Page 247 – Région Lasallienne Europe Méditerranée

Ecumenical Celebration during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Tehnological High School Sfântul Ioan de La Salle – Pildesti, Romania

The love of Christ asks us to pray, but aslo requires us to go beyond the mere Prayer for Christian Unity. Communities and churches need the gift of reconciliation with God who is the source of life. But they need above all to bear witness together to the world: “May they all be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. “(Jn 17:21).
The world needs apostles of reconciliation to remove barriers, build bridges, bring peace and open the way for new forms of living in the name of Jesus Christ who reconciled us with God. The Holy Spirit guides us to the path of reconciliation on his behalf.
Monday, January 23, our school organized an ecumenical celebration attended by the entire educational community.

There were together in prayer with us parish priests: Ciobanica Andrei parish priest of Pildeşti community and priest Liviu Lupu, vicar of the Orthodox community in the neighboring village, Gherăeşti. The theme chosen this year for the Week of prayer was entitled Reconciliation – the love of Christ compels us (cf. 2 Cor 5.14 to 20) and the texts used in the celebration were developed by the Council of Christian Churches from Germany (ACK). This theme celebrates reconciliation, which is offered through an irrevocable manner by our faith in Jesus Christ. The love for Christ is the moving force that helps us overcome the divisions between us and pushes us towards acts of reconciliation.

During the celebration there were two symbolic actions: a first action was to build a wall (with reference to the Berlin Wall), which symbolized our sins and the division recogniyed by Christians. After the sermon this wall was turned into a cross. The second action was the symbolic lighting of 12 candles by 12 people. By doing that, all the present persons were invited to be Christ’s ambassadors and carry this light into the world, into the dark places where conflict, discord and divisions of all kind are a common obstacle to their testimony.

Concours d’éloquence des Secondes : la lune à l’honneur

« Doit-on décrocher la lune ? »

Pour parler d’un aussi joli sujet, il était de mise de briller…

Nous n’avons pas été déçus, nos élèves ont été à la hauteur !

Lors de ce concours organisé par Mesdames Aubertin, Biou et de Quenetain, nos élèves Matthieu, Tessa, Héloïse et Camille nous ont impressionnés et charmés par leur aisance, leur charisme, leur poésie, leur humour, leur sincérité, leur enthousiasme. Citant tour à tour Mallarmé, Camus, Hugo ou même Walt Disney et Mohamed Ali, prenant pour exemple les frères Whrigt ou Neil Armstrong, nos orateurs en herbe ont trouvé mille raisons de vouloir décrocher – ou non ! – cette fameuse lune, en utilisant astucieusement les arguments les plus imagés comme les plus scientifiques, devant un public de professeurs et lycéens conquis !

Ils nous ont parlé d’amour, de foi, de courage, d’innocence, de déception aussi, avec une force et une lucidité étonnantes pour leur jeune âge.

Nous pouvons également saluer leur aplomb, lorsqu’il a fallu insérer le plus naturellement du monde dans leur prise de parole le mot incongru qu’ils avaient pioché ! Citons ainsi Héloïse, qui a probablement hérité du plus improbable : « …tout comme il est incongru de citer le mot « patate » dans un tel discours ! »

Remercions-les pour ce joli moment qu’ils nous ont offert. Félicitation à Tessa, qui a remporté le concours.

Aucun doute, en visant la lune, ces jeunes gens finiront au moins dans les étoiles !

Lycée La Rochefoucauld-La Salle

Italia – Una Chiamata, Molte Voci: News dal Tavolo di Pastorale e Volontariato

Condividiamo la testimonianza del Professor Andrea Testa sull’esperienza congiunta di volontariato dei ragazzi di due scuole di Roma – Villa Flaminia e San Giuseppe De Merode – che settimanalmente si impegnano nel sostenere bambini in difficoltà negli studi.

“Vivo per il quarto anno l’esperienza cristiana, lasalliana, educativa del doposcuola La Salle per assistere nello studio pomeridiano i figli degli immigrati. Usufruiamo degli ambienti della mensa dei poveri dell’istituto Villa Flaminia. Sono spettatore innamorato degli alunni della mia scuola, il S. Giuseppe De Merode, che dedicano tempo e conoscenze personali su vari argomenti affiancando allievi stranieri (perlopiù sudamericani) di poco più piccoli d’età. Il fondatore ha ispirato me e altri colleghi, anche dell’istituto Villa Flaminia, in questo servizio gratuito agli ultimi.

È bello e spiritualmente gratificante vedere e sperimentare la collaborazione tra docenti e studenti lasalliani di più scuole per una comune finalità di servizio cristiano”.

RELEM Conference of Visitors

From January 16th to 20th the RELEM Conference of Visitors took place in Borg-El-Arab which is located about 45 kilometers from the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Br Fadi and District of Proche Orient hosted the conference and all the logistical details were superbly coordinated by the Director of the impressive St Marc’s College in Alexandria, Mr Waguih Hanna, who accompanied the Visitors throughout the Conference.

As many of you will know, the St Marc’s College is located in the centre of Alexandria but the College also has a beautiful Conference/Retreat Centre outside the city, at Borg-El-Arab, and it was there that the Conference took place. The hospitality and the welcome was exquisite and this, along with the tranquility of the centre, created an ideal environment for the Brother Visitors of RELEM to reflect on significant issues affecting the Region and the Institute.

The Conference opened with a video message from Brother Superior General, Robert Schieler, in which he highlighted a number of important issues that the Region of RELEM, like the rest of the Institute, is currently facing. These included the continuity of the Lasallian mission into the future, with appropriate formation programmes for our Lay colleagues to ensure effective leadership of that mission, the development of effective vocation promotion programmes, the care and support of our older Brothers, and the protection of the patrimony of the Institute to support the mission. These issues were taken up during different sessions of the Conference along with some specific issues raised by the Visitors themselves. These included a reflection on community animation, the use of the Internet in community, and a pastoral approach to abuse.

One of the key decisions taken by the Visitors was to approve the procedures for the first RELEM MEL Assembly scheduled for October 2018 with the nomination of District participants to be finalized by the end of May 2017.

As is customary during these meetings, the Visitors took advantage of their visit to experience something of the local Lasallian reality. In this case it took the form of a visit to the College of St Marc in Alexandria where the Visitors had the opportunity to see some of the many varied opportunities offered to the students in the magnificent facilities of the College.

Additionally, on the final evening of the Conference, the Visitors had the opportunity to meet with the MEL Council of the Sector of Egypt and discuss the scope of the Lasallian mission throughout the District. The Visitors were also able to see something of the religious treasures of Egypt with a visit to the impressive Coptic monastery of St Pishoy which dates back to the 4th century.

¡Una invitación a toda la Familia Lasallista!

Una de las prioridades del movimiento de los Jóvenes Lasallistas es favorecer los intercambios entre jóvenes de diferentes países para ayudar a construir el sentimiento de pertenencia común a la vocación y a la Misión Lasallista. Además de crear oportunidades para la formación de redes, el Consejo Internacional de los Jóvenes Lasallistas alienta y apoya todas las iniciativas en este sentido que emanen de alguna obra, de un Distrito o de una Región. ¡Una invitación a toda la Familia Lasallista!

Así pues, deseamos promover la iniciativa del centro escolar Saint Adrien La Salle, situado en Villeneuve d’Ascq, en el norte de Francia, con motivo de su 140º aniversario. En el marco de la semana de apertura internacional, que se celebrará del 6 al 10 de febrero de 2017, dicho centro ha decidido proponer varios proyectos de colaboración con otras obras lasallistas. Tales proyectos representan una hermosa oportunidad para los miembros de la Familia Lasallista de poder aprender a conocerse mejor y celebrar juntos.

He aquí, pues, las cuatro actividades que el centro escolar Saint Adrien La Salle propone:

Un diálogo con jóvenes de otros centros escolares. Eso puede llevarse a cabo mediante llamadas, conferencias (Skype, Google Hangout, etc) durante la semana temática, por e-mails o también mediante encuentros personales para las obras que se encuentren en las cercanías.
Una recogida de fotos de las otras obras lasallistas del mundo. Imágenes de los lugares de estudio, de recreo, de deporte, de oración y otras más que serán reunidas y podrían ser expuestas en un blog.
Una colección de fotos de las diferentes representaciones de san Juan Bautista de La Salle en los centros lasallistas. De nuevo, las fotos podrían ser expuestas en un blog.
Una puesta en común de datos históricos sobre la implantación y la expansión de la Misión Lasallista en el mundo. Luego, podrá elaborarse un mapa gigante con el fin de explicar la evolución de la red y los factores sociales y políticos que pudieron influir.

Así pues, animamos fuertemente a todas las obras a responder la invitación del centro escolar Saint Adrien La Salle y a manifestar interés por una u otra de las actividades, contactando con Bénédicte Dessein en la siguiente dirección benedicte.dessein@saintadrien.com.

¡Hagamos resplandecer toda la riqueza de la Familia Lasallista y celebremos la diversidad!