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 Homepage | The person | The family | The friends | Sitemap | Search | Contact  Français | English | Español |  PrintTestimonies Franco  ''Franco was a member of the team responsible for welcoming participants at the last international meeting for Faith and Light leaders held in Rome. Despite, or rather thanks to his disability, he reminded everyone why and for whom we were all meeting together. Between two sessions on finances, I went to take a coffee with Peter, the delegate from Singapore, and I said to Peter : ''You see Franco over there? All our work here is for Franco and his friends. If we lose sight of that, then we are wasting our time.'' Then I said to Franco : ''Come along Franco, we need your prayers.'' Immediately, Franco put his hands on our heads and he prayed for us and blessed each of us by making the sign of the Cross on our foreheads. I was very moved by this short moment with Franco : he become for me like an icone of Jesus during our gathering.''Father John, the Netherlands Why Faith and Light is so important to me “As a parent, before becoming a member of Faith and Light, and particularly before going to Lourdes, I had a wounded heart, like most of the parents I know. Today, my wound has been healed by Faith and Light, especially thanks to the friends, to the other parents and to their children. I had family and personal problems, but they are no longer such a heavy burden thanks to my friends from Faith and Light. Persons in my family and around me who did not appreciate my daughter Belinda, now today love her because the members of Faith and Light have shown their love for her. Some of them visit us, talk to her and we are invited to celebrations: People are interested in us and in our life. My sister always says that this is the work of God, she has never heard of friendship and love like that which you bring to us, to me and to my family. I am writing this to you because in my country, there are different races and such relationships would be impossible if it were not the work of God.”. (Extract from a letter written by a mother in Zimbabwe)  From a father in Sierra Leone “Faith and Light is the only place where I find peace of spirit. This is the reason why I stay in the community. I see my child happy, playing with other children often more disabled than himself. I also meet people ready to share my suffering.” From a mother in New Zealand “In Faith and Light, people do not see Linda as a problem. For them she is a person” Yannick and Judikaël During the prayers, Father John reminded us of the personal call to each of the 12 apostles. After which, we all received a little envelope containing a message that was addressed to us personally. This message ended with: “I choose you and I love you” Jesus Two reactions particularly touched me: Yannick, who at once said to us “Thank you everyone”. He had perceived that the recognition of Jesus for his person, passed through the recognition of all the community. Judikaël who, after reading his message and of “I choose you and I love you” cried out “For always?” and then with assurance, “Jesus is proud of me”. When you know the story of this little fellow, who is today entering his third family, how can you not be overwhelmed by this cry? The call of Jesus to Judikaël, but also the call of Judikaël to the community: “Can you receive me and love me such as I am, for always ?” Fiorettis to make you smile Béatrice Béatrice has Down’s syndrome. With some friends she is playing the question game. Her turn to reply comes : “Béatrice, do you know who is the emperor of the Mongols?” Silence… after a moment : “I know, it’s Jean Vanier!” Pilgrimage to Rome On a pilgrimage in Rome, the communities are received in audience by the Pope. After he has addressed several words to the group, a loud voice rings out : “Thank you, Holy See” Pilgrimage to Lourdes The Faith and Light communities are in Lourdes for the international pilgrimage. It is Easter Sunday. After the celebration, the communities gather together for the procession of the Holy Sacrament. We are stamping our feet, we are waiting, nothing is happening. A tired father begins to get impatient: “But, after all, it’s unbelievable, what’s happening?” Beside him, a young man with a disability, very calmly replies: “What’s happening is that in the morning Jesus has risen and we are expecting him any minute now”. Do you know this man? During the pilgrimage to Lourdes, we are reliving the passage of the Gospel where Peter denies Jesus. Everything has been carefully prepared. John is to represent Peter. When the time comes for him to speak and reply to the question “Do you know this man?”, he hesitates… a friend whispers to him “you must say, you remember, no, I don’t know this man”. John turns round, indignantly: “But I do know him very well, it’s James, we are in the same community” A gospel mime which took some time to recover its solemnity… |
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