Portraits of some witnesses to Christ

Franz Stock (1904-1948)

A Life Given for Reconciliation The first known act of the young German Franz Stock in favor of peace was his participation in 1926 in the meeting of Bierville, south of Paris, where ten thousand young people from all over Europe came together for peace. At Easter 1928, as a young seminarian, he moved to Paris to continue his studies. As his friend Joseph Folliet later wrote, “To welcome a German student at the theological faculty of Paris was something inconceivable for the mentality of (...)

17 March 2012

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)

Taking the World Seriously A brother of the community wrote the following reflection on the vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin regarding the importance of not separating faith from a concern for this world. A child holds a piece of wood tightly in his hand. But a thought takes hold of him: the wood will eventually rot. Now he has grabbed a rock, but he knows that the stone, too, is doomed to crumble. Here is an iron object. Finally, he believes he has something that will resist (...)

17 March 2012

St. Augustine (354-430)

Who was this man who influenced so deeply the thinking of the West? For some he spoke of an unsurpassable way of grace, of God’s love. For others he was guilty of a pessimistic view of human beings marked more by sin than by God’s love. In the course of history, schools of theology of the most diverse sort claimed his authority, sometimes giving rise to bitter controversies. But what has always fascinated people is his journey towards faith. By describing it in his Confessions, he helped many (...)

9 May 2009

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd Century)

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, through his transcendent love, became what we are, that he might bring us to be what he is himself.” (Irenaeus of Lyons, 2nd Century) The figure of Irenaeus has a particular fascination because he brings us so close to the very first Christian believers. He was born in the second century and grew up in the town of Smyrna, on the western coast of Turkey, where he heard the elderly bishop Polycarp teach. Polycarp had been taught by the apostle John. Irenaeus later became (...)

19 February 2008

Dorotheus of Gaza (6th Century)

Humility and Communion The Letter from Calcutta quotes this text from Dorotheus of Gaza on page 4:“Imagine that the world is a circle, that God is the center, and that the radii are the different ways human beings live. When those who wish to come closer to God walk towards the center of the circle, they come closer to one another at the same time as to God. The closer they come to God, the closer they come to one another. And the closer they come to one another, the closer they come to (...)

4 October 2007

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

The Relevance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young pastor who symbolized the German resistance against Nazism, is counted among those who can support us on our road of faith. In the darkest hours of the twentieth century, he gave his life to the point of martyrdom. In prison he wrote these words we sing in Taizé: “God, let my thoughts be gathered to you. With you there is light, you do not forget me. With you there is help, with you there is patience. I do not understand your (...)

19 June 2007

St. John Chrysostom (344 – 407)

Saint John Chrysostom (344 – 407): an astonishing modernity The Letter from Kolkata quotes on page 3 a text from St. Jean Chrysostom that recalls the unbreakable link between the Eucharist and solidarity with the poorest: “You wish to honour the body of the Saviour? The same one who said: This is my body also said: You saw I was hungry and you didn’t give me to eat. What you did not do to one of the least, you refused to me! So honour Christ by sharing your possessions with the poor.” (Homily (...)

19 June 2007

Mother Teresa (1910–1997)

Brother Roger wrote these lines in homage to Mother Teresa at the time of her beatification, in 2003.We live in a world where light and darkness coexist. Through the life she lived, Mother Teresa invited people to choose light. In this way she opened a road to holiness for many others. Mother Teresa made words written by Saint Augustine four centuries after Christ comprehensible to us: “Love and say it with your life.” Trust in God becomes credible and is communicated above all when it is (...)

19 June 2007