Theme: Mediation and communal discernment
On this final day, we reflect on the importance of mediation in spiritual and communal life. God speaks to us through brothers, superiors, formators and communities. Intercultural life is built on mutual listening and shared discernment. Let us ask for the grace to recognize the action of the Spirit through these mediations, so that our community may become a place where everyone can grow and find their rightful place in the mission.
Word of God: Acts 9:17–18
“Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.”
Poullart des Places: The Need for Mediation and Guidance
“I have come here to seek counsel from your divine Wisdom. Destroy within me all worldly attachments that follow me everywhere. May I have no other aim, in the state I shall choose for ever, than to please you; and since, in the situation in which I find myself, it is impossible for me to decide anything, and yet I feel that you want something else from me than my uncertainties, I shall, Lord, reveal myself without pretence to your ministers.
Grant, through your holy grace, that I may find an Ananias who reveals the true path to me, as he did to Saint Paul; I shall follow his counsel as I would your commandments.”
Intercultural Insight
Recognition of the role of mediators (facilitators, guides, interpreters) in any intercultural journey.
Poullart des Places’s inclination towards the poor came to him through “combined influences” : first that of his mother, then of his godfather Claude de Marbeuf, who presided over the “Bureau des pauvres”, that of the Jesuits through the Congregation of Our Lady, where they were invited to work for the poor, of Father Bellier, who sent them to serve the sick and teach catechism to orphans, and finally from his friendship with Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, with whom he prayed and shared a common love for the poor. Under all these influences, “Claude Poullart’s sensitive heart had no difficulty in opening itself to the poor, whilst awaiting the day when it would open itself to poverty itself. ”
Reflection: Mediation as a place of revelation of God’s will
The recourse to a spiritual mediator situates discernment within an ecclesiology of mediation. God does not speak only in immediate interiority, but through figures, words and tradition. This guards against the illusion of purely subjective inspiration. From an intercultural perspective, mediation is essential: it enables us to translate, interpret and accompany the passage between symbolic worlds. The mediator becomes a ‘guide’, capable of helping the individual recognize God’s call amidst the multitude of possibilities During formation and throughout ministry, we need such guides—attentive listeners who help us move beyond our anxieties.
Prayer
Spirit of wisdom, we give you thanks for the brothers and sisters through whom you speak to us.
Teach us to listen, to allow ourselves to be advised and accompanied. Make our community a place of shared discernment, where each person seeks not their own will, but that which fosters the growth of our shared mission. Lead us along the paths you have chosen for us, in service to the Gospel and to the world. Amen.
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