Life of the Congregation (2)

“But in life there is another, even more dangerous, kind of paralysis. It is not easy to put our finger on it. I like to describe it as the paralysis that comes from confusing happiness with a sofa. In other words, to think that in order to be happy all we need is a good sofa. A sofa that makes us feel comfortable, calm, safe. [...] Dear young people, we didn’t come into this world to “vegetate”, to take it easy, to make our lives a comfortable sofa to fall asleep on. No, we came for another reason: to leave a mark. It is very sad to pass through life without leaving a mark. But when we opt for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption, then we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom.” ( Pope Francis, Prayer vigil with the young people, on the occasion of the world youth day in Krakow, 30 July 2016)

Getting up from the sofa to become a «mobile camp» is the experience that we would like to bring to life for young people during the planned project in Ivory Coast next summer. The idea is to give a taste of what it means to «give one’s life for love,» learning from the Sacred Heart, who descended from Heaven, coming out of his «comfort-zone» (the heart of the Father) to come and give us the love of God.

Young people cherish in their hearts great desires, but only support them in a fragile way: when difficulties arise, then enthusiasm wanes; their motives seem to waver and they tend to become discouraged. To grow in love, it is important to understand that in saying «Here I am», we are engaging in a life project, in which we need to face with hope and courage the challenges that exist along the road, neither being discouraged nor losing sight of the final goal. This is what we learn by following Saint Michael: coming out of ourselves growing in love, and not being discouraged but moving forward with hope towards the goal, opening our eyes and our heart to the needs of those who are all around us, trusting in the Heart of Christ who teaches us to commit ourselves in love with constancy and dedication. This camp-project will encourage an immersion into Betharramite spirituality, not only through words, but in actions, because love lives through concrete gestures of life. It teaches us to arise, to move, no holding back... like the Son of God who «threw himself» into this world to bring us his love.

Simone Panzeri scj

Camp- work in Ivory Coast in Summer 2018

The project “Camp-work” started on 3 November 2016 in Toulouse with some young people and the members of the commission “Vocation” .
The information of the project was made by a power point and an inviting leaflet to the young people of age 18-30 to go on a missionary journey.
During our regional meeting of preparation for the General Chapter, we met together among the religious to clarify the project between the Italians, Ivorians and French. All who were present invited Fr. Simone to lead the project for Italy, Fr. Davi for Spain, the Priests Herve, Raoul, Elizée for Ivory Coast and Fr. Marius and myself for France.
Following this, everyone organised meetings in his own vicariate with young people, at least for France-Spain and Italy.
The content of our week-end meetings or the camp in Mendelu with the Italians (Summer 2017) was to clarify the project of the camp and especially to make known to the young people the spirit of Betharram: place, spirituality and steps to follow up. So that young people get involved in the project.
In France, fifteen young people had been interested in the Ivory Coast project. Five among them should participate in this project. End of December is set as the deadline to commit definitively or not, in order to book the plane tickets, to define the procedures and to see the finance of the project (Estimated cost: 1065, 00 Euros per person). For this fund, we thought that each vicariate could work with associations AMICI for Italy and AU COEUR DU MONDE for France.
It is obvious that cost is a block for many young people. We have therefore thought about funds through initiatives like sales, sponsorship and information. Last summer, in Mendelu, we worked especially on the publicity of a poster. We have established a calendar of meeting around 4 July, having in mind the difficulty to meet because of the distance of some young people taken by their studies or due to their job searching or due to their professional life. I believe it is important above all that each participant is personally involved in the project and we move together in our meetings.
A trip to Ivory Coast in November allowed Fr. Simone and myself to meet Fr. Theophile, the Regional Vicar, the brothers of Katiola, members of the Pproject as well as the youth fraternity of Adiapodoume to clarify the purpose of the project, in this case: rehabilitation of the infirmary and maintenance of the green spaces. We started to establish a budget for the whole trip including some visits and meetings around each reality. Bro. Alfred having been appointed secretary for the vicariate of Ivory Coast, it is with him that we will communicate on the progress of the project. This week of visit in November was also necessary to sensitize young people to live this project serenely, in the style of WYD: to remain humble but fruitful to live a unique sharing, in the perspective of renewing this experience several years.
In conclusion, I can say that the project is appealing to the youth of 18-30 years. They are motivated especially when they become active players. It is a project that will mark the youth as a concrete and enriching achievement following the saying “Dare to encounter, act together, live your faith” and especially as Pope Francis said, “Do not stay on the sofa”. It is up to us religious to believe in these young people and especially not to disappoint them. Always Forward.
Emile Garat scj