REACHING YOU... on the celebration of St Joseph

Dear Friends,

It is an absolute necessity for us to reach you during this time of health crisis. I’m contacting you on behalf of the whole community who are currently confined within our three houses: la Roche d’Or, Fontanilles and also the Russey where Roger Robert and Françoise Porte are located. The rapid, violent evolution of the epidemic of Covid-19 may cause feelings of anxiety or solitude for many, which is added to the social anxiety that has been so present in France and the whole world over the last few months. With this letter, I hope to firstly pass on to each of you a sense of closeness and our friendship. Even as you are confined to your homes, please know that you are not alone, our hearts are reaching out to you, hoping fervently that no-one is suffering from the illness, praying for you to keep the faith and trust.

Last week we decided to cancel all of our retreats until at least 20th April. We let those of you who had already signed up know. But things happen quickly: our country is now in a situation of strict confinement for at least a fortnight, and we don’t know how long this may last. We are following the instructions given to us by our civil servants and politicians in conjunction with our bishops in Besançon and Perpignan, and I invite you to pray earnestly for them: their job is not an easy one...

As you’ll know, this confinement requires great docility on our part: it is the best way to slow down the effects of a virus that science does not yet have a handle on. We must support these researchers and careers with everything we can! Many of you are doctors, nurses, pharmacists etc. so you are on the front line: please know that we are including you all in our daily prayers. Thank you for the work you are doing: Jesus is giving his life through you so that we may live. This makes me think of the amazing parable of the good Samaritan: “Deeply moved, he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (Luke 10,34)

For the first time since the beginning of La Roche d’Or, the retreat for Holy Week will not take place... The other spring retreats are in the same situation. It’s heartbreaking, both for us and for you. In fact, many of you have told us how much you look forward to this as a time to resource yourselves, unload and consider difficult situations, to drink in the Word like a spring in the middle of the desert.  We are aware of this...and for us, the heartache is even greater as our whole lives are centered around passing on the Gospel, this beautiful Gospel that has resounded in our house since 1950.

In light of this we did not want to leave you with nothing. On Thursday 19th March, for Saint Joseph, a blog has been posted online, where you’ll find texts to nourish your steps. Here is the link: http://communautedelarochedor-en.over-blog.com. This nourishment can be added to those that already exist on the Internet (KTO, RCF, Le Jour du Seigneur, Magnificat, Prions en Église...), and among these, I highly recommend the Pope’s daily mass which is broadcast (live at 7 am for France or you can watch later) on www.vaticannews.va et KTO.

In addition, as we are faced with a situation where many may wonder about the real presence of God, we can only highly recommend you read Florin Callerand’s book, Le drame du monde (The world’s drama)^[1], where Françoise re-examines the texts and the heartfelt cry of a Florin who is, “Deeply affected by the drama of God, a prisoner of the world he created.” “Distraughtly rooted in this Powerlessness, which, from the Crib all the way to the Calvary, cries his vulnerability, Florin speaks the words of the terribleness that is today, in a strong, raw style, desolate and yet already a vanquisher of evil, as it goes to the root of this evil that is the disfigurement of the true identity of God, and so the disfiguration of the face of mankind.”^[2] I am sure that he will know how to comfort each one of you with his own manner of seeing and in these troubled times, and be a true companion to you on your path.

This coronavirus crisis lifts our view to worldwide dimensions. For the first time, the whole world seems to be uniting against a common enemy. Wars which render continents bloody seem to have been relegated to the background - but what’s really going on? New solidarities are emerging, fragile social links are being recreated and strengthened. Although there are still many questions, they do not erase the real admiration for those who are engaging. However, we must urgently adopt the same view as Jesus on all of these situations. Can we as Christians, have any other view and behaviour than his?

This testing time of confinement coincides, for us, with the time of Lent. To speak of this, traditionally there is an image of the desert, a testing place where the people of Israel could try speaking to God, heart to heart, with the strength of his love as a daily source. Jesus even introduced himself to a Samaritan woman at the driest point of the day as a living Source of water. We as a community feel the pressing call from Jesus to drink from him, to find the incredible, thirst-quenching freshness of his friendship on this path. The insistent demand by Jesus on the eve of his Passion that is resounding more than ever at the door to our hearts is passed onto us tirelessly by Roger: “Stay with me” ... In isolation, be that alone, as a community or a family, Jesus is the most discreet and sure companion who is burning with desire to share his friendship. The Gospel is a place where we can tirelessly draw on this beauty and the force of His presence. He is also nourishment for an intensely renewed life, that of our faith and also our relationships. "Go and drink from the Source and wash yourself there...”

To finish, I would like to thank all of you who have passed on their friendship and solidarity as you were informed of the cancellation of the retreat you had signed up for. Thank you for your heartfelt words, so true and comforting. Thank you also to those who had figured out that stopping the retreats meant a financial implication for us and chose, spontaneously, to help.

Since our origins, almost 70 years ago, the community of La Roche d’Or has lived with the Assumption of Mary as a permanent and personal visitor at the depths of each of our consciousness. This “little but extremely essential thing” as Florin called it, motivates not only our spreading of the Gospel but also our whole way of life. This motherly closeness - that we experience for ourselves - full of the tenderness of God, which brings us closer to you in this instant: may Mary accompany and comfort you and renew in you both trust and hope!

F. Olivier Sournia

French to English translation by Debbie Garrick and Cécile Simon