Bridget Spinks joins Australian pilgrims on their preparatory road to Madrid via a renowned French centre of spirituality.
“What are you seeking?” a consecrated lay sister, Isabelle Camborde, asked 1,900 young people from around the world in a packed tent in Paray-le-Monial, in the Burgundy region of France.
A young adult contingent of 30 pilgrims from Australia were among those called to reflect on what they were seeking in life.
They had come to Paray-le-Monial, the birthplace of devotion to the Sacrd Heart of Jesus. for a forum and pre-World Youth Day get-together organised by the Emmanuel Community.
The Australians joined contingents from Britain, Poland, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, Russia, Latvia, Hungary and teenagers from France for the forum from 11 to 14 August.
While some pilgrims were sleeping in tents, the Australian contingent was lodged in school classrooms adjacent to the Chapel of la Colombiere.
Each day, there was a 10-minute walk through the town, past the Chapel of Visitation and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, across a canal with pretty flower boxes to the Parc du Moulin Liron, where all the action took place for the pilgrims: mass, praise, teaching sessions and meals.
This particular park was created for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Paray-le-Monial in 1986.
The forum began with an evening mass on 11 August in a tent fit for 2000 people.
For breakfast each morning, volunteers served a typical French breakfast of coffee or hot chocolate in a bowl along with some slices of bread and jam. Waiting in the queue for food could take up to half an hour or more.
After breakfast, at about 9.15am, the pilgrims would gather for praise in French and English, led by a small group and band. The pilgrims sang their heart out in praise for the Lord. This was followed by lessons given by various people in the community.
On 12 August, Sister Camborde, a consecrated sister in the Emmanuel Community, set the tone for the retreat-like forum.
Speaking in French, she examined the themes of Christ as “Man of Desire” and “Christ Answers our Thirst” in two passages in the Gospel of John.
She drew out the main elements of the texts from John 1:35-51, where some disciples followed Jesus after hearing John proclaim him as Lord, and John 4:6-26, where Jesus meets the anonymous Samaritan woman at the well.
Just as Jesus asked the disciples what they were seeking, so too the pilgrims were asked to think about what they were really looking for in life.
In relation to the passage in John 4, where Jesus meets the woman at the well, Sr Camborde discussed how her encounter with Jesus brought about a change in heart and readjustment of her life. As Jesus helped this woman confront the truth about her life, so too he wanted to break the “idols” in our life, Sr Camborde said. Those idols could be our job, sport, our mobile phone or the internet – whatever took first place in our life as an obsession.
“It could be during these days that the Lord will free us and help us to recognise our weaknesses and strengths and know who we are,” Sr Camborde said.
She called on those gathered to reflect on what they turned to when they desired to satisfy their thirst for love.
“Jesus says we don’t need inferior satisfaction. Man has been created for the infinite; to become saints and not be dependent on inferior things,” she said.
Just as Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of John were significant – “What are you seeking?” – so too were his last words: “I’m thirsty.”
“This is the thirst of Jesus for our heart, our love, our life,” Sr Camborde said.