Contents

• A word from the Superior General
• Fr. Etchecopar wrote...
• In stormy weather and wandering
• 5mn with Mgr Vincent Landel
• In memoriam: Fr. Dante Angelelli (1911-2009)
• 1959-2009: Betharram in Ivory Coast (10)
  

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A word from the Superior General

You are worth more than the birds or the lilies 

I remember the catechism of my childhood: Divine Providence is the loving care whereby God protects everything, but especially mankind. Divine Providence is part and parcel of our faith in a God-Father who is good and is always seeking what is best for us, who created us through love, and who with the same love, watches over us to keep us in life. This Father of all goodness knows our limits and our weaknesses, and wants us to derive benefits from every situation, whether favourable or not, to increase and mature. God protects us so as to facilitate the unfolding of the potential which he has put in us from the moment of our conception and thus liberate the secret spring of love of which our Father St Michael used to speak. God watches over us, so much so that if we should lack something he gets it to us either through the solidarity of a brother or in some other way.
I remember at the height of the crisis in Argentina, at a time when there wasn’t a dime in the Provincial coffers, a stranger called on the community in Montevideo and gave them a donation of $30 000. The Superior of the community sent his share to the Provincial account with the result that they were able to meet their most urgent financial obligations for the end of the month.
On 11th October I had the joy of being present in St Peter’s Basilica for the canonisation of Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. I knew the Sisters in the Foyer Marin de la Plata where they were looking after Fr Antonio Perez, SCJ during the last years of his life. I had the grace of preaching them their annual retreat. I remember seeing at the entrance to the Foyer a statue of St Joseph and notes asking him for NAPPIES, RICE, MILK, OIL… I remember that Fr Miner from our college in La Plata, used to bring them oil every month. The crisis is felt also in the donations. Doors close, but others open, explained Sr Maria del Monte. A lot regret not being able to give as before, but other benefactors come forward and we receive an unexpected legacy or the surplus from a shop. The world has seen many crises, but the Congregation has always forged ahead. The Lord sees to it that help reaches us.
It is not easy to believe in Providence at a time when some people think that man can do everything, or that he can succeed. Either one must take advantage of everything or cultivate the illusion that everything is at our disposal. Such a mentality prevents us from seeing how our lives and the life  of everyone is daily full of the discreet intervention of God, “small miracles,” which often go unnoticed by their beneficiary. This is how St Michael Garicoits expresses this: We must be abandoned to Divine Providence, expect anything, however righteous we may be. Then, we ought to show, in our reasoned conduct that on this question our mind is made up and our heart is filled with the feeling of total abandonment, without which there is no real conversion. (DS 67)
As Betharramites, our vow of poverty makes us into men attached to Jesus poor, trusting in Providence and stripped of all links with ownership. (R. V. 47) Without that trust in the loving care which God has for each one, it is impossible to live one’s faith. It is equally impossible to perform dangerous ministries where the mission is concerned either from lack of means for working with the poor from whom there is nothing to be expected, or from persecution or rejection of the faith. Believing in the loving Providence of God makes us responsible, grateful; it frees us from greed and the idea that we can have everything and use it to gain social standing, honours and influence. Faith in Providence frees us from all such illusions and helps us to live in truth, doing our duty in a responsible and faithful manner, by earning our bread by the sweat of our brow.
Would that we could be amazed at the sight of such love, which is evident in the countless details of our life when, without knowing how, we experience what gives value and meaning to our existence. For God shows his Providence by countless good deeds, performed by unknown souls, which makes them better. For example the support of our benefactors for better results in our mission and the promotion of mankind.
Would that all that could increase our gratitude! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. (Psalm 102)
The main reason for our faith in Providence is the person of Jesus Christ; he was trusting and touched when he recalled his Father’s care of the little ones: I bless you Father, Lord of heaven and earth... Yes, Father. (Luke 10,21) How can we not be touched when we hear these beautiful words of Jesus, speaking about Providence: Life means more than food, and the body more than clothing. Think of the ravens. They do not sow nor reap; they have no storehouses or barn, yet God feeds them. And how much more are you worth than the birds! (Luke 12, 23-24).

Gaspar Fernandez,SCJ 

Father Auguste Etchecopar wrote.. to his brother Maxime, 21st November 1873

We are without news from you for the past year. God grant that you are not ill! As for the delays and the loss of materiel goods and money, be patient! Don’t be discouraged by such upsets, and accidents and such disappointments which are difficult to put up with. The labourer was depending on his harvest and was building all sorts of plans for the future. Then there was a hail storm. It was the will of God! Courage, poor labourer; it’s a tough trial. But when the harvest is lacking on this earth, try to reap an abundant one in Heaven. Dear child, let’s make use of everything; let’s build up a treasure for eternity making use of everything, our successes but especially our failures. Let’s go forward, always blessing God saying: Oh Father, your will and not mine.

In stormy weather and wandering

On this 14th November in Buenos Aires, Br. Sebastian Garcia is ordained priest. Let us pray for the newly ordained priest and read his testimony which finds a lively echo in the hearts of all Betharramites.

A few days ago I came across this text from 2 Sam 7,5-6. Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day; I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. I connected it at once with this passage from the New Testament: Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Matt. 8,20) These words made me think a lot. In my mind everything gradually built up around the ever present idea in the Bible of wandering. In actual fact the whole sacred text can be understood in the light of an exodus, from Adam downwards through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, David, the Babylonian Exile, Amos, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus and the Twelve. In a word “wandering” simply means an exodus, a never ending processus of getting out of one’s self so as to set out on a journey, to open up new paths, and to lead a nomadic existence. This is Jesus’ idea as reported by Matthew: no lasting dwelling place nor definite homeland outside the Kingdom.
This is confirmed in the Gospel according to Mark (6, 8-9) And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers in their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, Do not take a spare tunic. In view of the coming of the Kingdom it is here a question of total trust in Divine Providence: God takes care of the disciple’s life. Consequently the personal conviction that storms and wandering are but two faces of the same coin.
It’s stormy weather to be lacking a place where you feel you own nothing, except life itself. And it’s a nomadic existence when life becomes one long pilgrimage, with no fixed abode to settle down and avoid the temptation of getting bogged down and becoming middle class. In reality they are both closely linked; for a Christian storms and wandering are two aspects of a radical following of Christ. One’s life is placed in the hands of God who abandons no one and life is spent in seeking what is best for others, for the brethren.
If this can be viewed in the light of our charism, I think that everything has meaning. We, Betharramites, have been fascinated by the Heart of Jesus, dejected and obedient, saying to his Father: Here I am! And for love’s sake, assumes our nature, that is becomes totally man. Therefore we are the followers of Christ who has no fixed abode here below and who constantly lives for others, so that they may have life in abundance. To be a Betharramite therefore, means making the storms and wanderings of Jesus the very project of our life. In him we can see what it means to have no fixed abode; he leaves his Father’s bosom to enter Mary’s womb and to become one of us. This dejection constantly leads him to forget himself so as to work at the salvation of mankind. This stripping of self is so great every time until it reaches its summit in the drama of the Cross. There is no storm greater than that of Jesus crucified and nailed to the cross. There is no wandering greater than that of Jesus walking the dusty roads of Palestine to show God’s love, than to set out for Jerusalem and thus give a new meaning to the feast of Easter.
Jesus’ whole life is constantly swaying between storms and wanderings. Christ has no other dwelling place except his Father’s Heart and the hearts of mankind, his brothers. Jesus’ whole life consists in renouncing all comfort, stagnation, and an easy way of life so as to transform the hearts of men into an intimate and personal dwelling place. Living life under the aspect of storms and wanderings is deeply Betharramite; we are St Michael’s flying camp ready to go where ever we are called to share with others the same happiness, and ready to withdraw when we are no longer needed.
This was the ideal we wanted to make ours when, at the beginning of the year, we formed the community dedicated to the pastoral care of education. A group of religious (6 priests and 2 brothers) responsible for the pastoral care of 8 colleges in the Vicariate of Argentina-Uruguay. From this base camp we make regular visits to the colleges. We are maintaining a new type of presence, by introducing ourselves first of all as religious. We visit the colleges with one mission in mind: obtain for others the same happiness, by keeping in contact with the pupils, accompanying holiday camps, outings and retreats, working along side catechists and head teachers, meeting the pupils’ parents, reflecting and sharing with the laity pastoral activities. There are times when we dispose of only one room in the communities where we are working. Far from settling down in comfort, it leaves us enough freedom to get to know the different realities of Argentina and Uruguay.
It’s the same kind of itinerance which is the lot of a religious community in missionary activity, lost in the north of Santiago del Estero, where the country is suffering. Three religious are entrusted with the charge of a parish 200km long and 150k wide, with more than 75 Christian communities to be visited, helped, confessed and where Mass and the Sacraments are celebrated.
We have decided to make our wanderings and stormy weather the two fundamental characteristics of our new personal and community life. It is certainly a new way of life for there isn’t a single trace of anything like it in Betharram of Rio de la Plata. It is a new way of life because it is meant to express our identity as religious: to have no other dwelling place than the experience of God in prayer, shared and celebrated with the Brothers, and in living our wanderings so that no one is deprived of the joy of knowing, experiencing and celebrating the love of Christ.
The wanderings and storms are perhaps the two new aspects of the face of Jesus obedient unto death, who fascinated us to the point of wanting to consecrate our lives to him. May God continue to grant us the gift of availability, so as to live like Jesus, having no other homeland save in the Heart of the Father.

Sebastian Garcia,SCJ

5 minutes with... Mgr Vincent Landel

Nef: Can you tell us what life is like for you in Morocco?
- In the Lord’s name I try to carry out the service of communion entrusted to me in a diocese which is bigger than France, with 25 000 Catholics, all foreigners, and living in harmony with 35 million natives, all Muslims (Religious freedom exists for foreigners but not for the natives). A service of communion first of all between Christians; we are at least 90 different nationalities, therefore different cultures and languages. A service of communion also with the Muslim world with whom we work and which affects all social activity. It is there that we have to witness to a God who gives of himself and who is so very merciful. This means
that we must rid ourselves of all our certainties to achieve communion around Jesus Christ and Morocco.

In what state of mind did you arrive in Rome and how are you now that you are leaving?
- When I arrived for the Synod with my brother Bishops from the CERNA (the Bishops’ Conference for North Africa) I was a bit worried because during the preparation we didn’t get the impression to be fully understood (even the little mention of Islam was only referring to Sub-Saharan Africa). Consequently we had prepared our talks together in Conference so that they gave a better image of our reality. What impressed our brother Bishops was to hear that the Maghreb hosts more than 30 000 students from the Sub-Sahara and many clandestine migrants, we often talked about this whether in the official meetings or during the coffee breaks; finally several Bishops thanked us for helping them to discover something they didn’t even suspect. In a word, our witness was inviting them to get out of the “ghetto” in which the Church was in danger of closing in.

This synod was a first for you: how do you feel about how it was conducted?
- Right from the start I wasn’t lost, for I met several bishops I had already met in meetings of the Symposium of Bishops’ Conference of Africa and Madagascar. Then the synod went very smoothly thanks to the skill of the General Secretary, Bishop Eterovic, and the work programme. The logistics (hall, translations, sono, and video) were perfect. More than 220 of us spoke for 5 minutes each... A time for listening which was often deeply touching, in the face of certain situations which we knew about already, thanks to the media, except that this time we had living witnesses.

The Church in North Africa holds a special place apart on the continent; has she been recognised and listened to?
- That was our great worry on arriving; in certain mentalities an African can only be “black” and the Arabs don’t want to think of themselves as “Africans”. Yet, as the days went by, this image began to change, so much so that the final documents, whether in the message sent to men of good will or in the "propositions” for the Pope, what we said was taken into account. At the end of the meeting one Ethiopian Bishop even came and asked me if eventually he could send some of his priests to us and how best to prepare them. That too is a grace of the Synod.

What convictions and lines of action emerge from these three weeks of meetings?
- As a result of the central theme of the synod, justice, peace and reconciliation were stressed. Interventions concentrated on the Social Doctrine of the Church, education, the place of the family and of the woman in particular, the accompaniment of politicians. On the strength of our impulse inter religious dialogue and the importance of “doing things together” were considered important. Naturally these two points will be a priority for my ministry. A lot of the Muslims, in the universities or on the work place only get to know Christianity through the witness of leaders or through the students. Christians must be helped to assume this ecclesial responsibility: a real conversion!

How does your identity as a Religious affect your personal life and your mission as Pastor? 
- My Religious life invites me, just like any one of you, to show the urge of the Incarnate Word saying to his Father: “Here I am” Together with you I am invited to continue living this; that’s what makes me take to the roads to meet others, and to obtain the same happiness for them. My whole Pastoral existence is enlightened by this. Furthermore, the message left us by St Michael corresponds very much to that of Charles de Foucauld who rediscovered the Jesus of his youth on the road of Morocco on seeing the Muslims at prayer. And didn’t St Michael also say that in meeting with someone different ennobled us, even in our Christian faith?

In your many functions you have been following closely the development of Betharram in Africa; in September you were in Adiapodoume; what calls can you see for the Congregation?
- I want to thank the Congregation for inviting me to ordain Emmanuel, for the 50 years of our presence in Ivory Coast. My Religious life has always been deeply marked by Africa; I began my novitiate in 1959, at the time of the foundation at Ferke, and I was very attentive to everything happening there. I was full of admiration on seeing our brothers trying first of all to be embodied in the country and to serve the Church gratuitously. After years of free service the bishops trusted us. Is that not the mark of the true Betharramite? I can see a call to continue like this, not to be “officials of the cult” but witnesses of a Love which has captivated us and continues to make us live. More and more I believe that the Church is lacking in real witnesses; wouldn’t that also be the vocation of Betharram for the Church and for the world: to be part of those genuine witnesses by the truth of their lives?

Is there some aspect of the spirituality of St Michael Garicoits that you would like to share?
- What I hold dearly today is that availability to carry out the “mission of the Church” and not just one’s “own mission”. That was a source of suffering for St Michael and at the same time launched him in the service of the universal Church. This service in availability must be lived out in real love, rooted in the Heart of God. We cannot be servants unless we are contemplatives. “And where is this law of love to be learned if not at the foot of the Cross” where we let ourselves be overwhelmed by the Love which flows from
the pierced Heart of Christ?

Monte Corrado (Italy), 8th september 1911 - Brumadinho (Brazil), 6 october 2009

1929-2009 BETHARRAM IN IVORY COAST It is nearly 50 years ago since our Congregation took its first steps in Ivory Coast. We are following the story of this undertaking during this jubilee year. We shall owe it to Father Laurent Bacho, General Councillor and formator in Abdijan.

10. The beginning