On Friday, 8 March, I was invited to the community of Quesnel, there to experience a moment of intense communion, thanksgiving and hope for a new departure. With serene and confident hearts we celebrated the long road travelled together as a community, reminding ourselves of the mission that was entrusted to us up to the present day.
A WINDOW ON LIFEndow on Life
 
Sisters’ Present at Quesnel
Another piece of history in our Province!
 

 
On Friday, 8 March, I was invited to the community of Quesnel, there to experience a moment of intense communion, thanksgiving and hope for a new departure. With serene and confident hearts we celebrated the long road travelled together as a community, reminding ourselves of the mission that was entrusted to us up to the present day.
 
And so , this time of celebration marked a new beginning.
 
Monique was to join a new, well-known community, that of 350 Père Marquette, a house better adapted to her physical condition. Aline needs a few more months to recover completely from her severe illness. Paulette is preparing to welcome Jolanta and Aldégonde for the new intercultural project at Quesnel.
 
What I saw that evening – three beautiful women, standing erect, going forward on a furrow that may be different but leading to the same point on the horizon, the same passion to live the mission of communion in our Holy Family.
 
With you, my sister, in the province, I would like to thank them and, also, thank all the sisters who have gone through this beautiful milieu where so many links have been forged, links that have always favoured the least fortunate. My sisters, your life has been a Word that ignited hope and we, your travelling companions, thank you. You can count on us to continue your course wherever it may be.
 
During the celebration, Paulette said this prayer that expresses the best of what each one carries in her heart. I share it with you as the wish that we also make with Monique, Aline and Paulette:
 
“Lord, Your call leads us always by new and mysterious ways because it is a call to life.
You do not wish your disciples to stop in any fixed place.
 
Your word invites us to set out each day to be faithful to the people and to the impulsions of the Spirit.
We can never stop, never be certain of what awaits us. But with you we will set out anew; we will continue to advance.
 
May your Spirit inflame us with the spirit of new beginnings. May we resume our journey with joy, enthusiasm, strength, trust and confidence in your active Presence. Strong in our faith and hope, we turn with You towards the future.”
 
A new mission, that will soon take form, has been given to the community of Quesnel . It is a project born in the heart of our province gathered in Assembly last June. We will take the opportunity to follow, step by step, the birth and the early stage of this project.
 
“In this new departure, Lord, teach us today the actions of the great witnesses of your action. Teach us the way of questionings, upheavals, uprootings. Teach us to launch out. Teach us to open to the unknown, to the future.” (Paulette)
 
May the Good Father accompany us to him, to God!
 
 
Violette
 
 
 
 

World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops all over the world were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually, and at the international level every two to three years at different locations.
World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people
 
organized by the Catholic Church
 

 
World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops all over the world were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually, and at the international level every two to three years at different locations.
 
World Youth Day is generally celebrated two ways: every year in local churches with the Pope in Rome, on Palm Sunday; every two years with international meetings in a different place and a programme which touches all continents.
 
The city for the international venue is chosen each time by the Pope, who usually announces it on Palm Sunday of the previous year or at the end of the previous international meeting.
 
Every year the Pope sends a Message to young people throughout the world for the next World Youth Day.
 
Three words of the Pope Francesco in the message of this year to the young people.
 
Joy
And here the first word that I wish to say to you: joy! Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy born of having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus, in our midst; it is born from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them!… We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This is our joy, this is the hope that we must bring to this world. Please do not let yourselves be robbed of hope! Do not let hope be stolen! The hope that Jesus gives us.
 
Cross
Why does Jesus enter Jerusalem? Or better: how does Jesus enter Jerusalem?… He enters to climb Calvary, carrying his burden of wood. And this brings us to the second word: Cross. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to die on the Cross… Why the Cross? Because Jesus takes upon himself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including the sin of all of us, and he cleanses it, he cleanses it with his blood, with the mercy and the love of God. Let us look around: how many wounds are inflicted upon humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money that you can’t take with you and have to leave. Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money that you can’t take with you and have to leave… Christ’s Cross embraced with love never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.
 
Youth
This is our third word: youth! Dear young people, I saw you in the procession as you were coming in;… You have an important part in the celebration of faith! You bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the faith with a young heart, always: a young heart, even at the age of seventy or eighty. Dear young people! With Christ, the heart never grows old! Yet all of us, all of you know very well that the King whom we follow and who accompanies us is very special: he is a King who loves even to the Cross and who teaches us to serve and to love.
 
And you are not ashamed of his Cross! On the contrary, you embrace it, because you have understood that it is in giving ourselves, in giving ourselves… On the contrary, you embrace it, because you have understood that it is in giving ourselves, in giving ourselves, in emerging from ourselves that we have true joy and that, with his love, God conquered evil.
 
You carry the pilgrim Cross through all the Continents, along the highways of the world! You carry it in response to Jesus’ call: “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), which is the theme of World Youth Day this year. You carry it so as to tell everyone that on the Cross Jesus knocked down the wall of enmity that divides people and nations, and he brought reconciliation and peace. Dear friends, I too am setting out on a journey with you, starting today, in the footsteps  of Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are already close to the next stage of this great pilgrimage of the Cross. I look forward joyfully to next July in Rio de Janeiro! I will see you in that great city in Brazil!
 
 
Pope Francesco I
 
 
 
 
 

Do we need it ?
Bottled water costs more than $1.50 a bottle ;
This is 1.900 times the price of tap water.
It is bad news for :
Your Wallet
On average, a North American citizen
Spends $400 a year on bottles of water.

BOTTLED WATER

 
 
Do we need it ?
 
Bottled water costs more than $1.50 a bottle ;
This is 1.900 times the price of tap water.
 
It is bad news for :
 
Your Wallet
On average, a North American citizen
Spends $400 a year on bottles of water.
 
Your Health
Can be affected by toxic chemical products such as Bishenol-A (BPA), a leaching phenomenon in bottled water. « The accumulation o BPA may also cause cancer cells in your body. »
 
The Environment
Is contaminated by the production, transportation, packaging and the elimination of plastic water bottles.
 
In 2004, the consumption of bottled water had reached 26,000 millions of litres and these 26,000 millions of litres amounted to almost 28,000 millions of plastic bottles in one year of which 80% end up as waste. 1,500 bottles of water are thrown out every second.
 
26,000 millions of litres are equivalent to :
 
17 million barrels of petrol used to ptoduce these plastic bottles.
This petrol would be sufficient to fuel 100,000 vehicles for a year.
 
2,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide produced by the manufacture of these plastic bottles.
 
And, $100,000 million spent each year consumers of bottled water.
According to calculations, this money could provide clean drinking water and clean water for a large part of the inhabitants of the planet.
 
How can we help ?
 
Are we sure we know all the consequences of bottled water consumption?
It can threaten your health, costing you money, contaminate the planet …
Surveys have shown that 35% of bottled water consumers think it is healthier than tap water.
 
Do you keep bottles of water in your car?
 
Know that,The heat of the car can filter chemicals in plastic bottles and cause breast cancer and other types of cancer, and even if you do not leave the bottles in the car, do you know they are subject to extreme temperatures before being sold?
No matter what brand you choose, if you think “green” and reject bottled water, you keep Planet Earth and your wallet “green”!
This is a message without paper; forward it for free; know that if just one person stops consuming bottled water, there will be 200 bottles fewer trashed this year! 
 
Sources :
 
http://www.earth911.com/
http://www.earth-policy.org
http://www.us.oneworld.net/
http://www.commondreams.org/
http://www.webmd.com/
http://www.filterforgood.com/
 
 
 
 

As I think how to celebrate the Feast of Our Dear Founder,
Amidst my stream of activities, a voice in me cried…
Stop! Listen to what you are hearing
At the urging of the inner call to stop, I paused for a while
and I hear the words of Pope Francis which turn my
direction…
I am inspired and am challenged…
Stop! Listen to what you are hearing…
 
As I think how to celebrate the Feast of Our Dear Founder,
Amidst my stream of activities, a voice in me cried…
 
Stop! Listen to what you are hearing
 
At the urging of the inner call to stop, I paused for a while
and I hear the words of Pope Francis which turn my
direction…
I am inspired and am challenged…
 
Stop ! Listen to what you are hearing
 
“We can build many things but if we do not profess Jesus Christ things go wrong…We may become a pious NGO not the Church”
 
“St. Peter did not have bank accounts to be secured find security in the free gift of the Gospel”
 
“Do not be carrier driven careerism is leprosy on the priest hood.”
 
“Progress of the Church can be hindered by duel temptation of wanting to remain in the past and adolescent progressiveness.”
 
“We need to go to the out skirts where there is suffering. Bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight and prisoners enthralled to many evil masters.
 
“Clergy must be shepherds not wolfs, because if we go on the road to the riches, if we go on the road to vanity we become wolfs not shepherds.”
 
“Culture of waste – money controls and God the Father gave the task of protecting the earth not to money but to us men and women. We do not respect creation, we do not consider it as freely given gift to look after, we are losing our attitudes of wonder, contemplation of listening creation and no longer manage to integrate in it.”
 
Stop! Listen to what you are hearing
 
“The fidelity of a life and priest hood of PBN was rooted in the intimate relationship with God. He was a man of prayer and …It was said of … ‘He went about doing good – for this reason he was called ‘good father’ His charity has no limits.”
 
“To seek and live for God Alone was the power that impelled him to give himself generously in the pastoral ministry and later as founder to dedicate himself on the immense work of founding a Family.”
 
“Love, seek  and desire God Alone in everything and derived from Him Alone the light, the consolation and strength the needs for fulfilling the vocation.”
“Mary was a faithful companion on his journey – All through Mary.”
 
There is a struggle within me to move forward in
responding.
 
Stop! Listen to what you are called?
 
 
To be faithful to Christ and to live in absolute love of
God and manifest in selfless service in the Kingdom.
 
To have a desire for communion with all peoples, with all creation, living a life of simplicity and detachment promoting justice, peace reconciliation and respect for all forms of life.
 
To have a sense of common mission of communion.
 
To a life centered on the Word/ to go beyond the written word to touch the word of life.
 
To journey with Mary. In priest’s faith journey Mary is a faithful companion on the way. Near her Son she will reach her hand to support, guide and intercede.
 
To celebrate the Eucharist with great deal of devotion and piety. Consider it to be a pinnacle of priestly ministry.
 
Fr. Benet Shantha
Priest Associate of Colombo – Sri Lanka
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

These are the words of Fr. Giovanni La Manna president of the centre for emigrants and refugees at Astalli where some of our Sisters do voluntary work.
HUMAN RIGHTS FOR REFUGEES: A FANTASY
 
These are the words of Fr. Giovanni La Manna president of the centre for emigrants and refugees at Astalli where some of our Sisters do voluntary work. 
 

 
In 2012, 175,000 people sought asylum in Italy.  Men and women who flee from war torn regions and seek haven in a “safe” country.  Eventhough life in Italy is what they want, unfortunately it is uncertain.
 
Italy does not provide adequate welcoming facilities. Suffice it to say that a family with children, even babies who arrive in big towns may have to wait for months for a bed.
 
Even if a refugee has obtained qualifications in his own country,
when he arrives in Italy he is obliged to repeat his secondary education.
 
Even today many of those who were guaranteed international protection reside illegally in certain quarters; not to mention an inefficient bureaucracy which complicates the simplest tasks even the issuing of a resident permit.
 
One refugee out of every three has been subjected to torture in his own country but this is not an important issue for the Italian legal system.  This provides no right for assistance and no access to a process of integration.
 
Many live in the street
Without any meaningful human support
Without hope…
When the suffering becomes unbearable
They lose their reason
 
There are cases like Samiro’s, who not having slept for days, attempted suicide in the Astalli centre; or that of Mada, a refugee from Ghana who acts stupidly assuming guilt for an offence for which he is both instigator and victim.  For many refugees, human rights, in Italy are a fantasy – a dream but it is not enough to make complaints.  One needs a political  will to give meaning to the word ‘protection’.  It is urgent that some sector of society become conscious of the fact and no longer remain indifferent to the suffering of humanity “on pilgrimage”.
 
 
 
 
 

It is a well-known fact that Fr. Noailles had great devotion to Our Lady. We are told that “he loved her as a son loves his mother”. “He had to see her everywhere and, if we did not know how great his devotion for her was, we would be astonished to see so many of her images around him”.
OUR LADY OF ALL GRACES
 
It is a well-known fact that Fr. Noailles had great devotion to Our Lady.  We are told that “he loved her as a son loves his mother”. “He had to see her everywhere and, if we did not know how great his devotion for her was, we would be astonished to see so many of her images around him”.  Mother Bonnat also tells us that although he addressed Mary under various titles, he summed them all up in the title “Our Lady of All Graces.”      
 
Our Founder had at least three very deep experiences in reference to Our Lady even before he was ordained and we know that she continued to obtain graces for him throughout his life.  As part of the rule of life which he wrote before leaving the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in 1819,  he composed a prayer in which he says to Our Lady, “Mary, my good Mother, it is to your tenderness that I owe all the favours that your Divine Son has granted me and of which I am so unworthy” showing us that he looked on her as the person who asked for graces for him and obtained them. 
 
Fr. Noailles recommends us to do as he did, to sum up all Our Lady’s titles in this one.  He says, for example,
It is very good and very advantageous to invoke Mary our blessed Mother under her different titles but it is a duty for the members of the Holy Family by what they do and what they say, to propagate trust in Mary under the name of Our Lady of All Graces.
He wrote his rules in front of the statue of Our Lady of All Graces on the island in Martillac stopping frequently to pray to her for guidance. Virginia Machet tells us that he often spent hours praying in front of the statue of Our Lady of All Graces in the grotto. Then, when he was too ill to go to the island, he had a replica of that statue made for his room so that he could continue to work in her presence, so to speak.  We may think that the statue in the grotto is not that of Our Lady of All Graces.  But it is.  Our Lady was always Our Lady of All Graces for Fr. Noailles no matter what the statue looked like.   In fact, the first statue of Our Lady of All Graces that he knew was in the chapel of Our Lady of All Graces in the grounds of Saint-Sulpice in Issy.  There, Our Lady is seated and the Child Jesus is standing on her knee. 
 
When the island was first blessed on 12 June (that is why the Holy Family celebrates the feast on that date) in 1844, the statue of Our Lady of All Graces which was there was the statue in the grotto.
 
 
Our Lady                                             Our Lady
of All Graces,                                      of All Graces,
         Issy.                                              The Grotto
     
It was only later that our Founder thought it would be good to have a special statue of Our Lady of All Graces for the Association.   So one day when he was in Martillac he asked the Sisters what kind of statue they would like – one with the baby or one without the baby.  Among the group he asked were Suzanne and Virginia Machet, a mother and  daughter who had both become Holy Family Sisters. The mother said that she would like a statue without the baby.  The daughter was quite indignant and said that she of all people should know how important it was to have a baby.  Fr. Noailles, we are told,  had a good laugh; and so we have our own special statue of Our Lady with the baby, he inviting us to look at his mother while she presents her Son to us.
 
Our Founder did not go into any complicated theological explanations about what he meant by the title of Our Lady of All Graces.   For him, she was simply a wonderful Mother to whom he went when he needed something, and she got it for him. He encourages us to ask for her help before God in all the circumstances of our lives and, especially in all the good works that we undertake for the glory of God in Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He actually used the gospel which was later chosen for the Mass of the feast—the Wedding Feast of Cana—to illustrate the way Mary asks Jesus for what we need, and receives it. One of the things he said in the homily on that gospel is that the power of Mary at that wedding celebration is the image of the power which she has today in heaven.   So, let us often ask Our Lady, as Fr. Noailles did, to renew the miracle that she obtained from her Son at Cana; and “as he turned the water into wine may he turn our wayward hearts into hearts burning with love for him and for her.”
 
 
Áine Hayde
June 2013
 
 

(World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and first celebrated the following year. This was the first occasion on which the political, social and economic problems of the global environment…
 
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
 
PRAYER FOR 5TH OF JUNE, 2013
 
 
 
(World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and first celebrated the following year. This was the first occasion on which the political, social and economic problems of the global environment were discussed at an intergovernmental forum with a view to actually taking corrective action. WED is coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).)
 
 Prayer Click =>  Prayer Service
 

You must be wondering what the EGC participants have been up to during the last few days. We will tell you about it briefly.
This meeting is in three parts:
 
 

 
You must be wondering what the  EGC participants have been up to during the last few days.  We will tell you about it briefly.
This meeting is in three parts:
 
Part 1
 
Sister Christine helped the group to reflect and gave them clear guide-lines in preparation for the next General Chapter which will involve all the Units and all the members.
 
At the beginning she asked the assembly:
                                 What exactly is a General chapter?
 
It is an act of government, and represents the highest authority, and we who are here are an international group in an attitude of discernment:
To evaluate what the members of the Units of the Institute have lived during the past 6 years.
To look for and define where we want to go as a result of the above and where we are (to give guidelines)
To elect a team of Leaders who will encourage the living out of the orientations of the Chapter.
 
In order to facilitate the immediate preparation for the Chapter, Christine put before the Assembly several themes that she had prepared for the pre-chapter commission.  The themes are as follows:
Guidelines for the reports of the different Units.
Guidelines for the presentation of proposals to the Chapter.
Criteria for the election of delegates to the General Chapter.
The stages of the Chapter
Attitudes necessary for discernment.
Criteria for the choice of themes to be dealt with by the Unit Chapters and the General Chapter.
Having finished this first part, the assembly thanked Christine for having completed her task  and expressed its joy on learning that she would be the moderator for the General Chapter.  Christine then bade farewell to the assembly.
 

 
Part 2.
 
A double objective:
To look back at the past in truth – at what had been lived during the past six years.
To look to the future with hope.
 
The following are the subjects dealt with during the 2nd  stage,- an evaluation  of all that had been lived concerning:
The corporate commitment
Vows for Mission
Community for mission
The apostolate for mission
The pastoral care of vocations
The protection of vulnerable persons
Formation for mission
          Initial formation
                   On-going formation
Administration of goods
The Congress
Leadership
Membership
Chapter representation.
 
 
The assembly prays, reflects, discerns and shares on all these themes.  They give some idea of the atmosphere of the EGC during which time is allotted  wisely: intense work, long periods of silent reflection, prayer, simple and honest sharing during which the participants are conscious of the action of the Holy Spirit. And as if that were not enough, a huge candle is there in the middle of the hall.  It reminds everyone of the presence of Jesus who is Light.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There is a lot of activity in the hall: the participants are arriving, they greet each other, they are happy to see one another and there is lots of life about.
The assembly is made up of 27 participants from 23 countries, 16 Units, all bringing the wealth of their respective contexts; they are very conscious that they are here for the common good.
ENLARGED GENERAL COUNCIL
 
 
 
There is a lot of activity in the hall: the participants are arriving, they greet each other, they are happy to see one another and there is lots of life about.
 
The assembly is made up of 27 participants from 23 countries, 16 Units, all bringing the wealth of their respective contexts; they are very conscious that they are here for the common good.
 
This is the last Enlarged General Council before the general chapter which will be held in Rome in May 2014.  Its purpose is to allow those responsible for the Institute to evaluate what has been lived since the last General Chapter.
 
The objective of this meeting is to ”Look back in truth”
                                                               “Look forward in hope”
 
Christine Anderson, a member of the congregation of the Faithful Companions of Jesus will facilitate the work of the participants.  She is Scottish, an  international consultant for leadership.  She organises programmes for the development of international leadership in different congregations and lay organisations in Rome, Africa and Asia.
 
The meeting opens with a ritual which, by means of gestures, words, listening, reflection and sharing, brings together both work and prayer.in a powerful way.
How can a person be really present during this meeting?: by emptying herself of everything that could be an obstacle to being available to the WHOLE.  Together the participants express their desire to free themselves from everything that could hold them back, so that once freed they can gather all their energies for the mission.
 
Some extracts taken from Margaret Muldoon’s opening address:
 
“(…)For some time now we have been saying that it is vital that we promote greater interdependence and interaction among us.  We have talked about the fact that that we need to be less confined by the boundaries of our countries, cultures and so on, so that we can live our mission more truly and effectively.(…)”
 
“(…)This demands of us a radical change of mind-set.  However despite our openness, our desire and good will we continue to have difficulty in moving from
words to action.(…)”
 
“(…)As we journey towards the Chapter personally, in our communities, Provinces, Networks, Delegations or Vicariate we do so with a desire to know and to respond to God’s will for us at this point in our on-going story as an Institute/Family.(   )”
 
“(…)In all that we do, we seek the common good and surely the common good is whatever is best for our world.  And our response must be in harmony with the reason for our existence, our common mission and our spirituality which sustains and supports it.”(…)
 
“(…)Today our Founder would encourage us to live this spirit enriched by a better knowledge of the universe which is both sacred and impregnated with the divine.  Never let us forget that it is this Spirit within us that motivates us, gives us energy and creates the bond of unity that is between us.  He leads us to a life founded on faith, reflection, contemplation and discernment a life in which we are which we are ready to share the Gospel with the others.(…)”
 
“(…)Let us be on fire with the Spirit; open and willing to search together in a spirit of dialogue and discernment, seeking to understand what God is asking of us today.(…)”
 
Hopefully that will help us to follow and unite ourselves by prayer to the Enlarged General Council which is a vital moment for the Institute and for the whole Family.
 
 
 
 
 
 

To understand my Faith in my everyday life, it is necessary to understand what makes me live. I would say that Faith is a ‘gift’ story and a great love story. A ‘gift’ story, first of all, because I believe it is God who gives us the gift of Faith. God chooses us. God calls us.
HOW MY FAITH MAKES ME LIVE
 

 
To understand my Faith in my everyday life, it is necessary to understand what makes me live. I would say that Faith is a ‘gift’ story and a great love story. A ‘gift’ story, first of all, because I believe it is God who gives us the gift of Faith. God chooses us. God calls us. God has a plan of love for us and like every ‘gentleman’, God needs our assent, our YES in order to act in our lives.
 
And that is where the love story begins; it is a marriage. When I said yes, God gave God-self to me and I learned to know God. And, attached to God, I also gave myself to God and it is thus that God lived in me. And, as God is in me, we are one.
 
Now, when we love someone more than anything and that person is not just anyone but Christ, who gave himself for me and for the world so that I might be agreeable to God by my Faith, so that I might approach the Throne of Glory with assurance, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the One who is seated at God’s right hand.
 
When we are aware that God is in us, can our lives remain the same? Absolutely not! Therefore, through love and respect for God, I behave so that each day of my life is agreeable to God.
 
Like a spouse, I listen to God; I obey God. I try to know what God wants, what gives God pleasure and I do what pleases God. I try to behave so that God will be proud of me and I give myself to God more and more as God gave God-self to me and not only to me but also to others, I ought to give myself to others through service, so that they may know Christ and give him a place in their lives.
 
It is, therefore, the risen Christ that I proclaim to the youth preparing for Confirmation but also to every person who asks me what makes me live, a living Christ who can do all things and is capable of all. I witness to him whenever the opportunity arises. But it is ultimately by a living fidelity to Christ that I will best witness to him. We cannot say yes without consequences. We cannot believe without acting according to our beliefs. 
 
Testimony of Maud KIOLO
A Young woman of Champigny
Community of Champigny – France