BLESSING, REV. FR. DENNIS LOOMIS, MS -- SUPERIOR GENERAL

Today, a blessing from the Superior General of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette

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My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As you gather for the first ever worldwide meeting of La Salette Associates, I wish you all a very warm welcome, all be it from a long distance. I regret that I am unable to join you in person, but I will be with you in prayer and in spirit. 

These past fifty years in Church history have presented us with a model of Church that goes back to the earliest times of our faith, and recaptured once again in the Second Vatican Council. Many observers of the Council have held that the most important outcome of the Council was to restore the proper place of the laity in the Mission of the Church. There were certain principals enunciated that clearly capture the role of the laity in a new light. When I was a young man, alas many years ago, the place of the laity was simply stated. Their place was to pray, pay and obey. That model of Church, fortunately, was completely discredited when by the grace of the Holy Spirit; John XXIII called for an Ecumenical Council, despite the objections from many in the hierarchy of the Church.

Thanks to this courageous act, a new age has dawned. Today a new principle has been enunciated to describe the Church, one that is all-inclusive rather than the former description that was heavily based on the principle that the most important part of the Church consisted of the clergy and the religious.

 In short, we the Council gave us a new vision.

First, we are all Disciples of Christ.

 Second, all of us share the responsibility for carrying out the mission of Christ.

 Third, the Church’s mission is the extension of Jesus’ proclamation of the Good News in service of the Kingdom.

In the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, we find the following:

            The principal duty of both men and women is to bear witness to Christ, and this they are obliged to do by their life and their words, in the family, in their social group, and in the sphere of their profession. (no.21)

We, the La Salette family, laity and religious, go forth together in our mission because of the two commands we have received.

“Go therefore, make disciples of all nations…”  (Mat. 28: 19)

“Well my children you will make this know to all my people.” O.L. of La Salette

We should not be afraid of the mission confided to us. We must always keep before us the promise of Jesus to those first disciples:

“And know that I will be with you always; yes, to the end of time.” (Mat. 28: 19)

With every best wish, and with all my prayers,

Yours truly,

Dennis Loomis, MS

Superior General of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.

BEAUTY, GOODNESS, TRUTH

THE BEAUTIFUL LADY

Over the last two days Father Isidro Perin, MS has been providing us with meditative reflections based on the facts of the vision as interpreted by the first people to come on contact with the Apparition as reported by the children, Maximin and Melanie.  He then took us through a series of reflections based on a re-reading of the facts, the conclusions of the past as developed by over one hundred years of spiritual experience by those who have adopted the Message as a rule of life.
We began by talking about the way the two children talked about what they had witnessed.  They constantly referred to the "Beautiful Lady."  So we reflected a long while on the meaning of that description of the "Lady."  We asked ourselves if she was really "beautiful" and if she was, what made her beautiful.  Two young children could have different views of beauty than those of us who live our lives today and still consider it to be the truth that she was beautiful.  They said that she was surrounded by light and that in itself would make her beautiful in their eyes.  There is also a certain depth to the description of her beauty because they reported that she cried all the time.  When people cry the natural, physical beauty which they may possess is dimmed somewhat by their aspect of sadness and trouble.  However, the children never wavered in their description of her.  Something deeper that physical beauty then had to move them to describe her as beautiful.  Through the years, those priests and bishops who were the first "on the scene," so to speak quickly came to the realizatiion that it was the Lady's expressions of goodness that made her so beautiful.  Inside the light, beyond the crucifix on her breast, besides the roses decorating her raiment.  This was a person who was special.  She was kind.  She was good.  She was gentle.  She took care of them.  They both had hard lives at home and here was a person who was reaching out to them.  That attitude hardly ever, if ever, was shown them at home.  They knew that she was good.  We know that she was good by the way she spoke and the way she behaved in their presence.  Although she was crying, she accepted their presence.  She did not shun them despite what could have been her embarrassing moment of discomfort.  More than that.  She acknowleged their presence by inviting them to approach her.  In her invitation, she was kind to them.  "Come near, my children..."  Imagine the feeling that these simple children must have felt to be invited so gently to come near to an adult.  Her kindness is most certainly an element of her beauty.  Even we can see beauty in kind and loving people, even though they are not really that beautiful physically.  The meeting of these two concepts drives the two children to not be afraid to report the event to the adults who ruled their lives.  The kindness and the perceived beauty convinced the children that what they were saying was the truth.  This was real.  Not only was it real for them, it was real to everyone else to whom they told the story.  Over and over again, without having to "sell" the story, the truth was easy to see because of the unity between the beauty and the kindness of the "Beautiful Lady."  As the discourse continued, the facts that the Lady recounted to the children proved to be true.  All the behavioral and natural elements that the Lady mentioned were true.  This was an encounter that was inevitably  bound to be judged true.
The lesson for us is clear.  As followers of Jesus and His Mother, we strive to behave in beautiful kindness so the truth of our actions will be visible.  It is essential for us to be able to be kind and truthful so that it will be clear by the beauty of our behavior that our message is in fact true.  This lesson is not just for La Salette people, of course.  However, since we have the model, it is our mission to put it out there for all to hear and to have a chance to put into practice.  

THE LANGUAGE OF THE APPARITION AT LA SALETTE

What is the language at La Salette?  Is it French? Portuguese, German? Spanish? Russian? English? A dialect of India?  Italian?  Tagalog?  Does anybody know?  Everyone knows and no one really knows. There are many people here at this "Encounter," the title that has developed for this moment who are true polyglots. There are also those for whom there is but one language, the one that they took from their mother.  After all is said and done, there is another language that ultimately is the reigning one here, the language that comes from the heart and soul of the mystery of Our Lady of La Salette, the Mother of Jesus.  This convocation is a 21st century development of the attitude and the behavior of Mama Mary.  Here two people start to talk to one another and realize that there is a better way.  They either change language or slow down and start using signs with their hands.  Yes, even though they are not Italian.  One of the miracles of the event is that the participants do not constantly seek out companions who speak their language.  They prefer to see what they can accomplish by trying to get answers to deeply personal and spiritual questions rather than to seek their personal comfort.  This is a case where the action of seeking and sacrificing personal comfort is a language in and of itself.  In fact, it is an imitation of the behavior of Mama Mary during her apparition here at La Salette.  She appeared to two unschooled cowherds.  She began by speaking to them in French.  Along the way in her discourse, she used an expression that they clearly did not understand. She then remarked, "My children, I see that you do not understand.  I will say it in a different way."  She then began to speak to them in their dialect.  She did not ask for the Holy Spirit's intervention to give the children the grace of understanding like what we read about in Acts.  No.  She accommodated herself to them.  The miracle here is that throughout the rigorous investigation of the children following the Apparition, they never wavered in their relating of the facts, even those which had been spoken in French. 
I mentioned using hands.  What about facial expressions?  Clothing?  Body position?  Physical beauty?  All of these speak volumes in the case of the La Salette Apparition. A beautiful woman, sitting, wracked with the emotional pain of sorrow.  A woman who is weeping and shedding copious tears -- Wait.  Not just a woman for whom we would have some degree of pity, but our Mother.  Not just our Mother, but the Mother of Jesus.  She was wearing clothing in the style of all the women in the area.  She did speak French to begin with, but she showed that she also knew the dialect and was not afraid to use it.  To speak to the children she stood up and got so close to them that they would say that another person could not have walked between them.  Who would not listen to such a person?  Who could not believe her after such an experience?  
In our encounter with our brothers and sisters from so many parts of the world, Africa, South America, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe we too stand so close to one another that we have to stand in a tight circle or sit around a small table to exchange our expressions of mind, body and soul.  It is true that not all of us can qualify as beautiful on the outside.  Oh, there are some, but certainly not the author of this article!  Yes, we are all  here together and yes, we are communicating.  Not necessarily through an interpreter.  We trust ourselves and we trust our brothers and sisters to the degree that we know that understanding is taking place.  When comfort at this level happens, speech is only a part of the message.
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Here are a couple of ways that you can get closer to the proceedings here at La Salette.  One is to got to the You Tube site and pick the download you like.  You will be able to see us on one or two.
You get there by clicking on this link 
You can also email the group who is here, being educated and exchanging ideas for the good of the world wide community.  The address for that is
Salette2011@gmail.com
Please continue to carry us in your prayers.  
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Here is what a holy man from St. Christopher Parish in Moreno Valley, California wrote to me after yesterday's report:
There is always someone who does not get the word.  Had I known motorcycles would be there, I would have attended.  Thanks for the update.
Thanks.

WE CELEBRATE SUNDAY WITH THE MOTORCYCLISTS OF CORPS

This has been a real busy week.  At the beginning I was sure that I would have a lot of time for reporting.  I have a lot of time for participation, and by the time the clock rolls over to the time I should have to let you know what's happening, I'm dead.  The first four days of sessions have been full, full, full.  They have been marked by some very moving human and Godly actions.  The following are some observations for your reading pleasure.  Starting almost backwards, like reading the book from the back to the front, you are looking at a group of motorcyclist helmets.  September 4th was a day when the motorcyclists of the region come to the La Salette Basilica for the annual blessing of their vehicles and their helmets.  There are slightly less than 50 helmets there, all of them brought to the front of the altar in solemn offertory procession.  The priest behind the altar brought his too.  It was a rather moving sight.  what made it all the more impressive is that the bikes were parked outside in two rows to form a main aisle.  It was beautiful,made all the more beautiful by the holy water that was sprinkling them from the clouds above.  Like the presiding celebrant said, "We bikers don't fear a little rain."  The whole ceremony was very nice to observe and it was conciliating to help the bikers of all ages celebrate the blessing of who they are.

But you didn't come here for a biker story.  The International La Salette Lay Associate Community started its work on September 1, 2011.  There were some 39 participants present with still at least 4 left to appear.  Now that we are at the 4th going to the 5th, all who are to be here are accounted for.
As usual, these things begin slowly while the participants,although trusting and open to one another, have not hit their stride.  The initial moments resemble the initial meeting between cousins who meet for the first time.  You may prefer the comparison between this and meeting your son's friends for the first time.  We give people the benefit of the doubt on these occasions because we trust the ability of our first degree relative to pick people we will like before bring them home.  So, given the common relationship we all have with Mary at La Salette, it is not difficult to feel somewhat comfortable with the situation.  So it was easy to get off to a running start.

The most glaringly interesting phenomenon that exists in the event is the progress that people make in the learning of how to compensate for language barriers.  We have four major languages trying to talk to another.  English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, followed by smaller groups of people whose native tongues are Polish, German and Italian.  Fortunately we do not have to learn any Tagalog for this event.  People who were ashamed and fearful to speak at first, are now relaxed and when they have to communicate, they just throw it our there and they find out that they can, in fact, have simple conversations.  Our translators are first rate and the simultaneous translation system is very efficient.  For this reason, some rather heavy-duty learning has been imparted and received.  It remains for the receivers to prepare themselves to be on the "imparting" end of the information in a rather short time.

That's the overview.  One detail that is easy to report is that in this first week we have acquired much information about the nature of the Lay Associate communities in the La Salette locations around the world.  Listening the descriptions of the communities as they operate in their home countries provides everyone with some pride in the nature of their community as well as provide some ideas for progress for everyone.

Take it easy.  Tomorrow is threatening to be a long and tedious day.  If I can get to you I will.  I can't make any promises.

FIRST FULL DAY OF THE "ENCUENTRO" --- MEETING LAY ASSOCIATES

Greetings from France.  It has been a full day.  It started with a short morning prayer and was opened with our daily celebration of the Holy Mass.  After  the Mass the Queen of Heaven who came to La Salette to weep over her children was enthroned as the true chair person of the event.
First some good news and some not so good news.


Delegate John LaRosa, Lay Associate Leader for the La Salette Lay Associates working with the La Salette Missionary Sisters in North America has had a personal set-back and needs out prayers.  John is in Fairfax, Virginia.  His father recently took a turn for the worst and the prognosis is not in favor of a long prolongation of life. Let us pray that the family finds peace in the harsh realities confronting it.  We pray for you and your loved ones, John.
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Update concerning father Maurice Cardinal, MS.  The news is for more life.  Father Maurice is presently recovering quite well.  He is alert, breathing on his own, talking and so it looks like the doctors were successful in accomplishing what they set out to do.  Let's keep praying so that the recovery will be complete and that he will be able to resume his ministry of being the Spiritual Guide for the Lay Associate Community on the West Coast.
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The Internet transmissions from La Salette have begun and there will be one special one of 15 minutes in length featuring Father Ron Gagne, Ellen Herrel, Isabel Dion.  If you want them to answer your questions, you can email to this address in the next 24 to 36 hours.  to watch the the 15 minute presentation, click here and follow directions  on September 5 at 11:45 AM New York Time (8:45 AM Los Angeles time). You will see us there.  If you want to have a better idea of the information being put on the table, you can even follow all the sessions in the same way.  This address brings you to the place where you will find a complete schedule of all the proceedings.  So, make yourselves at home.  Beware, this could cause you to lose some sleep.
The author of this blog has become the secretary of the proceedings.  
That's it for now.  Now that I am the secretary, this will be your shining light for information.