Dear
Brothers and Sisters of the Lay Fraternity,
I've been wanting to give you a brief overview of 2 recent events in the life of our Fraternity: the recent North American Assembly held June 22 to June 24, 2012, hosted by the members of the Buffalo Fraternity and the International Assembly which occurs every 6 yrs and this year was held at Bonn, Germany, August 3 to August 13, 2012. Let me first describe the Buffalo gathering and then next week I will try to summarize the Bonn Assembly
The North American Assembly took place at the cabin of Michele and Jim Winkelsas in Otto, NY which is about an hour south of Buffalo. Michele and Jim, together with the members of the Buffalo fraternity were our hosts for a wonderful weekend of sharing the spirituality of Brother Charles and Nazareth, as about 25 of us encountered Jesus, ourselves and one another during times of reflection, song, prayer, silence, listening, singing, walking, in short living Nazareth. The setting was beautiful, hills covered with trees, plenty of flora and fauna and trails for hiking. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny; comfortable at night. About 15 of us stayed at the cabin, another 5 camped outside "sleeping under the stars", another 5 stayed at a nearby Microtel.
I've been wanting to give you a brief overview of 2 recent events in the life of our Fraternity: the recent North American Assembly held June 22 to June 24, 2012, hosted by the members of the Buffalo Fraternity and the International Assembly which occurs every 6 yrs and this year was held at Bonn, Germany, August 3 to August 13, 2012. Let me first describe the Buffalo gathering and then next week I will try to summarize the Bonn Assembly
The North American Assembly took place at the cabin of Michele and Jim Winkelsas in Otto, NY which is about an hour south of Buffalo. Michele and Jim, together with the members of the Buffalo fraternity were our hosts for a wonderful weekend of sharing the spirituality of Brother Charles and Nazareth, as about 25 of us encountered Jesus, ourselves and one another during times of reflection, song, prayer, silence, listening, singing, walking, in short living Nazareth. The setting was beautiful, hills covered with trees, plenty of flora and fauna and trails for hiking. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny; comfortable at night. About 15 of us stayed at the cabin, another 5 camped outside "sleeping under the stars", another 5 stayed at a nearby Microtel.
Little
Sister Francisca of Jesus led us in reflection on the theme of God's tremendous
love for us and for all creatures, and how our response to that love is reflected in
the way we treat others and ourselves. She shared stories from her life as
a Little Sister, her encounters with the poor and how these experiences have
changed her and made her more aware of God's love. We spoke about
simple living and gospel poverty, and daring to meet the
other. Francisca pointed out that poverty alone does not
save. Only poverty or simple living with love has the power to save
and transform. Fr Lennie and Fr Sammy at Mass shared with us
the Word of God and broke for us the Bread of Life.
After Mass on Saturday we processed with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to a
tent of adoration set up in the field below the house. There Jesus
"pitched his tent amongst us" until Mass on Sunday and there He
received us "in spirit and in truth". Fr Lennie also bailed me
out for Morning and Evening Prayer.
I
am very grateful to Michele and Jim for their hospitality and very warm
welcome. They prepared and provided all the food which consisted of
hearty soups, sandwiches, salads and finger foods. There were homemade
chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies which were literally
out of this world. We even had popsicles on Saturday night which also
featured a campfire. Most of us had to come a distance to get to the
Assembly. The travelers from NYC were delayed by terrific thunderstorms
that day at NY, and one felt Jesus inviting us "to come away by yourselves
to a lonely place so you can rest". Although the
beautiful vista and scenery of Cattaraugus
County did not evoke the Sahara or the Hoggar of Brother Charles' life and
travels, the presence of nature, the wonderful night sky, the warm and very
simple welcome, the tents all recalled for me the hermit of Beni
Abbes and Tamanrasset.
We
had with us in addition to the members of the Buffalo
fraternity, representatives from the Mt Vernon, Boston
and Philadelphia
fraternities. Joyce, Janet and Mark from NYC graced us with their presence
and friendship. Lon Grassman, a biologist from Texas and most
recently Columbus, OH and who has written to Lorraine for a couple of years
made it out to Otto and shared in a beautiful way with us some of the spiritual
journey he's been on and which has drawn him to Brother Charles.
Sister Marilyn and Sister Joseph of the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary in Maryland shared
their lives and friendship with us. Brother Jakob Thibeault who
is a priest of the Old Catholic Church in Providence,
RI was with us. He has
been attempting to live a life of service to and solidarity with the poor in Providence and feels a
great kinship with Brother Charles and we were happy to meet him and share
fraternity with him.
Next
year's one day assembly will take place in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 1, 2013, so
save the date. I'm hoping to have a meeting of the Community
Representatives at Tabor House in Tarrytown in
November but it has not yet been confirmed. Fernando from Boston who has taken over
as webmaster from Joe Conrad has been making some changes to the website. I'm
hoping we'll have some pictures from the recent gatherings, as well as
documentation available soon.
In
fraternal service,
Frank
No
American Responsible
Lay
Fraternity of Charles de Foucauld
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