
 

The Pope has written the following message for this 100th World Day:
 
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE
FRANCIS FOR THE WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES (2014)
 
Migrants and Refugees: Towards
a Better World
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
Our societies are experiencing, in an unprecedented
way, processes of mutual interdependence and interaction on the global level.
While not lacking problematic or negative elements, these processes are aimed
at improving the living conditions of the human family, not only economically,
but politically and culturally as well. Each individual is a part of humanity
and, with the entire family of peoples, shares the hope of a better future.
This consideration inspired the theme I have chosen for the World Day of
Migrants and Refugees this year: Migrants and Refugees: Towards a Better
World.
 
In our changing world, the growing phenomenon of human
mobility emerges, to use the words of Pope Benedict XVI, as a “sign of the
times” (cf. Message for the 2006
World Day of Migrants and Refugees). While it is
true that migrations often reveal failures and shortcomings on the part of States
and the international community, they also point to the aspiration of humanity
to enjoy a unity marked by respect for differences, by attitudes of acceptance
and hospitality which enable an equitable sharing of the world’s goods, and by
the protection and the advancement of the dignity and centrality of each human
being.
 
From the Christian standpoint, the reality of
migration, like other human realities, points to the tension between the beauty
of creation, marked by Grace and the Redemption, and the mystery of sin.
Solidarity, acceptance, and signs of fraternity and understanding exist side by
side with rejection, discrimination, trafficking and exploitation, suffering
and death. Particularly disturbing are those situations where migration is not
only involuntary, but actually set in motion by various forms of human
trafficking and enslavement. Nowadays, “slave labour” is common coin! Yet
despite the problems, risks and difficulties to be faced, great numbers of
migrants and refugees continue to be inspired by confidence and hope; in their
hearts they long for a better future, not only for themselves but for their
families and those closest to them.
 
What is involved in the creation of “a better world”?
The expression does not allude naively to abstract notions or unattainable
ideals; rather, it aims at an authentic and integral development, at efforts to
provide dignified living conditions for everyone, at finding just responses to
the needs of individuals and families, and at ensuring that God’s gift of
creation is respected, safeguarded and cultivated. The Venerable Paul VI
described the aspirations of people today in this way: “to secure a sure food
supply, cures for diseases and steady employment… to exercise greater personal
responsibility; to do more, to learn more, and have more, in order to be more”
(Populorum Progressio, 6).
 
Our hearts do desire something “more”. Beyond greater
knowledge or possessions, they want to “be” more. Development cannot be reduced
to economic growth alone, often attained without a thought for the poor and the
vulnerable. A better world will come about only if attention is first paid to
individuals; if human promotion is integral, taking account of every dimension
of the person, including the spiritual; if no one is neglected, including the
poor, the sick, prisoners, the needy and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:31-46);
if we can prove capable of leaving behind a throwaway culture and embracing one
of encounter and acceptance.
 
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard
of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to
leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for
knowing and having, but above all for being more. The sheer number of people
migrating from one continent to another, or shifting places within their own
countries and geographical areas, is striking. Contemporary movements of
migration represent the largest movement of individuals, if not of peoples, in
history. As the Church accompanies migrants and refugees on their journey, she
seeks to understand the causes of migration, but she also works to overcome its
negative effects, and to maximize its positive influence on the communities of
origin, transit and destination.
 
While encouraging the development of a better world,
we cannot remain silent about the scandal of poverty in its various forms.
Violence, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization, restrictive approaches
to fundamental freedoms, whether of individuals or of groups: these are some of
the chief elements of poverty which need to be overcome. Often these are
precisely the elements which mark migratory movements, thus linking migration
to poverty. Fleeing from situations of extreme poverty or persecution in the
hope of a better future, or simply to save their own lives, millions of persons
choose to migrate. Despite their hopes and expectations, they often encounter
mistrust, rejection and exclusion, to say nothing of tragedies and disasters
which offend their human dignity.
 
The reality of migration, given its new dimensions in
our age of globalization, needs to be approached and managed in a new,
equitable and effective manner; more than anything, this calls for
international cooperation and a spirit of profound solidarity and compassion.
Cooperation at different levels is critical, including the broad adoption of
policies and rules aimed at protecting and promoting the human person. Pope
Benedict XVI sketched the parameters of such policies, stating that they
“should set out from close collaboration between the migrants’ countries of
origin and their countries of destination; they should be accompanied by
adequate international norms able to coordinate different legislative systems
with a view to safeguarding the needs and rights of individual migrants and
their families, and at the same time, those of the host countries” (Caritas in Veritate, 62). Working together for a better world requires that countries help one
another, in a spirit of willingness and trust, without raising insurmountable
barriers. A good synergy can be a source of encouragement to government leaders
as they confront socioeconomic imbalances and an unregulated globalization,
which are among some of the causes of migration movements in which individuals
are more victims than protagonists. No country can singlehandedly face the
difficulties associated with this phenomenon, which is now so widespread that
it affects every continent in the twofold movement of immigration and
emigration.
 
It must also be emphasized that such cooperation
begins with the efforts of each country to create better economic and social
conditions at home, so that emigration will not be the only option left for
those who seek peace, justice, security and full respect of their human
dignity. The creation of opportunities for employment in the local economies
will also avoid the separation of families and ensure that individuals and
groups enjoy conditions of stability and serenity.
 
Finally, in considering the situation of migrants and
refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world,
namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to
migration. Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons,
asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a
fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be
lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal
activity will increase. The communications media have a role of great
responsibility in this regard: it is up to them, in fact, to break down
stereotypes and to offer correct information in reporting the errors of a few
as well as the honesty, rectitude and goodness of the majority. A change of
attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone,
moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and
marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based
on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more
just and fraternal world. The communications media are themselves called to
embrace this “conversion of attitudes” and to promote this change in the way
migrants and refugees are treated.
 
I think of how even the Holy Family of Nazareth
experienced initial rejection: Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no
place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew what it
meant to leave their own country and become migrants: threatened by Herod’s
lust for power, they were forced to take flight and seek refuge in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). But the maternal heart of Mary and the compassionate heart of
Joseph, the Protector of the Holy Family, never doubted that God would always
be with them. Through their intercession, may that same firm certainty dwell in
the heart of every migrant and refugee.
 
The Church, responding to Christ’s command to “go and
make disciples of all nations”, is called to be the People of God which
embraces all peoples and brings to them the proclamation of the Gospel, for the
face of each person bears the mark of the face of Christ! Here we find the
deepest foundation of the dignity of the human person, which must always be
respected and safeguarded. It is less the criteria of efficiency, productivity,
social class, or ethnic or religious belonging which ground that personal
dignity, so much as the fact of being created in God’s own image and likeness
(cf. Gen 1:26-27) and, even more so, being children of God. Every human
being is a child of God! He or she bears the image of Christ! We ourselves need
to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not
only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be
welcomed, respected and loved. They are an occasion that Providence gives us to
help build a more just society, a more perfect democracy, a more united
country, a more fraternal world and a more open and evangelical Christian
community. Migration can offer possibilities for a new evangelization, open
vistas for the growth of a new humanity foreshadowed in the paschal mystery: a
humanity for which every foreign country is a homeland and every homeland is a
foreign country.
 
Dear migrants and refugees! Never lose the hope that
you too are facing a more secure future, that on your journey you will
encounter an outstretched hand, and that you can experience fraternal
solidarity and the warmth of friendship! To all of you, and to those who have
devoted their lives and their efforts to helping you, I give the assurance of
my prayers and I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
 
From the Vatican, 5 August 2013
 

FRANCIS
 
 

INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME FOR THE YEAR 2014
Has Christ been divided? (cf. 1 Cor 1:1-17)

In the Scripture passage chosen for our reflection this year, Paul
begins his letters to the Corinthians with a powerful opening. Like an overture
to an opera or the opening movement to a symphony, this passage touches on
themes that certainly prepare us for what is to come in these letters. There
are three movements in this text. All three lay a solid but challenging
foundation for our reflections as Christians living and working together in
churches and society today.
In the first movement (1:1-3), Paul, along with his fellow Christian
Sosthenes  addresses another larger and
very active community, the Corinthian Christians. He addresses the Corinthians
as the “Church of God,” not just as a local chapter, but as a full expression
of the Church in their part of the world. Paul reminds them that they are a
“called” people: “called to be saints,” not isolated and on their own, but
“together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, both their Lord and ours.” This last expression could also be
translated as “both in their place and in ours.” So, they are authentically
God’s Church but very much connected to everyone else who calls on the Lord,
both in their confession and their place. Then Paul, as in all his letters,
extends his usual and powerful greeting of God’s grace and peace. In Paul’s
language, “grace” indicates God’s goodness and gifts to us in Christ, and is
meant to draw out our gratitude to God and our graciousness to others. His
“peace” for us in all its fullness and mutuality is communion (koinonia)
in God.
Where do you see God’s grace and peace in your local church, in your
larger community, and in your country? How can you move beyond a preoccupation
with your immediate community and attend to the community of all Christians and
the world?
6. While Paul is about to call the Corinthian community to task, he
begins the next movement in our text (1:4-9) by giving thanks for “the grace of
God that has been given” to the Corinthians “in Christ Jesus.” This is not just
a formality, but a genuine rejoicing in the gifts God has bestowed on this
community. He proceeds to build them up: “For in every way you have been
enriched in him…, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.” They are
assured that they will be strengthened to the end, and that “God is faithful.”
God calls us into the fellowship (koinonia) of his Son with all its
social and spiritual implications for our churches and peoples.
In the third movement (1:10-17), Paul addresses hard words to the Corinthians
because of the ways that they have distorted the Christian gospel and broken
the unity of the community: “I belong to Paul, I belong to Apollos, I belong to
Cephas.” Even those who claimed Christ as their leader were not applauded by
Paul, for they used the name of Christ to separate themselves from others in
the Christian community. We cannot invoke Christ’s name to build walls around
us, because his name creates fellowship and unity, not divisions. “Has Christ
been divided?” Paul does not object to forming communities around strong
leadership, but the community is to find its fundamental identity in Christ:
“Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Chloe’s
people have seen this development among them and have brought it to light.
Into this state of division comes Paul’s appeal to come together and “be
united in the same mind and the same purpose.” He exhorts his readers and those
in Corinth “to be in agreement.” Does Paul think they should all worship and do
things in the same way? We think not. These verses are not a call to leave
aside the leadership of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. Rooted in Christ, we are
called to give thanks for the gifts of God that others outside our group bring
to the common mission of the Church. Honouring the gifts of God in others draws
us closer in faith and mission, and leads us towards that unity for which
Christ prayed, with respect for authentic diversity in worship and life.
Paul highlights two central elements of Christian discipleship in which
we are fundamentally bound to Christ: baptism and the cross of Christ. We were
not baptized into Paul and he was not crucified for us; our unity is in Christ
and our life and salvation come from him. At the same time, we all participate
in one group or another, and our local churches nurture us in faith and help us
to walk as disciples of Jesus. The conclusion of the matter, both for Paul and
for us, is not only our sense of belonging to a particular church. Rather, our
purpose is the proclamation of the good news, the very gospel to which we have
responded in faith and joy. Now we must share this message with the world.
Paul’s conclusion challenges us to ask ourselves if we have good news in Christ
for each other, or if we carry division even in the name of Christ, thus, in
Paul’s words, emptying the Cross of its power.
We also hear of Chloe’s people. It is under Chloe’s leadership that this
group identifies and names the conflicts and divisions in the Corinthian
church. We continue to need such witnesses, both women and men, from all of our
churches, and their ministry of reconciliation and unity. Giving voice to such
witness will draw us closer to realizing Paul’s vision of a community having
“the same purpose and mind in Christ.”
How will you and your church discern the same purpose and mind in Christ
with other churches? How will your appreciation and experience of the different
approaches and forms of worship among the churches in your community or country
bear fruit in efforts towards visible Christian unity? What common mission will
you share with other Christians to help make the world a better place for
others?
To conclude, when we consider the many blessings and gifts of God made
manifest in our country and peoples, we begin to recognize that we must treat
one another, and the very land from which we derive our living, with dignity
and respect. This recognition has called us to confession and repentance, and
to the seeking of new and sustainable ways of living on the earth. It has
raised our consciousness about how God has blessed us all, and that no one
group can decide how to use the country’s resources without hearing and including
the voices of our fellow.
Prayers => Order of Service

In
the column on the left of the home page in the section “Prayer and
Reflection” you will find the texts and prayers for each day of the Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity and the celebration for the beginning of the Week. 

THE
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FAMILY FARMING
The 2014 International Year of
Family Farming (IYFF) aims to raise the profile of family farming and
smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its significant role in
eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition,
improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment,
and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.
WHY IS FAMILY FARMING IMPORTANT?
Family and small-scale
farming are inextricably linked to world food security.
Family farming preserves
traditional food products, while contributing to a balanced diet and
safeguarding the world’s agro-biodiversity and the sustainable use of
natural resources.
Family farming represents an
opportunity to boost local economies, especially when combined with
specific policies aimed at social protection and well-being of
http://www.fao.org/family-farming-2014/home/en/

Epiphany means manifestation. Jesus makes
himself known to all, without exception, beyond cultures, religions and
appearances. Today he manifests himself as LIFE,  in the here and now, in  and through all, in the most trivial events,
provided that we know how to look in depth, and to go beyond  all appearances.

REAL LIFE IS NOT IN OUTWARD
APPEARANCE
In the metro,
Line 6, a small elderly man in a neglected state finds a place and sits down
heavily. I can see him still, huddled in his seat, head bowed. He exudes
fatigue and poverty. A touching oldness about him, a fragile, heart-moving
human being.
In his hands he
has a paper bag. The bag bears the well-known
FNAC (Fédération
nationale d’achats des cadres)logo.
FNAC – a paradise
connecting one to modernity, through all kinds of gadgets where we get lost –
and we all do, except the specialists – for lack of references and vocabulary,
not to mention the avalanche of printed books and music they provide …
FNAC – dazzling products that proudly display proportionate prices. We are more
likely to see educated, well dressed people using them.
 
Something is
wrong – the bag does not suit the hands that hold it. But after all, it may be
a coincidence: it may have been found accidentally in a corner!
But, leaning down, he takes out a small brochure. Surprise: Pariscope! Pariscope is not dear: 50 cents. But it tells of cinemas,
exhibitions, guided walks in Paris, restaurants … you
name it.
Perplexity and
amazement send my thoughts back on myself, “They have eyes and see not
…” Someone said, “blind eyes, fixed on the habitual, as if a beautiful
appearance automatically means intelligence and culture, as if the human soul
could not escape from the ready-made ??judgments of society, as if the broadening of the
heart was a reserved area … eyes that judge according to a set model!”
Conversion of the
gaze, turning inward. Could I not say with Christian Bobin: “I saw neither
God nor his advisers before I thought of removing my hands from before my
eyes.”
Gift of life, an old man without
appearance
But real life is not in outward appearance
Inverted world, defeating appearances
Michelle Biraben
Angoulême Community
 
 
 
 
 

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESSFRANCISFOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 2014
 
FRATERNITY, THE FOUNDATION AND PATHWAY TO PEACE
1. In this, my first Message for the World Day of Peace, I wish to offer to everyone, individuals and peoples, my best wishes for
a life filled with joy and hope. In the heart of every man and woman is the desire for a full life, including that irrepressible longing for fraternity which draws us to fellowship with others and enables us to see them not
as enemies or rivals, but as brothers and sisters to be accepted and embraced.
Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon
and to treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace. We should remember that fraternity is generally first learned in the family,
thanks above all to the responsible and complementary roles of each of its members, particularly the father and the mother. The family is the wellspring of all fraternity, and as such it is the foundation and the first pathway
to peace, since, by its vocation, it is meant to spread its love to the world around it.
The ever-increasing number of interconnections and communications in today’s world makes us powerfully aware of the unity and
common destiny of the nations. In the dynamics of history, and in the diversity of ethnic groups, societies and cultures, we see the seeds of a vocation to form a community composed of brothers and sisters who accept and care
for one another. But this vocation is still frequently denied and ignored in a world marked by a “globalization of indifference” which makes us slowly inured to the suffering of others and closed in on ourselves.
 
In many parts of the world, there seems to be no end to grave offences against fundamental human rights, especially the right to
life and the right to religious freedom. The tragic phenomenon of human trafficking, in which the unscrupulous prey on the lives and the desperation of others, is but one unsettling example of this. Alongside overt armed conflicts
are the less visible but no less cruel wars fought in the economic and financial sectors with means which are equally destructive of lives, families and businesses.
Read more —– FRATERNITY, THE FOUNDATION AND PATHWAY TO PEACE
 
 
 

Sunday, 29 December 2013-12-20 
SAINT JOSEPH’S DREAM and THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
Mt. 2, 13-15; 19-23 

“Go often to Nazareth and contemplate!”  That is the frequently repeated invitation of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles.
And today, in a special way, we can pause to contemplate St. Joseph’s ‘dream’ and the flight into Egypt.
In the text of the Mass, Matthew speaks to us of Jesus through Joseph. The evangelist, St. Luke, focuses more
on Mary while Matthew focuses on Joseph.
This account reveals to us the context in which the life of the whole family takes place: in insecurity and persecution
because of Herod who, jealous of his power, acts with evident cruelty. He relates the flight into Egypt.
However, this also introduces us to the level of a biblical faith experience connected to the history of salvation:
the affirmation that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Egypt is not only a geographical location but also a theological place; in Egypt the people had the experience of slavery and also of liberation. Jesus saw what the people
of Israel had lived and recapitulates in himself the history of Israel initiating a new exodus and echoing the hope of the prophets who announced the final salvation (Hosea 11, 1-4; Jeremiah 31).
We are faced once more with a text that utilises the stereotypical mode of the “angel of the Lord” who speaks
to Joseph “in a dream”. It is a method widely used in the Bible to express the relationship with God, the faith experience of the people. 
Joseph’s experience shows us two aspects that we cannot separate and which are: the reality of living in a context
of oppression and persecution that necessitates flight for the sake of security and the aspiration, his heart’s desire concerning his life project. It is not difficult to imagine that from the beginning of his visits with
Mary, Joseph “dreamed” of other horizons for himself and his family that, as time went on, were shattered. However, these dreams vanished to give way to an attitude of detachment from his “own dreams”, an attitude
lived between fear and courage to go forward trusting faithfully in the promise of God for his people.
Jesus did not live solely in the bosom of a small family unit, united with his parents, but was also integrated
into a much wider family. His destiny and his hope were the destiny and hope of all. To do this, by assuming the risk with decisiveness and hope, he united his destiny and that of his family to the destiny of the people and
undertook a path towards a land and a life better for all. With the large Family of God, Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in their own flesh the sorrow of migration and its consequences.
Joseph, by taking the way of the “exodus”, secured the life of Jesus and Mary but, because of that, the whole
family was to begin the hard road of difficulties and trials. The one who set up his tent among us accepted to go through the stages of every creature from birth to a death that would engender new life.
We are before an experience that has evident resonances in our world today. Migration traverses human history:
displacement because of war, famine, persecution, etc. Today, we continue to dream of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelations 21, 1).
We experience in a special way today the urgency of setting out. Let us dare to take concrete steps, aware that
it requires us to enter into a “paschal path that implies letting go and receiving, that involves dying to open ourselves to abundant life” (Corporate Commitment, General Chapter 2008).
 
Marie Carmen VILARDELL
 

Yesterday, Sunday, the 22nd of December, at the Chapel of the General House, Mattia was
baptized.  He is the firstborn son of a young couple, living in the Christian Community of Montespaccato, in the
suburbs of Rome, (Roman suburbs,) where, a few years ago, some of our sisters working in the General house lived for 11 years. We thank God for this new life and for being able to share the
joy of this important moment.

Sr. Bridgetammah SAVERIMUTHU

“I know of a boat named Canadathat brought our first two sisters, in 1949,from the Port of Marseilles in France,to the port of Douala in Cameroonto extend the family of God ”

In the 1987
November-December issue of Le Flamboyant, the newsletter of the Cameroon-Chad
Delegation, Sr. Odette Filion and Sr. Carmen Valbuena wrote, “Nazareth is born in Cameroon”.
“In 1949, the first
sisters of the Holy Family arrived at Mokolo in the extreme North of Cameroon.”
That means almost 40 years of presence, sharing, communion, intense life with
our Cameroonian brothers and sisters.
The Christian
communities grew and became strong. The Chuch in Cameroon matured, local
vocations began.
Yes, for a decade
now, young girls are asking “to follow the sisters’ way“. We welcome them into
our communities for longer or shorter periods. But, we do not have the
structures to continue their formation.
At the end of
February 1987, Sr. Christiane Meunier (General Councillor) visited us.
There was a period
of intense reflection, prayer, enlightenment and discernment in our Delegation.
On her departure a piece of land had been bought at Mokolo; the decision to
build a house for the reception of young girls was taken.
“NAZARETH” had been
born. The girls began to take certain steps; we began to dialogue with their
parents and those in charge of the Christian communities. This first experience
began on 16 November 1987 at Mokolo-Mbuoa, with four young girls – Solange,
Hellé, Gaipambi (from Djingilya) and Asta Doukoye (from Mokolo-Tada). The
Delegation was full of hope, “the future daughters”! The Reign of God was
growing and developing in the Church of Cameroon. 
In the beginning
Nazareth was a house of formation for young people. In 1999 the postulants
lived there. In 2001, the noviciate of the Holy Family Sisters was established
in the house.
In 2003, the first Cameroonian
sister, Solange Graka, made her perpetual vows.
Present activities of
our sisters:
“If the rhythm of the drums changes,
the dance steps also change.” (Benin proverb)
Now, lay people have replaced the
sisters in the school and the health centre where they worked. We go with the
signs of the times. We give priority to the marginalised – the deaf and dumb,
the disabled, the blind, prisoners, the elderly, the sick, so that they may be
respected in their dignity as children of God.
We also work with Catholic Action
Movements for children, Catholic women, couples in formation at the Emmaus
Centre in Mokolo, the kindergarten, the educational complex at Yaounde, a girls’
hostel, primary and post-primary school at Gounou-Gaya, care of the sick at
Tagal in Chad and community granaries.
For the time being, our Nazareth
house is a great help when we have large gatherings such as the Delegation
Assembly and sessions for our sisters and associates. Young people in
formation, after a stay in our communities, go to Congo for their noviciate.
For the future, we would like this house to become a Pierre Bienvenu
Noailles Spiritual Centre where all could refresh and nourish their faith with
no distinction of social class and also provide an integral human formation for
those interested.

We
are also reflecting on providing professional formation: sewing, cutting,
artistic and decorative courses such as embroidery, knitting, crochet and cooking.
In addition:
Psychology: self knowledge by working through good experiences,
Spiritual: the pilgrimage of the Holy Family, meditation, yoga,
zen, retreats with the cosmos,
Intellectual: debates on what destroys us… we remain open to the
signs of the times and the calls of the Holy Spirit.
 
We
hope that as we work and fertilise the soil of our Delegation the roots of the
Holy Family tree will enter deeply into this land and that this young tree will
bear fruit in the growth of the Family of God.
Sr. Carolina MARTÍNEZ
Cameroon-Chad

Since the events of BOKO Aram in Nigeria, in our diocese there is a camp for refugees some 28 km from Mokolo.An appeal has been launched to help our sisters and brothers in distress.
 
Mokolo is a city located almost on
the border with Nigeria. There
are parishes that share the border with the neighboring country.Since the kidnapping of the French family, we know
that we are in a red zone. Many Nigerian families come to Cameroon villages to
seek refuge.
Father Georges lives in NGUETCHEWE where he is parish priest. He is very sensitive to the situation of the people who are
suffering and he remained there;
he also gave help to those he met.
 
On Tuesday morning, 19 November, he was in Mokolo to accompany the girls who had come to start training in a parish centre at Mokolo Mboua. The head of
the centre, Brenetta, an Italian, chatted with the priest sharing what was happening around us. It so happened that on returning home that Tuesday night, gunmen came and took him from his house and brought him to neighboring Nigeria.
 
These armed men had first gone to the Sisters
of the Holy Family in Helmet. They demanded money
very threateningly and, as they found nothing, they went to the priest who was
then asleep. During that time, the two sisters were well guarded by two gunmen
 
They asked for money; then they left with him. The Governor has been alerted and the search is still going on. But
the priest has not yet been found.
Pray for us.
 
Sister Agnes
Delegation of
Cameroon-Chad
 
For more information go to:

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/french.priest.abducted.in.cameroon/34745.htm