On March 3^rd, the “Brétilliens” of Rennes got together for a day of sharing.

At that meeting they were invited to enter into the spirituality of Mère Marie de St Charles. To do so, they reread and shared on one of her sayings: “May the present changes be one more reason for us to belong entirely to God, to abandon ourselves totally to his good pleasure and to further strengthen the bonds of charity which unite us to one another.” Circular letter 01/03/1860

A saying that is still pertinent today

One hundred and sixty years later, we have all noticed that these same words remain relevant: we could still write the very same thing. Mère Marie de St. Charles was a visionary.

Many changes occur in the course of a lifetime:

• The arrival of a child causes changes in a couple’s life.
• Sickness brings along changes in a family’s organisation… in professional life.
• Professional life brings changes to our habits, our ways of working, new colleagues…
• Professional life can also lead to displacements whether in France or abroad: changes in mentality, culture, language, climate…

All these changes require very diverse adjustments. When chosen, they can, in principle, be easier to live with. They can happen suddenly and be disconcerting, confusing and cause destabilisation. Changes can be imposed by professional life; adaptation can take time and may not always be easy.

Invited to live these changes to the best of our ability

However, we note that whatever the changes:

• The fact of being welcomed and assisted by those around us, our colleagues, their trust, can help make the changes easier to overcome.
• They can foster personal growth, help one discover the resourcefulness of the human being, the richness of another culture, the discovery of the “other” in the depth of his/her human nature.

We realize how much we need others, how we must rely on one another, how we need to grow in love of neighbor… in humility, in kindness …

To love one another

We also remember that to move forward in life, we must love one another as Christ has loved us. Only then do we succeed and will continue to succeed to cope with the constant changes that we encounter in our personal or professional life as well as in today’s society.

Therefore, let us go forth bearing this in mind: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

We ended our meeting with the beautiful prayer that Mère Marie de St. Charles used to address to Our Lady of Light who accompanied her in her daily activities and undertakings.

Marie Annick, lay associate of the fj. Rennes, France