I hosted a retreat at the parish church of St Lawrence from 5 to 8 December. During this retreat, I discussed the power of love as opposed to the love of power and our paths releasing our inner prisons while walking to a act according to our convictions. A visit to the prison in Three Rivers was also held to promote an exchange of Christmas cards.
PART five episodes
I led a parish retreat there a dozen years. At last night a man asked me a question at the very least strange "when are you going to scare us?" For him, a parish retreat was synonymous with a time of fear. Is this the memory of another time when, during the parish retreats, THE FIRE OF HELL was more important than FRESHNESS OF PARADISE? For my part, I do not intend to scare you with scary stories. IN FACT, TO FEAR IS AN ABUSE OF POWER.
In the early years of evangelization Nyasaland, now Malawi, so the early 20 th century White Fathers worked hard to develop the infrastructure necessary for their work. They did an outstanding job in often very difficult. While learning the local language, Chichewa, they taught catechism.
Still, one of these mornings, a good father taught catechumens little danger of dying in a state of mortal sin and ending up in hell. The father had the good idea to illustrate his teaching with a "real" picture of hell he had carefully brought with her luggage.
- That, my children! It's hell, "he said with a deep voice. You see the flames? Haa! It's terrible, my kids. Here you see is Lucifer, the master of hell with his diabolical fork. There! Look! This is the great clock of hell. This clock is called ALWAYS-NEVER: always suffering, never go out, always suffering, never go out, and that for all eternity.
As the father wanted to rest a bit, he asked the children to look closely at the picture and meditate. Returning to the first floor room, the father threw a glance and is pleased that the children trembled a little by pointing the finger at the picture of hell. His teaching had borne fruit.
Was he no sooner arrived in his room that he heard the children's father laughed. Leaning from the balcony, he s'aperçu the children pointed to a photo of the finger but instead of being afraid, they laughed. He returned to full speed.
- Look at my father, look!
- Yes, I see. It is the fire of hell. But why are you laughing?
- There, there, look!
- Yes, yes, I watch. And then!
- Look! All people in hell are white !
TO FEAR IS AN ABUSE OF "POWER"
Scare, it imposes a form of control over the other. By fear, ideology, military regimes or dictatorships, the Mafia, parents or teachers or the authoritarian priests exercise a dominating power.
In the cultural vision of many African countries, the exercise of this power over the will of the people is exercised through the accusations of witchcraft. In fact, we all become witches when we seek to control the thinking of others. Our greatest wizards we are advertising against which we must stand firm not to succumb to their influence, I would say "hell" circulars, newspapers, TV, radio, Internet. "We note that the CONSUMPTION ABUSE incessant and is now the new world religion. All are subject to large mass-permanent BROADCAST . (La Presse, November 29, 2010: Norman Chatigny, Michel Heroux, Denis Larose, Jean-Noel Tremblay)
Jesus consistently trusted God until his final victory over death. Jesus offers us a path to eternity. Do we really believe? We are called to freedom, the children of God. This freedom allows us to pray without fear because God is Father. Even in its greatest tribulation, Jesus continued to live with that certainty the presence of the Holy Spirit comforting. When you pray, Jesus said, say: Our Father which art in heaven ... lead us not into temptation, but deliver us evil.
WHEN WE PRAY TOGETHER, WE CALL ON GOD DO NOT LEAVE U.S. ALONE TO FIGHT EVIL.
Because of our weakness, we can effectively combat the evil with the help of Jesus. Otherwise, it's us up to fail. The biggest thing that threatens us, "said the priest of Ars, is disregard of the infinite goodness of God in Jesus Christ. I invite you for a few days of the Parish to be children again beloved of God comforter, a good God and Father, a God that he used to call "God."
Continued tomorrow: the power of love versus the love of power
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