In this issue of Ombre e Luci, we would have done well to introduce readers unfamiliar with the L'Arche movement—a federation of communities (group homes) now scattered across the world. We reserve that fuller treatment for a special issue. Instead, we offer this page by Jean Vanier (from the journal "Foi et Lumière," no. 10/84) on the spirit that animates these communities: it is, fundamentally, the spirit we hope to see in every residential community.
The challenge of L'Arche is to live day by day with those the world calls mad, to welcome those who are cast out, to embrace those deemed unbearable. We know nothing of success in the conventional sense, no miraculous healings, no diplomas. What we have is daily companionship and presence with the most vulnerable—people who, for the most part, will never achieve full independence. Even those who do gain some degree of autonomy need ongoing support. They need faithful friends who walk alongside them.
L'Arche is simply family life of a new kind, centered on the wounded person, with everything ordered toward their good. The folly of L'Arche is spending time with those who cannot be "normalized," those who are not productive, those who seem useless. Is this not the folly of the Gospel? Our communities must be a sign that the weak can be welcomed, that human difference can be received as a treasure rather than a threat. They must witness that war and anguish are not inevitable, that peace and reconciliation are possible.
Our communities, where authority is exercised in humility as a service that builds and gives life, where we share our lives with the weak, where we listen to them and live forgiveness with them—these can become a testimony in our world.
A testimony that by God's grace, people can live together in peace, that love and welcome are possible, that hope endures.
The Challenge of L'Arche
Jean Vanier
Ed. Jaca Book, Nov. 1984
This book is a remarkable testimony to the effort undertaken and the achievements realized by the international L'Arche movement (55 foyers by 1981). From beginning to end, it speaks with a warmth, sincerity, and humility one wishes to find in all literature about mentally handicapped adults and their need for an authentically human and Christian life. Written by multiple voices, the text leads us by diverse paths and experiences toward what remains a mystery, illuminated only by faith and love. To live together fraternally—handicapped persons alongside those called normal—in authentic alliance and mutual respect appears profoundly desirable. And it is possible. Indeed, by God's grace, it happens even now, in many places around the world.
Review by H. Bissonier from Ombres et Lumière no. 58
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