Theme: The journey and conversion
Intercultural life involves renunciations, losses and sometimes suffering. This eighth day invites us to recognize our inner resistances: fear of losing our bearings, emotional or cultural attachments, and the desire for security. By offering these resistances to God, they can become places of conversion. Let us ask for the grace to persevere in the call, even when the path takes us far from our comfort zone.
Word of God: Luke 9:61–62
“I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Poullart des Places: Tension between attraction and repulsion in the face of otherness
“You are melancholic, a dreamer, sorrowful in your solitude, though you love being alone. (…) How would you reconcile your retreat with the affection you feel for my sister? You love her dearly; you cannot bear to be separated from her for long; she is not yet settled, and she is dear enough to you that you wish me to take an interest in her fortune. My father is old and will leave behind considerable affairs that few people other than myself will be capable of putting in order. You know the obligations I have to the father and mother who gave me life.”
Intercultural Insight
Highlighting the inner conflicts caused by the transition from one world to another.
Claude Poullart des Places interpreted his 1704 trial as a lapse caused by “having undertaken the care of poor schoolchildren.” With the help of his spiritual director, he came to understand that every spiritual life experiences times of desolation, and that every commitment requires evaluation in order to be renewed. What was no longer working was his way of managing everything alone. When he shared responsibility, confidence returned, and a formative community emerged in the service of a missionary community—one more resilient in the face of future difficulties.
Reflection: inner resistance and the transition between worlds
An analysis of the aversion to religious life shows that the transition from one state to another always involves a profound existential upheaval. From a spiritual perspective, this reminds us that a vocation is not an immediate certainty, but a genuine inner struggle. Family, emotional and cultural attachments are ambivalent mediators: they can either support or hinder the divine call. From an intercultural perspective, this transition resembles a process of acculturation, where entering a new symbolic universe causes disorientation and resistance. Poullart des Places teaches us that every authentic vocation involves a journey of losses as much as of gains.
Prayer
Lord, you know our fears and our resistance in the face of what unsettles and disturbs us.
We entrust them to you today without hiding them.
Give us the courage to navigate the difficult passages, to let go of what holds us back,
and to trust you when the path is uncertain.
May our community learn to move forward together, sustained by your Spirit.
Amen.
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