This article is part of the Special Feature: Faith and Light—Anatomy of a Community of Encounter.
To complete our examination of what Faith and Light is, let us consider the distinctive marks of a Faith and Light community as a community of encounter. Among others, these stand out:
1. Trust in the other's growth
Because we do not live together, each time I meet the other, I must encounter them as they are, mindful of the journey both they and I have traveled since we last met.
Aline once said to Patrick: "You've made progress—you speak better." And Patrick replied: "No, it's you who understands me better!"
2. The source
A community of encounter that is not a community living together nonetheless requires that somewhere, something be lived out as a point of reference for the whole community. It is neither simply a meeting space nor an administrative office with their own particular roles. More often it will be an open and welcoming family home.
3. A communion we seek to live
A group of young people arrived one day at a Faith and Light meeting for the first time. Before they had even sat down, they were practically assailed: "Name, surname, address, phone number…."
Much more and they would have asked for their membership fee!
Let us take time to greet one another and get to know each other. Everything else follows after. You do not enter Faith and Light by filling out a form.
Of course it matters to know names and addresses, but it is better to avoid speaking of a community of encounter in terms of a place: there are not 30 people "inside" and others "outside."
What matters above all is a communion we seek to live.
Lourdes, Here and Now
At the end of these reflections, we may better understand why and how the 1981 pilgrimage to Lourdes will be a pilgrimage in the everyday for each community, in every country.
The best way to prepare for and live Faith and Light at Lourdes tomorrow is to live it here and now.
Encounter between nations tomorrow grows out of encounter between persons today, and through the multiplication of these communities of encounter—which are the Faith and Light communities.
Pentecost is neither yesterday nor tomorrow, but today (it was yesterday when yesterday was today, and it will be tomorrow when tomorrow has become today. But in the meantime it is today).
The poor can only cry out in the present. And they await a response in the present. Perhaps this is why at Lourdes, and everywhere, the springs flow in the present. Unless you hold out a cup, you can drink neither the water that has run from the tap nor the water that will run from it. You drink the water that runs now.
Let us live Lourdes in the present.
The first step toward Lourdes is the step we take toward the other, here and now.
And let us not rush to say "All this is fine for others!… We are different!" It is true that Faith and Light is a Spirit lived in very different settings. But it is precisely this Faith and Light Spirit that invites us not to quickly say "All this works well for Italy, France, Spain, Senegal, or Japan, but our community is something else!" Before we say that, we must have verified that we have silenced in ourselves all that prevents us from listening to the other. And it is not easy!
What is true of exchange within communities is also true of exchange between communities.
Various resources will make this exchange easier. There is already a special issue of Ombres et Lumières on Faith and Light communities. Soon there will be a guide to help communities move forward toward Easter 1981. Preparation meetings are also planned at national and international levels.
But no resource can replace personal encounter with the other.
From the very first apparitions at Lourdes, sculptors wanted to represent "the Lady" that Bernadette had seen. They made many statues, and Bernadette refused them one after another, saying they looked nothing like "the Lady."
Before one of them Bernadette exclaimed: "I said she was looking at the sky, but I did not say she was raising her head." And the sculptor had to go back to work.
To look at the sky you do not need to raise your head. The everyday carries eternity whenever it allows us to be born anew. The community is a source of life whenever I meet you there.
I am born anew where I meet you.
Let us look toward Lourdes, but without raising our heads.
Luis Sankalé, 1980
Articles in the Faith and Light Special Feature
- Introduction—Faith and Light: Anatomy of a Community of Encounter
- The Art of Encounter: Overcoming the Fear of Difference
- The Protagonists—The Faces of Faith and Light: Handicapped Persons, Parents, Friends, and Priests
- Community Life—Building "Community": The 3 Pillars of Faith and Light
- Growing Together—Leading a Faith and Light Community: Principles and Practice