Reflection given at the National Council Meeting by Joe Egan

Every year on March 1, my L’Arche anniversary, I ask myself a simple question: “Why have I stayed for another year”? For me, this question is related to another one: “Why did Jean Vanier start L’Arche”? Or the question could be asked is this: “What was in the heart of our founder that connects with my heart today”? A good question as Jean recently celebrated his 82nd birthday in Trosly.

In recent years we have discovered more deeply the importance of our Founding Story. For example:

Jean’s being scandalized and shocked by his visits to institutions and by how people’s lives were being wasted. Jean writes: ”I discovered people who were weak, people with intellectual disabilities. I was moved by the vast world of poverty, weakness and fragility that I encountered in hospitals, institutions and asylums for people with intellectual disabilities. I moved from the world of theories and ideas about human beings in order to discover what it really meant to be human”.

Jean’s trust in his call from God and the support he received from Père Thomas.  His willingness to uproot his life and move to Trosly with no guarantees.  His clear sense that his choice was for the rest of his life. His openness to let his life be shaped by what he lived with Raphael & Philippe and many others and what he learned from them.  His willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit and to discover and articulate over time the charism given to him as founder.

This charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit which reveals in a new way a gospel truth. The charism of L’Arche is about the mutual relationships at the heart of our journey together in community which have the power to change and transform us and our world.

The best answer to my own question of why I have stayed has been given to me at every L’Arche funeral starting back in 1979, but the latest was for Dorothy Arthur, 83, in my community this summer.

Dorothy was welcomed at age 72 after 60 years in a large institution. She advocated for herself to get out because she knew that she had more life to live, like her first plane trip ever after she came to L’Arche.

For 11 years she dwelt among us, touched many hearts and changed many people. At the very end, after two long months in hospital, we finally brought Dorothy home to die. Simple but extraordinary things happened in that last week.

As L’Arche, somehow along the way we learned to befriend death and dying. Once more, we lost our fear and learned the importance of deep presence and tenderness in those last days, often with the core members leading the way.

At Dorothy’s funeral Amy DeMoulin, who first welcomed Dorothy and is now our Community Leader, shared a few lessons learned from Dorothy:

First, don’t throw anything out. EVER. There is always another use for Band-Aids and tissues, including alternatives for wrapping paper. Secondly, if you can’t decide which jewellery to wear, wear it all. And finally, small talk, done carefully and routinely, can lead to big relationships. Dorothy’s words were simple, but her care was profound.

These are moments when we can see, taste, feel and touch what is most essential, and our charism and mission. L’Arche funerals are a celebration of human transformation. They are a wonderful combination of utter realism (as Marg said to me: “she’s dead now you know!”) and where we honour, lift up and celebrate through story, song, prayer, laughter and tears the unrepeatable grace of each person’s life.

At L’Arche, we live close to human weakness, vulnerability, pain and death, and do our best not to run away from our common humanity, which also includes our gifts and talents. And so what we now have to share with others is real, true and has the integrity and power to change our world.

So, in the end for me, I have stayed because I still believe with all my heart in our charism and in our mission. And don’t we all know the truth that we have received much more than we have given? That whatever little or much we offer in truth and love, God blesses and returns to us 100 fold, like that grain of wheat that Jesus says must fall into the earth and die before there can be a harvest. And at the end of my journey, I hope to have a L’Arche funeral too.

I have shared all of this because it is important that we root our discussions over the next two days as National Council in why each of us has stayed and why we have made a commitment to L’Arche. We must root our discussions in our love for the charism and mission of L’Arche. Our best wisdom is rooted in our hearts and in our heads, especially if we can give up our personal projects and agendas and listen deeply to one another.

Our themes this meeting of leadership, money and engagement with society must be rooted in a clear understanding of why we do what we do in L’Arche, which impels us to take action.
And to trust in the Holy Spirit “whose power working in us can do more than we can ask or imagine”. Action and trust, exactly what Jean chose when he started L’Arche 46 years ago, because people with intellectual disabilities are still at risk today. We must not and cannot be passive and complacent in front of this difficult truth.

Over the years, Jean Vanier has changed, L’Arche has changed, you and I have changed, and our world has changed. Together we must seek the wisdom of how L’Arche in Canada is called to change today. For God promises us to make all things new and invites us to write down our vision. For as it is written in the Book of Proverbs: “Where there is no vision, the people will perish”.

Joe Egan

Educational Initiatives and Publications

We still have free Bible study kits for communities or friends of our communities who request them. When Pat Desnoyers speaks to 40 youth leaders in the Edmonton area she will give a power point presentation on the kit and will give each one the booklet for the bible study as a gift. If they wish, they can order the DVD and small packets of cards that complete the kit. Please think about similar opportunities that may exist in your locale. The Bible study is an excellent way to introduce young people to Jean Vanier and hence, to L’Arche. Contact eporter@larche.ca for free copies.
 
Other news:

• The Fall issue of A Human Future will feature an interview with Mr. Yahya Qureshi, a much respected Muslim Canadian educator.
• We have been invited to the Ontario Ministry of Education consultation on the new K-12 social studies, history and geography curriculum.
• And we have approved the design for the ibelong!/J’ai des amis! website. It has a very attractive scrapbook look. We still need more examples of French organizations for the “Good Practices in Action” (“Exemples des meilleures pratiques”) section—organizations that have good programs for social integration. If you have suggestions, please send them to eporter@larche.ca. Thanks.   
• L’Arche Canada Educational Initiatives and Publications shares office space with the L’Arche Canada Foundation and Intercordia. We have moved to the building next door. The new address is 10271 Yonge St., Ste 300, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 3B5. 
• The Weekly L’Arche E-stories go to about 1400 subscribers across Canada. However, they will die if they are not fed by us—the community members and friends of L’Arche across Canada. We all have stories to share about our experience in L'Arche.  Please think about who, in your community, can describe a special moment with a core member and ask them to send it in: eporter@larche.ca .

—Beth Porter

L’Arche Canada Foundation

The L’Arche Foundation welcomed Daniel Unruh in late August as a new Director of Development. Daniel comes with 10 years of experience in fundraising operations and direct fundraising and will use his skills in both of these areas.

We completed an office move in early September. It was a lot of work even though we only moved to the building next door! Come and visit us if you are in the area.

Our fall mailing went out to about 5,000 people in early September and we have reached out through several newspapers to attract new donors.

September to December is the busiest time of the year for us. Please pray for us as we visit with key people in the coming weeks.

We are also giving some support to L’Arche International and L’Arche in Poland and we are excited by the January 2011 Development workshop that we will host with L’Arche USA.

—Nathan Ball, Executive Director

Director of Operations

As you know, Guillaume Richard has left the L’Arche Canada office to serve at the Fondation des Arches du Québec. In reviewing our needs, we have created the position of the Director of Operations.The job description is on the Meeting Ground. We are asking two things of you as members. First, please pass on this role description to anyone you know whom you feel would be appropriate and interested in such a position. Secondly, please pray with us that we find the right person.

Nomination of Jean Vanier for the 2011 Templeton Prize

An excellent submission has just been sent in to nominate Jean for the 2011 Templeton Prize.
We want to thank our L’Arche team of Nathan Ball of the L’Arche Canada Foundation, Dr. Pamela Cushing of King's University at the University of Western Ontario and Martha Bala of the L’Arche International Board for all their good work on this important project. Please keep this nomination in your prayers because it is true that if Jean Vanier is awarded the Templeton Prize the weak and the voiceless of our world, in whose name he always accepts honours, will also be recognized and celebrated. (For more information on this prize go to:www.templetonprize.org)

The Gospel of Saint John

Thirty of us are gathered together in Trosly for a time of study and reflection on the Gospel of John with Jean Vanier. Among us are sixteen members from L’Arche in Canada. What a gift to be together. We are a diverse group with long and varied experience, and we share in common this journey in L’Arche that God calls us to. The program has two sessions: this one in September and a second in February.

Each morning Jean shares a reflection with us about the Gospel, and then we reflect together on its meaning for us and our personal call in L’Arche. Our afternoons are spent with other presenters, on aspects of scripture and faith. It is such a privilege to share in these reflections, to share community together, and to be present in the original source of L’Arche, here in Trosly, with Jean. This time is helping each one renew and deepen his or her call in L’Arche.

This time with Jean is such a gift. Jean named that our sharing together is resonating with the vision he is announcing. As we live these days with him, we are aware that now is the time for us to be bearers of the essential vision of L’Arche, and to pass it to the new generation that will carry it beyond us.

Conclusion

Since April, preparations were underway for the National Council. It was the first time that this meeting was held. The lasting impression I have is that when we reflect on and share about the mission of L’Arche, our passion and energy is renewed. As Joe states above, regardless of how long we have been in L’Arche, it is important to take time to think about why we have chosen to be in L’Arche.

This connection involves our hearts and our minds. What nourishes this connection for you? This has a direct effect on our commitment. If we don’t grow in our understanding of our mission, personally and corporately, our passion will be diminished. Passion is a powerful force which can help us change the world! Throughout this year, we pray that you may find your passion.

Peace,

Hollee Card & Joe Egan

Thirty of us are gathered together in Trosly with Jean Vanier