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Preparation 1:
(June 2011 Reflections)
I WILL SPEAK TO
HER HEART
(Hosea 2, 16)
By Fr. Marcel Schlewer MS
An Invitation
Many pilgrims when analyzing
Mary's words at La Salette are surprised by certain
unsettling expressions. There is a risk of incorrectly
understanding or interpreting the message of Our Lady of
La Salette. It's necessary to go deep into the message.
The more we meditate on the message, the greater
richness we discover. It was such richness that
attracted spiritual men of that time, such as Fr.
Giraud, one of the first La Salette Missionaries; Don
Bosco, Fr. Exmard, Saint Magdalena Sofie Barat and
others. To that list we can add another of catholic
writers: Leon Bloy, Huysmans, Paul Claudel, Mauriac,
Maritain, Stanislas Fumet, etc. And we ourselves give
witness to how that message is a source of life for men
and women and youth who look for God in the way that the
Tearful Virgin has indicated.
Important Dimensions of the
Question
Let's look and some aspects. In
the first place, are we certain about what the Virgin
said to the two shepherds? Critical analysis of the text
done in light of the earliest witnesses leaves no doubt
in this regard. There's no need to repeat here the work
that was done well by others. We will go directly to the
discourse. The first part was spoken in French. Most of
the discourse was spoken in the dialect and later
translated into French.
Our analysis in not
limited to the words spoken by the Virgin but also takes
into account her symbolic language of her attitude, the
way she was dressed, and the whole context of the
apparition so rich in meaning. For instance, the Virgin
wept during the whole apparition. To ignore such an
important detail would be a distortion of the message.
It's important to
make another general observation: who is this Virgin who
weeps as she speaks of potatoes and wheat? At first
glance all of this is unsettling. Yet the message
received official acceptance from the Church. "The
faithful are right in believing that the Apparition is
certain beyond a doubt" declared Philibert De Bruillard,
bishop of Grenoble, in his Doctrinal Decree on September
19, 1851. The church was not hurried in giving its
opinion. It seems that this message should surprise us
in the same way that the Scriptures themselves surprise
us. For instance, Luke tells us that Mary "did not
understand" (Luke 2, 33. 50). Mary did not reject what
she could not understand; rather she "remembered
everything that happened and meditated it in her heart."
The evangelist mentions this twice: Luke 2, 19 and Luke
2, 51. This attitude left Mary open to hear God's word
and accept it bit by bit in the circumstances of her
life.
By accepting her
message at La Salette, savoring it as we make life's
journey, we can discover its richness.
Orientations for
Understanding the Message
To deepen our
understanding of the Message, there are two basic
orientations: one is to place the message in its
historical context; the other is to perceive the link
between the message and the Scriptures, especially the
New Testament.
In 1846 the world
was still primarily agricultural. Obviously the urban
world had been around for a long time, but the
structures of the industrial revolution had not yet
taken on their great importance. The Virgin appears in a
remote area of the Alps, inhabited by people who work
the land. It is there that She speaks of the harvest and
the famine, the potatoes and the wheat, the walnuts and
the grapes. Such talk can unsettle us. Perhaps that's
what the Virgin intends to do. Remember the complaint
she makes: "...and you take no account of it." The
Virgin of La Salette is an excellent educator regarding
the faith of her people. She doesn't impose
pre-fabricated teaching. She speaks of God in a language
people can understand. Paul Claudel understood this well
when he wrote about La Salette: "Theologians have
difficulty in explaining all this, but the heart
understands it immediately." The Virgin of La Salette
wants to motivate her people to perceive God in their
day to day lives.
The second
orientation for understanding the message regards the
Scriptures. The Virgin at La Salette speaks a profoundly
biblical and evangelical language. In the course of
history, God has never stopped communicating with
humanity through its lived experience. Think of some
expressions: the arm of God, the name of God, the six
days to work with the seventh for rest, submission,
being abandoned by God, and many others. All these
expressions can be unsettling, yet they can be found
throughout the Bible. Perhaps the language strikes us as
too anthropomorphic when it attributes to God ways of
acting and reacting that are all too human. True, we
must always keep trying to purify our way of speaking
about God, but we must recognize as well that it is
through anthropomorphisms that revelation brings us to
see God's face. Wasn't it the human face of Jesus that
revealed the Father to us?
It is worth letting
ourselves be surprised by the message of the Virgin of
La Salette. By doing so we enter the long list of
persons that the Virgin of La Salette has helped on
their journey in search of the living God.
Reflection Questions:
1. Maximin and
Melanie were ignorant children, not theologians. What
simple, deeply human details of the apparition struck
them? What simple, deeply human details strike us?
2. In the Gospel
Jesus' first proclamation is this: "The time is
fulfilled/ the Reign of God is at hand./ Be converted /
and believe in the Good News" Mark 1, 15. How does each
part of this text relate to La Salette?
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WELCOME:
All of us share in the commitment to make this First
Encounter of La Salette Laity a success. Support from
the General Council and all the Provincial and Regional
Councils and our Lay Associates is fundamental.
You will find in these pages all the texts that have
been drawn up as preparation of the encounter. Two are
for reflections, the first for the month of June and the
second, for the month July, and a third is a novena to
be prayed by all participants. You will also find here
information about how to accompany the Encounter as it
happens, and how to interact with it via internet.
COORDINATORS:
Fr. Norman
Butler, MS-Argentina
Fr.
Adilson Schio, Ms-Brazil
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PLAN OF ACTION:
From May to November 2010
PREPARATION PERIOD
May 2010
A letter sent to all Provincial
and Regional Superiors, and questionaire.
Mid July, 2010
All responses received.
August 18 and 19, 2010
Meeting to continue to organize
the international encounter.
August 2010 a February 2011
A brief working document is
produced.
From November 2010
to September 2011
IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD
November 2010 - The General Council reviews the
projected plans for the International Encounter. The
preparatory period ends and the implementation period
begins.
May 2011 - At the Council of the Congregation in
Madagascar every Provincial or Regional superior hands
in the names of the two lay participants and the MS
participant. Each superior receives the brief working
document, and it is sent to translators.
May to September 2011 - A brief working document is sent
out to all the participants. They reflect together with
all the interested laity of their country.
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OBJECTIVES:
1. Make good use of the time
together.
2. Move around the shrine, making good use of its many
spaces.
3. Create occasions for informal sharing.
4. Plan activities, but foster spontaneous activity as
well.
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BASIC FEATURES:
1. Share the experience of being a
salettine lay person in each country.
2. Deepen an understanding of La Salette and its charism.
3. Promote an experiential intercultural sharing - les
soirées
4. Identify differences (language) affecting the sharing
and the contacts.
5. Identify what can give continuity and express unity.
6. Plan moments for spirituality, using a variety of
spaces (the mountain, the facsimile, the shrine, the
cross on Planeau, the town of Corps, the Pra home,
Maximin's tomb) and various times of day (morning,
afternoon, evening).
7. The La Salette Missionaries present participate in
the groups, but not to direct them; for the encounter of
laity the religious makes great effort to listen.
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