A year ago, we were entrusted with two new parishes: Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and St. Adalbert. This fact brought a change for our mission in Prague and also a new challenge for the community of Communion and Liberation which in the 22 years since we had arrived in the Czech Republic, had formed with our house as its epicenter.
For us, the challenge is that we are first called to direct ourselves to the persons who already live an experience of faith that is substantial, whether they participate in the life of other ecclesial movements or whether they have been frequenting a parish for a long time.
For us, it was a rather new circumstance. The persons that we had met up to that point were for the most part in a mode of seeking, or they had cordially adhered to the proposal of our charism or they were tied to us due to a personal relationship. Now we are called to truly be the priests of all in a way that is more evident.
In these months, we asked ourselves what we bring to the persons to whom we have been entrusted. The first thing that struck our new parishioners is the common life that we three priests of the Fraternity have with each other.
The first thing that struck our new parishioners is the common life that we have
I remember a dinner from a month ago: a family of the parish of St. Adalbert had invited me to get to know their pastor better. It was an evening filled with questions that were not simply asked out of curiosity but out of a need to truly discover who we are. The aspect that had struck these persons the most -they told me- was that everything that we do or that we say has its origin in our unity. This surprised me because personally I think that we still have a long road to arrive to truly live the communion that we desire. But for the new persons whom we encounter, the simple fact that three priests make their decisions together is already a great witness.
The more that time passes, the more we become aware that everything that we can propose in the parish, whether it is the preparation for the sacraments or a pilgrimage or a cultural event, can truly bring newness not so much if it is organized well -even though this is also necessary- as much as if it is the fruit of the experience of fraternity that we live among ourselves. This is true newness, because communion is what is most lacking in the individualistic world in which we live, even within families.
The proposal of catechism that we make in the parish, then, is an attempt to live, even with our young people, the friendship that initially captivated me and which is one of the reasons why I entered the Fraternity of St. Charles. It has been beautiful to see how, during the months that pass, this friendship among the kids has been born and has grown. I hope that our proposals – from the group for the elderly to the meetings for families, to the groups of preparation for the sacraments- will always be the possibility to give rise to a true community, because only a community can truly be the place of testimony and mission.
