Category Archives: Retiros

“If Christ is not risen, our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain” (1 Cor 15:14)

When I made the decision to be one of those who would offer a few words in this Easter retreat, of this unique Easter in the midst of a pandemic, the first thing that arose in me was a question: what did Charles de Foucauld say about Jesus? risen? Is there any statement of yours, or any comment of yours, about the resurrection of Jesus? Actually, at first he had no answer, he was blank.

But, surely, Charles de Foucauld himself had to bear in mind that forceful affirmation of Paul, with which I wanted to begin this reflection: “If Christ was not risen, our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain.”

It must be remembered, first of all, that CdF is not a theologian. And, therefore, his objective in sharing his writings, letters, comments to the gospel … is not to propose an orderly and structured exposition of the faith. His is not a catechism of the Catholic faith, or a theology book. CdF is recording in writing what he discovers and deepening in his prayer, in his abandonment, and, also, in his incarnate life, close to those who do not know Jesus, and the poorest and most suffering .

On the other hand, at some point it may give the feeling that CdF has only stayed in Nazareth, ignoring the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. But it is not exactly that. He does not cut Jesus, keeping only the first part of his life, and discarding the public life and the finishing touch of him. CdF knows very well the entire public life of Jesus, especially his death and resurrection. Certainly, the redemptive cross of Jesus and the victory of the resurrection had to be part of his prayer and contemplation on many occasions. Without a doubt, he had to include the death of Jesus in this dynamic of descent from God. And the meditation on the resurrection of Jesus was able to confirm in CdF that, indeed, “if the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it bears much fruit.” Although it does not express it in an explicit way and, much less, academic or theological, for CdF there is a unity and coherence between the hidden life of Jesus, and his public life, which culminates in his death and resurrection, and in which we participate in through the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

“As soon as I understood that there was a God, I understood that I could not do anything other than live only for Him.” This phrase, at the beginning of his conversion and mission, makes us understand that he has discovered the God of the living and of life. She immediately goes to orient her spirituality towards Jesus, and him in Nazareth. Although without neglecting her total trust in God, as is reflected in the prayer of her abandonment. But her main gaze is going to be directed towards Jesus, in Nazareth. That Jesus is alive, he is not an idea or an ideology, or a theology, or a mere “story” (as so much is said now). He is a lively and very present person.

For Brother Charles, one of the strong presences of that living Jesus is the Eucharist: “The Eucharist is Jesus, it is all Jesus! In the holy Eucharist, you are all whole, all living my Well-Beloved Jesus. As fully as you were in the house of the Holy Family of Nazareth … as you were in the midst of your Apostles. ” (174 Meditation on the Gospel). The expression “all living” gives us to understand that, for Brother Charles, the Eucharist prolongs the presence of the risen Jesus. At another moment he affirms, remembering and commenting on the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: “<< This is my body… this is my blood… >> Mt. 26, 26-28. This infinite grace of the Holy Eucharist, how much it must make us love such a good God, a God so close to us… How much the Holy Eucharist must make us tender, good, for all men. ” (Meditation in 1897). He also puts words on the lips of Jesus, about the Eucharist: “Contemplate me lovingly: it is the only thing necessary and it is what I love the most … If you understood the happiness that there is in being at my feet and looking at me …” (Retrait in Nazareth. November 1897). In this other reflection he is even more explicit about the permanent presence of Jesus among us: “God, to save us, has come to us, he has mixed with us in the most familiar and close contact … For the salvation of our souls, he continues to come to us, mingling with us, living with us in the closest contact, every day and every hour in the Holy Eucharist… ”(Regulations and Directory, 1909).

All these quotes on the Eucharist and Eucharistic adoration speak to us of faith of a CdF convinced of the living presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Not only that, but he understands his task, his mission, his presence among Muslims and those in need, from that living presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in Eucharistic adoration. Without the profound experience of that Eucharistic presence, life is no longer an imitation of Nazareth, as CdF understands it. And on the positive side: contemplating and soaking up well that real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist pushes you, launches you into a personal presence in the world and among people as in Nazareth, in the style of Jesus.

The other strong presence of the risen Jesus, for Brother Charles, is the poor. There are many references to the poor in the writings of Brother Charles. I select some, of which we can intuit their faith in Jesus risen and present: “There is, I believe, no word of the Gospel that has had on my deepest impression, and has transformed my life more, than that:` Everything you do to one of these little ones, you do it to me. If we think that these words are those of the uncreated truth … With what force are we led to seek and love Jesus in these ‘little ones, these sinners, these poor people, putting all our spiritual means at the service of conversion, and all our means materials for the relief of temporary miseries ”. (Letter to Louis Massignon, April 1, 1916).

CdF does not make a theological reflection on the “presence” of the risen Jesus in the poor and the little ones, but it is evident that he has no doubt about the permanence of Jesus alive in them, and that this moves him. On the one hand, he perceives, he sees the risen Jesus in the last. On the other hand, he receives the call to bring that living Jesus closer to everyone, as can be seen from this other statement of his: “To be able to lead a very contemplative life, doing everything to everyone, to give Jesus to everyone” (June 1902, conclusion of the retirement). That is, he wants to see Jesus alive in the poor, and he wants others to see that Jesus alive, through him, through his witness.

I cannot resist recalling one of the best known Gospel texts on the presence of the risen Jesus: the disciples of Emmaus (Lk. 24, 13-34). We know the whole scene very well. I am going to stick only to the final moment, when the two pilgrims invite Jesus to stay with them, and Jesus accepts:

“And he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, when he was at the table with them, he took the bread, pronounced the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from her side. They said to each other, “Wasn’t our hearts burning within us when he spoke to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And immediately getting up, they returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven gathered and those who were with them, saying: “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon! They, for their part, told what had happened on the way and how they had met him in the breaking of bread. (Lk. 24, 29-34)

Interestingly, it is at the end, when Jesus is no longer physically present, that he seems to be most present. And that other presence, more interior, deeper, is what gives the disciples a new impulse. First, to remember all his journey in the key of Jesus (“Didn’t our hearts burn as he spoke to us along the way and explained the scriptures to us?”). Later, to join the other disciples to tell them what happened. Pablo d’Ors says, in an approach to this scene and, specifically, to this moment, that those of Emmaus have the freedom to interpret what has happened to them. And think and confirm what has happened to them. This is faith: not an imposition but a proposition, because it respects our freedom.

In a free reading of the life of CdF, in the light of this gospel of the disciples of Emmaus, we could say that, when CdF was, apparently, “back” from everything, the living God comes out to meet him to tell him to continue standing there in the midst of disappointments and falls. That living God had already made himself present, in some way, in the strong religious experience of the Muslims. The God of the living and of life uses different moments and people to meet us and become a companion on the journey. But it is in that church, in that conversation and confession with Father Huvelín, which was followed by the reception of the Body of Christ, when brother Charles “eyes were opened” and he was able to re-read his life from faith. We cannot stop listening, once again, to his memory of that moment when he was converted, that is to say, when he discovered new eyes: “As soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could do nothing but live for him. My religious vocation dates from the same time as my faith. God is so great! There is so much difference between God and everything that he is not ”. His path, from that moment on, we know him.

The living God that he sees and senses in that initial moment, will shortly guide him and incarnate him in Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus in Nazareth. We could say that his Emmaus throws him to Nazareth. His experience of his living translates her to everyday life, to the hidden life, to the simple and normal life. And as we have remembered in the first part of this presentation, you are going to keep this Jesus alive in the Eucharist and in the poor very much in mind.

For us too, as for CdF, this Easter can be an occasion to rediscover our “Emmaus in Nazareth”. In other words, the risen Jesus continues to be present in our daily lives and in the simple lives of the people we usually meet. In the simplicity of day to day, and in the simple and poor of each day, we can sense the gentle presence of the risen one. Or we can be ourselves, in our Nazareth, a simple instrument of the risen Jesus to make himself present and bring his new life closer to others.

Possible questions for personal reflection:

1. At what moments in my priestly life, perhaps of disappointment or pastoral disappointment, have I noticed the gentle presence of the risen Jesus?

2. How do I perceive the risen Jesus in everyday life, in my usual Nazareth? How can others perceive it through me?

3. Of all that I know of the life and spirituality of CdF, what stands out to me the most in relation to the risen one?

Aquilino MARTÍNEZ, regional responsible

(Translator’s note: thank you for your understanding and compassion)

PDF: The experience of the Risen in Charles de FOUCAULD, retrait Easter 2021, Aquilino MARTÍNEZ

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español and Français.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español and Français.

Iesus Caritas Priestly Fraternity. Spain.

EASTER RETRAIT 2020

THE LIFE FOR BROTHER CHARLES
A free life

SECOND DAY,
Thursday, April 16

On this second day of Easter retreat we will savor the freedom of the children of God. The Risen Christ gives us freedom; the one who was locked up is now free like the wind. No weight catches you or a bandage prevents you from walking. Brother Charles is only tied to the will of God, the will that he discovers in his searches and his imitation of Jesus: “To believe you have to humble yourself, you have to be small, you have to confess that you have little spirit, admit a quantity of things that are not understood …”. Charles de FOUCAULD, “Spiritual Writings”. In these days of “Easter confinement” we can experience the greatness and smallness of the world where we are. Our communication with the exterior is reduced to greeting us “Japanese style” and the use of electronic devices. We miss the hugs and yet we do not stop feeling the affection of God himself and of the brothers.

It is time to contemplate this entire situation. The empty ostensory of brother Charles can tell us a lot about so many absences, about so many times that we have felt far from God, from people, or from our own inner being. We think that Jesus is not there, because we are looking for him in an empty tomb. The absence of God in so many people makes us sad, and we would like to bring him closer to Jesus, who has not stopped loving them, seeking them, embracing them. Absences that are sometimes filled with something artificial, useless dreams or fantasies. God is a God of the living, said Jesus, and He is a God who gives us freedom, despite our present moment of “standing” or shut up at home. Soon we will be able to say “free the inmate”. Nothing is going to prevent us from hugging and greeting each other again as we always have. At this moment, Jesus does not keep his distance and embraces us when we adore him. His love is stronger than the limitations that we now have to live.

Holy Saturday has been a desert day for me. It is, perhaps, the most appropriate day of the year to live it like this, until the time of the Easter Vigil. A desert that can be a repetition of what is lived every day, but that once again placed me in the immensity of God, of his call, of his invitation to feel free in the moment of Nazareth, which is that of confinement. The desert, which makes us find ourselves empty of everything and expecting everything from the Lord. The Assekrem with the four walls, the garden, the orchard, the street or the field that we see from the window …

How do we identify with this living, free Christ in our mission? “We do not have the obligation to constantly give alms, or advice, or to pray, but we do have to give a good example, all the more since our works are known, although we believe we are completely alone…“, Charles de FOUCAULD, ” Spiritual Writings ”. Our mission, to be together with people in their difficult moments, in the daily life of their lives; also allowing us to invade by his humanity, by his happiness or his sadness, his apparently insignificant things, his shared path and his faith or lack of it, is the mission where Jesus sends us. “Jesus, with his redemptive work, gave us again the freedom, the freedom of the children” (Pope Francis). Christ gives us the freedom to leave everything, to put time aside, the condition of being a consecrated person, the social image we have, to say yes to the person who needs us, to whom we can do good, without “advice of priests ”, without being officials of the liturgy or sacraments. It does not matter the external forms; the important thing is the love that we put.

“Jesus came not only to change the natural course of physical life, but to infuse in it a new meaning with the strength of his Spirit and the power of his word, transmitting to human beings an ever-living hope, inexhaustible source of true joy. The tombstone that Jesus’ disciples must remove is huge and heavy, as the slab of death continues to bury thousands of deaths today in the world coronavirus pandemic and the masses of the poor and marginalized throughout our land.” José CERVANTES GABARRÓN, (priest of the diocese of Cartagena, Spain, in a Lenten homily). Given the diversity of calls that we receive, of the messages that overflow our electronic devices in these weeks, let us respond with Easter joy. Many people need us – simply – to know that we are there, that we are more important to them than a surgical mask. They know that our face and hands do not spread more than the love of Jesus, and we know that his people are also a paschal song of praise, of thanksgiving. So we have to thank people. One by one, with his face and his name, before Jesus in adoration, putting at his side who we do not see, but we do feel.

“The person who loves is open to the sorrows of others and feels impulses towards compassion and help, because he feels unity with the afflicted. It comforts every person you see suffering. He knows that it is one with the original energy in which everything participates. This occurs simply when we open up and come into contact with each other with pity.” Willigis JÄGER, “Where our longing takes us. Mysticism in the 21st century ”, Desclée de Brouwer (Willigis JÂGER celebrated his Easter last March)

Easter gives us back the joy of being saved, the freedom to be happy, the hope of a more positive world, of appreciating the effort and work of many people who leave their skin for others. Let us thank God for this liberating Jesus, small in the little ones, and very great in our hearts.

Good and happy Easter to all.

PDF: Fraternidad Easter retrait, 16 April 2020, eng

Iesus Caritas Priestly Fraternity. Spain.

EASTER RETRAIT 2020

THE LIFE FOR BROTHER CHARLES
The life of the last one

FIRST DAY.
Wednesday, April 15

Reviewing the Song of Philippians (Phil 2,6-11), which we have deepened in these days of Holy Week, and prayed with him, we stand with brother Charles in his learning of selflessness, as the disciple who learns from his teacher: “He descended: he descended all his life, descending when he became incarnate, descending when he became a little boy, descending obeying, descending becoming poor, abandoned, exiled, persecuted, executed, always putting himself in last place ”. Charles de FOUCAULD, “Spiritual Writings ”.

The aristocrat becomes a servant, the lord of the castle goes to live in the village, he takes off his title and becomes a brother. How can we understand the last place if we stay in the usual place or even try to climb, climb positions? How many times do we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are already humble?

The imitation of Jesus, as Charles de FOUCAULD’s teaching and constant desire from his conversion, we know that it consists in praying, working, loving, accompanying, forgiving, as Jesus did, and also being happy as he was, showing the Father’s mercy, in every gesture, every word. “Mercy is not manufactured: it is received. The gift of God is not bought, is not sold, does not return the call. Give freely without expecting anything, without anyone losing hope. Risk loving until the end ”. Jacques GAILLOT in “Happy the merciful”, September 10, 2016 at iesuscaritas.org

Surely we are experiencing these days of “living in the hidden”, confined, with nothing on our agendas, with the sails of our ships folded, waiting for a favorable wind, a very special Nazareth style.

The call to be missionaries must be permanently in our hearts; not participating in people’s lives, visiting the sick, receiving friends and people who come to our homes, and so many things that we cannot do during this pandemic, can help us review the meaning of the mission. It is very likely that we miss others, as we miss ourselves in a normal situation. We have become the last by imposition. We must be the last because our Master was made that way, and that’s how we learn it every day.

All of this makes us more aware of the realities of our world. We live in a comfortable Europe that is reeling, a Europe closed in on itself: “The Europe of the peoples is about to be built. It is the meaning of history. Sacrificing men for the sake of the economy, leaving the Third World countries aside, will not become the Europe of the peoples. What will be the future of immigrant communities? It seems to me in the Maastricht Treaty that immigrants pay the duck for a strong Europe that gives a little more height to its walls.”
Jacques GAILLOT, “I take liberty …”, Nueva Utopía

This Europe, which is going to suffer an economic crisis that we do not yet know its scope, which is going to be the humanitarian crisis of so many people – which really is the world of the last, those who have always been last – will learn to be in their instead, to know how to listen better, to apply a policy of looking less at the navel and looking at the world without fear. Something like this can happen in North America … And, as a Church, we could say the same.

From the small, which has always been unimportant to the richest, brother Charles builds a dream. It was something that he did not see realized, as an unattainable utopia – a challenge of the Kingdom – and yet, we are appreciating it, because it helps us in our lives to live simply, to share, to be fraternity, not to look no one above us, not to be submissive to fierce consumption, or as priests, to celebrate the faith of the people, of which we are part, without fuss or complicated rituals, being part of the history of people’s lives because they are important to us. “In solidarity with the poor. This Easter has its own color. Our personal ambiguity appears a little clearer illuminated by the poor. Some who walk with Jesus are disconcerted by the words of denunciation and the demand for their rights and, consequently, they want to silence the voice of the poor and those who show solidarity with them. The oppressed are also afraid of dying in the desert like the Jews, and they ask us for what we have. History, with its setbacks and darkness, leads us to lose sight of the God who seems lost and distant on the mountain, while beside us emergency idols made of shiny gold are made.” Benjamín GONZÁLEZ BUELTA, “Go down to meet God. The life of prayer among the poor ”, Sal Terrae

Easter, this Easter in solitude, in domestic Nazareth, is an opportunity to enjoy again the little things, the good news, the friends or the family that we miss.

Easter places us in the context of the joy of the little ones, the last ones, where Jesus is always present, with his door open to be invited to the table of the poor, or the curtain drawn because there is no door. Let’s not pass by, thinking of better places. The adoration of Jesus is now that humble house where to be with him, with all the poor of the world, before whom we do not need words.

Let us now make a time of adoration. Not to think about what I have written, but to look at Jesus, the one who became the last and was the Beloved of brother Charles.

For our life review::

1 Do I live my life more (time, work, availability, personal resources, potentialities …) for myself than in function of my missionary being, of my dedication to others? Why and in what ways?

2 In the confinement and pandemic that I have lived, what have I learned from my own inner experience and from the experiences, values, pain, life and death from outside?

3 Easter, like all Good News announced to the poor, in what aspects, attitudes or approaches of my life is a conversion, a change, a call? Can I imagine it or am I living it?

PDF: Fraternity Easter retrait, 15 Abril 2020, eng

Iesus Caritas Priestly Fraternity. Spain.

EASTER RETRAIT 2020

THE LIFE FOR BROTHER CHARLES

INTRODUCTION,
Tuesday, 14 April, evening

From this telematic way, this Easter retreat, -meeting between brothers and contemplative moment to celebrate the Risen Jesus- I offer you the reflections and invitation to adoration, Christ, bread and wine, freed from death and from the slab, walker, pilgrim with us in this difficult moment of humanity … Living Christ today invites us to be in these three days in retreat joyous with the human beings who have in their life the hope of a better world. Through him we were saved from the cross. Because of him we are motivated to continue in the work of the Kingdom. “Everything belongs to God … We owe him all the moments of our life. Our being and existing: let’s do everything for God ”. Charles de FOUCAULD, “Spiritual Writings”.

From our brother Carlos, with all the aspects and factors of his life, his intuitions and contradictions, we savor life, as he who savors what is small and simple who is truly poor. He let himself be found on the morning of Resurrection and his joy comes to us, who try to live his charism as men of faith.

Let us make this Easter a space for joy, for dreams – brother Charles dreams – for life, and life taken advantage of every moment, with the hope of those who dream of a new world and the sufferings, their own and those of humanity, they are not an obstacle: “If sadness invites you one day, tell him that you already have a commitment to joy and that you will be faithful to him all your life. Where there is truth, there is also light, but don’t confuse light with flash.” (Pope Francis)

The joy that is not always laughed at, nor the product of personal triumph. The joy of the disciples to see the Lord, along with fears of “what will happen now.” It is the joy of brother Charles who meets every day in Nazareth, in Beni-Abbès or Tamanrasset with people, from whom he learns a language, a way of relating, a listening, as in Morocco he found a faith in the Muslims who transmitted to him the greatness of God. These were not good times, neither politically nor economically for the world; misery and epidemics also plagued many countries, in different ways and with disparate consequences, such as the First World War, the plundering of resources in the Western colonies in Africa, in Asia… What greater pandemic than the selfishness of the powerful ones? Is there a vaccine for that?

I have had to redo everything prepared for these days in the face of the current situation, and, realistically, we cannot leave aside the situation of our world, the one closest to us or the one that does not touch us closely. It is a very special Easter, as I believe that until now we had not lived. In spite of everything, let us live it as the Church and our deep being invites us, just as each one of us is.

Especially for me, on these Easter days, our brothers who have already celebrated their full Easter recently will be in our hearts: Manolo BARRANCO, Mariano PUGA, Michel PINCHON, Margarita GOLDIE, Antonio L BAEZA … so many resurrected brothers and sisters .. .

Let us return in these days to let ourselves be surprised by the Good News of the Risen Jesus, of the one who is alive in the humble, in hospitals, slums, prisons, villages without light or water in so many places in the world; of that Christ who has passed through the cross, but who has not passed from the people; He who, from so many men and women who in these months are working for us, frees us from fear and reaches out to us.

So we put ourselves in the presence of God, without forgetting the presence of pain, hope and happiness. We put ourselves in his hands, as we pray in the Prayer of Abandonment, and we pray it … “My Father, I abandon myself to you …”

With all the love of our hearts, with infinite trust, let us continue believing in life, starting this Easter retreat.

“Wherever I live and life springs up in me, there I will see the Risen One and experience God.” Anselm GRÛN, “Seeking God in everyday life”, Narcea.

PDF: Fraternity, Easter Retrait, 14 April 2020, eng

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.