Au Revoir aux confrères de Villepinte !

Last night I finished stuffing my two carry-on suitcases (down from four, a month ago!) and am heading to the Villepinte railway system (RER) to one of Paris' main train stations.  There, at the Gare du Nord, I'll board a train to my next destination, a bit over an hour north of Paris.  Amiens is most commonly known for having a (arguably the) splendid example of Europe's gothic architecture in its magnificent cathedral, Notre Dame d'Amiens.  This ville, along with our Vincentian mission house just minutes away from the train station, has been included in all of our ongoing education courses at our Paris Centre (C.I.F.) since 1994.  Still more important personally for me, Amiens is where Vincentian missioners have been associated since our beginnings in 1625.

I take my leave from Villepinte very, very grateful for the welcome and easy rhythm of common life with my Vincentian confreres here.  Of course, in France, we are still known as les Lazaristes, a term used first by Parisians to describe Vincent's missioners coming in and out of our historical mother house St. Lazare.  

From left to right:  Newly arrived P. Pierre HUNG NGUYEN, cm Vice Province of Vietnam; Henri, a friend of the CMs; P. Guillaume LEUKEUMO, cm; P. Gabriel ENDOM, CM -- both from Cameroun, a Region of the Province of France;  P. Mathew OCHUPARAMBIL, cm Province of North India.

The men pictured here above have given me much to think about as well.  Each manages to contribute to the ministry of the two mission* parishes -- St. Vincent de Paul and Notre Dame -- while continuing their studies or finishing an advanced degree for later teaching.  I've rarely seen a group of our own more in sync with each other, willing to help whether it's praying together, leading or participating in one of the three parish prayer centers, visiting the sick, celebrating funerals or eucharists during the week, or cooking, doing laundry, and cleaning up...   They and the two churches make up a vital parish community with impressive participation by the local residents.

Parishioners departing after the 11:00 Sunday Eucharist, L'Église Saint Vincent de Paul.
Young lady on the left could not stop beaming, having just been entrusted with a stature of Notre Dame de Lourdes.  She, along with her little sister and mother, will make heir home the neighborhood center of Marian devotion for this coming week.

I'm sure all of these takes some planning and coordination of who does what and when... but I certainly found the house to be a natural and fraternal atmosphere these past ten days.  Although we communicate with each other in French -- being in France (!) -- each man in the mission house speaks at least two other languages and as many as five.

They come from Cameroon, India and Vietnam, but they are the new faces of our worldwide Congregation of the Mission.

[* "Mission" here is used to indicate that this "mission house" has always been intended as a temporary commitment between the Congregation and the bishop, in this case, Bishop Pascal of the Diocese of Saint Denis, a very poor area in the northern suburbs north of Paris.]

Happy International Mother Language Day! (UNESCO)

Whether found in newspaper headlines or various forms of social media throughout the world (especially tweets these days!) we are quite occupied by the vexing experience of living in diverse communities.

Some of us seem to spend a great deal of time and resources "stemming the tide" or building walls, as if preparing for the next apocalypse.  

Others, while certainly aware of the difficulties, choose to learn how to communicate effectively and live gracefully in these new communities, even if this means considering new ways to educate ourselves and our children.

As one of the second group, I'm alert to efforts such as comes through UNESCO....  

Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education

"On the occasion of this Day, I launch an appeal for the potential of multilingual education to be acknowledged everywhere, in education and administrative systems, in cultural expressions and the media, cyberspace and trade.

"                                 

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General   

UNESCO celebrates International Mother Language Day (IMLD) on February 21, 2017 under the theme “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”. To foster sustainable development, learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language or mother tongue that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are acquired. Local languages, especially minority and indigenous, transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge, thus playing an important role in promoting sustainable futures.

What is multilingual education?

Multilingual education facilitates access to education while promoting equity for populations speaking minority and/or indigenous languages, especially girls and women:

1.            It emphasizes the quality of teaching and learning with a focus on understanding and creativity;
2.             It reinforces the cognitive aspect of learning by ensuring the direct application of learning outcomes to the learner’s life through the mother tongue
3.             It enhances dialogue and interaction between learner and teacher by allowing genuine communication from the beginning.
4.             It facilitates participation and action in society and gives access to new knowledge and cultural expressions, thus ensuring a harmonious interaction between the global and the local.

So, what have I done lately to consider new forms of education for new neighborhoods and communities?   (Just something to chew on this Tuesday....)

Life at Villepinte, France

Since arriving in France last week I’ve been welcomed by our gracious Vincentian confreres living in Villepinte.  This busy house serves as an alternative residence for our missioners who arrive from outside of France to study theology or do research, since it is a convenient 40 minute commute to the center of Paris.  Life is simple here at our rented apartment on Avenue Verdun, with three – soon to be four – other confreres.

The pastor and team moderator is Fr. Guillaume (from Cameroun) who sets the pastoral tone and is also busy as a provincial consultor and local superior.  Long-time housemate, Fr. Mathew (from the South Indian Province) is completing post graduate studies in spirituality), spends a good deal of his time and effort preparing meals for the rest of us and keeping supplies in order.  Fr. Gabriel (also from Cameroun), is another student and parish team member, and very soon the house will welcome Fr. Pierre (from Vietnam) who is beginning his language studies in preparation for advance theological studies. 

Sharing a delightful evening of Vespers and Eucharist with Villepinte Christians, February 15.

At Villepinte, our community prayer as Vincentian missioners is shared with parishioners.  For the most part, we celebrate weekday vespers and Eucharist during the evenings at three parish sites or along with neighbors at our tiny chapel (seating maybe a dozen or so).  Public prayer takes place alternatively at one of the three public prayer sites, St. Vincent de Paul church, Notre Dame church, and the Notre Dame Parish House, where the picture above was taken last night.  Attending weeknight vespers and mass are anywhere from a dozen to fifty people while the Sunday mass at each of the two parishes are often full.  People here are largely working class and immigrant, many born in African countries where French is one of the languages spoken.  Our neighborhood, where the confreres are fairly well known and welcome, is known for its rich mix of immigrant cultures and religions as well, including Muslims.

Villepinte is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 18.3 km (11.4 mi) from the center of Paris.  Population: 35,639.  Within about 20 minutes walking distance in one of the two parishes served by our men (St. Vincent de Paul) and about 40 minutes is the other (Our Lady of Lourdes)

So that you don’t feel obliged to google it, a commune, is the lowest, or base level of administrative division (self-governing) in France since being created at the beginning of the French Revolution (1789-1790).  Just to clear things up (or not!) both a village (up to 2000 inhabitants) and the ville (more than 2,000 in habitants) are communes.  

Before the commune, the most basic division of French territory was the parish (paroisse), essentially the church surrounded by the houses around it (village) and the cultivated land around the village.

Returning Home - It Takes Awhile...

Ah... to see the world!

Taking cues from image-rich advertisements and alluring invitations to shed the ordinary and embark on a change of scenery it would seem that traveling outside our home space and native culture would be pure adventure.  That's certainly the selling point!  In any case I've always yearned to see the world outside of my own childhood's backyard.  Joining the Congregation of the Mission provided that opportunity (among many other gifts and challenges!), even if it meant changing locations every few years, from Texas to California to Missouri to Illinois to Arkansas.  Still, this was modest when compared to leaving my home shores.....

I have often considered those eight years in the quiet northern rural "outback" of 1980's Guatemala as the pinnacle of my own "wanderlust."  That's where I learned the simple Spanish that I now use daily, and discovered a new-found respect for "cultures other than my own."  Indeed, much of who I am and what I can now see and understand began there.

But France, well... it's been different for me, ranging from long stretches of keenly felt personal isolation to an exciting formal introduction to the world-wide Congregation of the Mission and our even more expansive "Vincentian Family".

Paris Mother House, St Vincent de Paul Chapel:  CIF participants celebrate Eucharist in September, 2016.
At center back row is the French Provincial Christian Mauvais, CM, Sr. Kathleen Appler, (Mother General, FdlC),  and Fr. Tomaz Mavric, (Father General, CM).     (Blogger, Dan Borlik, is in front row, far right)

No doubt, by traveling and living abroad one can learn many things.  Gaining experience and developing new skills and friendships, however, are only part of personal growth and, even more specifically, of living abroad.  Since summer, 2011, when I began the "project" of  living and working in Paris, France, there was certainly the joy of discovery,  of adding new places and friendships.  But, surprisingly, what I felt more keenly, and what I'll remember most, is my struggle with loss.  Loss of a young man's professional self-assurance that comes along with many years developing habits and skill-sets in my home culture, loss of my parents and some friends, loss of my younger self's seemingly endless energy and optimism.

Now, carrying much less than what I once had, I embark on a gradual return journey to my home culture, where I hope to work and live for many more years.  The first part of that journey will take place here in Europe, mostly France and Italy.  I'm sharing the hospitality of my confreres, fellow members of the Congregation of the Mission, reading and reflecting, and hoping to learn to say a proper good-bye to one part of the world before I can really say hello to another.