The Faith and Light news in this issue comes from our large international family. At present (1983 Ed. note), Faith and Light communities around the world number 480 in 27 countries. They vary widely in character: some are small, others large (ranging from five to sixty members), they span different cultures, they face different religious challenges, and they operate in political situations that are sometimes extremely difficult. And yet they remain strikingly alike in their shared spirit of simplicity and joy, bound together by genuine friendship.
The reports below offer a brief glimpse of the gatherings and life of Faith and Light communities in several nations.
See also Faith and Light Communities in the World Today
Canada
Our 1982 annual gathering is already behind us. Yet it remains vivid in our hearts, especially through its theme: "Behold, I make all things new."
This year, ten communities asked to join our large family. We experienced with real satisfaction the Faith and Light way of discernment, in which each person is confirmed and supported in the service the Lord has entrusted to them. Finally—and this matters greatly—we accepted the division of Canada into four regions, each with its own regional coordinator.
Brazil
We have 21 communities in Brazil. Representatives from 19 of them attended the national gathering, including those from the most distant places: some had traveled three hours by plane, others seventeen hours by bus, still others thirty-six hours by car to reach us.
It is wonderful to have a national council in Brazil now. The gathering was very good, thanks to our unity, our mutual trust, and how we shared the responsibilities.
There was no great Brazilian commotion; I appreciated very much the quiet and peace that marked this meeting.
In Aracaju, the Faith and Light members are full of imagination and desire to meet. The community lives in a very poor area, and the parish has no meeting rooms; so sometimes they hold their gatherings in the streets, in the public square, and they are filled with joy!
It is wonderful to see how parishes, priests, and bishops open their hearts to Faith and Light once they come to know it.
United States
A new national coordinator has been elected: Brian Daw. He is young, the father of four children, and he welcomes three people with intellectual disabilities into his family. Truly, it is the Holy Spirit who sends him.
Peru
We continue to meet once every twenty days. Our community is becoming increasingly stable in terms of the families involved: we have four families who attend regularly and two or three who come and go. Right now we have only one other family: a mother, a father, and three children aged nine to thirteen. They are wonderful! We feel our limitations very strongly, especially our age. But we also feel very strongly the Lord's call, and we entrust to him the smallness of who we are. We ask for his help, and we receive it.
Poland
About sixty people gathered—essentially everyone most deeply involved in Faith and Light across the different cities.
The meeting focused primarily on sharing experiences from the summer camps. There were thirteen in all, held in different locations, mostly in the mountains.
Afterward we reflected on the common program for all our communities. We decided to shape the year itself as a pilgrimage, culminating in a true pilgrimage to Częstochowa next May.
For the pilgrimage, and for the year as a whole, we chose two themes: "My weakness is my strength" and "Faith and Light."
We deliberately did not adopt the international theme of forgiveness and reconciliation; we believe these are very important in our situation, but for our groups it matters most to reflect on themes fundamental to our movement.
Switzerland
We gathered in a parish church in Martigny for the main Sunday Mass, with the whole parish present, the church decorated as for great feast days, the banners of our four communities hanging behind the altar.
Five Faith and Light priests celebrated; there was music, singing, a carefully prepared Mass. The Gospel reading was accompanied by a tableau in which adult members with disabilities, guided by Father Blanchard, acted out the heart of the passage: "I am the vine, you are the branches."
As we left, we gathered in the square for refreshments; then came mountain horn music, grapes, wine, singing, dancing—all of it beautiful and joyful, under a blue sky.
Honduras
I thought my country and my brothers needed other things. I believed what we do in Faith and Light (and L'Arche) was madness; that only eccentric people could do such work. But the members of my community made me understand differently. They showed me that we can love these people, and we can love each other. They taught me that the Lord is with us, that he begins by teaching us easy things so that no one can boast of being the only one who understands.
England
We currently have fifty communities. I attended the gathering in Ipswich and the pilgrimage to Walsingham, and I was truly amazed: 400 people, and we barely noticed the crowds—thanks to excellent organization (and the Holy Spirit, who was truly with us).
Luxembourg
Recently the Steinsel community celebrated its Faith and Light feast: about 150 of us gathered in friendship and joy. We had invited many new families from the city of Mersch, where a new community is beginning.
Many parents with children who have Down syndrome came, happy to meet other parents facing the same challenges, to speak with them. They were deeply moved by the friendship and generosity of this celebration, where they and their children belonged. We also had a parish Mass featuring a mime performance of "The Juggler of Notre Dame."
Lebanon
During the summer, our gatherings were spaced out because of the situation and because families were scattered across every corner of the mountains.
We had planned four intercommunity summer camps, but we were forced to cancel them. Yet God's providence allowed us to hold a four-day camp with the Batroun community, and it was a real success.
Four of our members with disabilities, who had prepared themselves to receive Jesus, made their first communion during a truly beautiful ceremony.
For the communities in Zahlé, communication was extremely difficult because of numerous Syrian checkpoints and very poor roads.
It sometimes took hours to travel from Beirut to Zahlé, a distance of only sixty kilometers.
The Joy community in Zahlé remains very active: they continue to gather three times a week to do manual work (they are preparing a small exhibition for Christmas) and they often visit each other's homes.
Hong Kong
We give thanks to God for the growth of our Faith and Light community; people participate with interest in every meeting and we grow to know each other better. But we still have many steps to take before we become a more mature community.