Easter 1981. An international pilgrimage to Lourdes. We will gather at the feet of the Virgin of Massabielle—children, teenagers, and adults with intellectual disabilities, arriving from at least 23 countries, surrounded by their parents and friends. Those unable to make this long journey will undertake their own pilgrimage to a place in their own country where the presence of God is most deeply felt.
Many communities, new and established, have longed for this pilgrimage to give thanks for the wonders that Faith and Light has accomplished over the past ten years, and to renew themselves in hope. The international leadership decided to answer this longing, despite the obstacles: the cost and length of travel, the effort required to prepare and organize, the risk of slowing the integration of people with disabilities and their families into existing communities. But if this purpose truly corresponds to God's desire, He will give us the strength to overcome these barriers and dangers.
Previous pilgrimages to Lourdes in 1971 and to Rome in 1975 were marked by a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
All who take part in the 1981 pilgrimage will discover something new: the mystery of joy given to us in Jesus, beyond all suffering.
An international Faith and Light gathering breaks down the walls of nationality, background, age, and ability. It testifies that it is possible to come together as children of God in a family where the smallest members—through their openness, through the mystery of their silence—awaken in each of us a deeper capacity to listen and to give.
The Eucharistic Year that unfolds in 1981 has inspired the theme of the pilgrimage: to feed on Jesus so that we receive and give life. This is how the Faith and Light communities have translated the Eucharistic Congress theme: "Jesus Christ, Bread Broken for a New World." We go to Lourdes to understand more deeply, with Mary's help, what the Eucharist is, why it stands at the center of our community life, and what it means to "take and eat."
The United Nations has proclaimed 1981 the Year of the Disabled.
Christian movements have been asked to participate in this observance according to their vocation. In solidarity with all the world's initiatives, we prepare this pilgrimage so that everyone, whatever their disability, will have a place in society and in the Church.
We live in a time when the life of people with disabilities is gravely threatened by abortion laws. Similarly, euthanasia laws are being proposed in various countries. By going to Lourdes in community with our disabled brothers and sisters, we will declare before the world—far more powerfully than with words alone—our faith in their human dignity, their status as children of God, their capacity for spiritual life and true love.
The international pilgrimage and local pilgrimages will be gatherings not of isolated individuals, but of Faith and Light communities that regularly bring together people with disabilities, their parents, and their friends. These "linking communities" will always take care to participate in the larger community: parish, diocese, universal Church.
On this new path, may the Holy Spirit continually give us his light, his strength, his creative breath, and his wisdom. And in complete trust in Mary, may we answer fully this invitation of love.
Marie Hélène Mathieu - International Coordinator of Faith and Light, 1981