But what is the future of that light? What is the future of the handicapped Church?
While in Rome after our stay in Assisi I met a handicap man called Franco.
Franco was one of the helpers of the Roman Faith and Light communities in charge of organising the running of the International F&L Meeting at Mondo Migliore south of Rome. Franco was handing out information leaflets, shifting chairs, filling coffee cups etc. In spite or rather because of his disability he was able to remind every one at the conference what it was all about. So during one of discussion about money Peter, a delegate from Singapore, and I went out side the hall for a coffee break. I said to Peter: "There is Franco. The whole conference is about Franco and his friends. When we forget that, we waste our time." And then to Franco I said" Franco, come; we need your prayer." Immediately he put his hand on our heads, prayed over us and gave a blessing with the sign of the cross. I was quite moved by that short moment with Franco. He became another icon of my time in Rome. Later on when Viviane de Polain was chosen as the new international coordinator of F&L Franco was one of the first to embrace Viviane and gave her a rose as a symbol of welcome from all the disabled people in F&L.
We also had an audience with the Pope John Paul II, in the nearby Castel Gandolfo.
Let me quote some of the Pope’s speech.
" Your movement has received a great deal from the grace of this special place, where the sick and handicapped are given the first place. By welcoming all these "little ones" with mental handicap, you have seen in them special witnesses of God’s tenderness, from whom we have a lot to learn and have specific place in the Church. In fact, their participation in the ecclesial community paves the way for simple and close relationship, and their faith and spontaneous prayer invites each one of us to turn towards our Heavenly Father."
After his speech the pope embraced Jean Vanier, the founders of the Faith and Light communities, and reached out his hands to the ones of a handicap man who smiled with excitement and joy. Indeed the pope was a special witness of God’s tenderness.
In the bus home and with gratitude in our hearts we were all sharing a grace-filled time of our Rome-ward bound journey.
We, the church, cannot survive as community without people like Franco. Without the handicap people, the poor people, the marginalised people, the church has no future. The Franco’s are the icons of Jesus’s disciples.The disciples had the insecurity about the way to go, but their faith in the presence of the Holy Spirit gave them courage and persistence. The future of our faith-communities and all their workers is stimulated by that reflection. We have to sit round the table in to study and to discover our vision about the pastoral reality and its implications. We should not get stuck in the difficulties, although we should not ignore them.
There is still a lot of life left in our parishes. We can learn from each other to reach the pastoral qualities for the future of the parishes.
To serve the missionary church we need to pass on the perspective of the future, which have theological foundation and are concretely practical, using the real context and the present suggestions.
What did St Paul say about the future of church?
St Paul was very depressed at one stage when the little communities he started did not live-up to his expectation. He saw the fragile, clay vessels, but also saw in them the cracks that let in the light of new life.
Those who cannot see that light, that is the face of Christ in the poor, are not the followers of Christ.
When I think back about my life as a priest, there are plenty of reasons to get depressed. Thirty years of teaching and preparing for it had probably good results. But I have my doubts about their goodness for the Church. I wanted be a missionary trying to get conversions. Did I get any?
For six years I worked in a psychiatric hospital. There were men and women whose lives were afflicted with troubles of not of their own choosing. They suffered greatly. And yet I found among them a more real world than outside, a humility and lack of tact, a compassionate caring. With the ecumenical team of chaplains I found enrichment of my priestly life.
But outside that community I suffered from frailties and misgivings and anxieties after invasion and nightmares. Am I a fraud? Waking up in the middle of the night I struggle against self-doubt. Is this my handicap? I had such a great hope after the promises of Vatican II.
Last week one of our priests came back from the Netherlands and his experience of the Church there was very negative. The churches are almost empty; the few old faithful have trouble with the priests; a lot of the priests have trouble with the bishop. The pope is irrelevant. The Church in Europe is disappearing or is handicapped, meaning so little as almost hidden, not a real light any more. Is there is any hope?
The Tempest or the storm around us is real, but the presence of Jesus in the boat, although he seems to be asleep, will overcome the powerful waves of economic and spiritual revolutions. As for the disciples we can rely on the calming hand of Jesus.
After Pentecost they went outside and started their great Mission. They learned how to overcome so many problems, because there was hope in their hearts in spite of all the handicaps.
Christ himself was handicapped on the cross. But His Father did not let him down.
Our brother Jesus is the son of the living God.
So the Church has a future, because Jesus promised that. He will be with us to the end of time. There is hope.
Here is a hint: The latest and third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, of Pope Benedict XVI is a tremendous message of Hope, meant for all people of good will.
May this reflection of mine, with a picture of a Tempest attached, give us all hope in the future of our Church.
God bless
Fr John Heijnen
8 July 2009
