Heading for fraternity

A testimony of the Mouvement Chrétien des Retraités (MCR) of the Côtes d'Armor (Brittany region)

More than four hundred retirees from the Côtes d'Armor had an appointment with the fraternity on September 30, 2021, at the Marian sanctuary, Notre Dame de Toute Aide, in Querrien.

Very promising, this theme of fraternity was first worked in MCR groups during the pandemic. But these retirees were eager to go further, to know better the thought of Pope Francis developed in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti.  In Querrien, this fraternity, they sang it, thought to awaken to the capacity to do, object of testimonies, and celebrated with fervor...

This fraternity was carried by speakers embodying it alone: the rector of the sanctuary, the parish priest of Dinan, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "La Croix" who spoke on the theme "Fraternity, a life force for humanity".

Benchmarks for tomorrow

This gathering will have given benchmarks for tomorrow to live fraternity, to embody it, to practice it... to realize that it is not an abstract word: it is a behavior, a lifestyle at the service of human dignity. It goes through human relationships. Demanding, fraternity calls to go out of oneself, to take risks, to forget oneself like the Good Samaritan. So, the Pope asks, will we be people of indifference or dialogue? In the service of peace or conflict? He makes it clear that we are not alone in walking and acting: “God does not abandon us, for he raises up capable men and women...”. This requires concrete attitudes: being close, listening, expanding one's usual circle, respecting the other's point of view, reacting to inequalities, doing good things, etc.

Faced with the times to come that will test fraternity and hope, we will have to resist by putting ourselves at the service of humanity smallly or more greatly, convinced that God will give us the means to do so because He "continues to spread seeds of good in humanity".

This is the hope of Pope Francis!

Rosita Carpier

Extract from the Journal Nouvel Essor No 285 of December 2021