Students of the Aix faculty, in 1975
Here is my speech at the 50th anniversary of the Jean Calvin Faculty of Theology in Aix-en-Provence, where I studied for a year that was decisive in my journey.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Jean Calvin Faculty of Theology, I think back with immense gratitude to the month of October 1975, when I took part in the opening of the new faculty, a month that turned my life upside down.
I arrived here as an atheist and left as a believer, transformed by two profound realities.
The first is the transforming power of the Word of God. As I listened to a lecture by Professor Pierre Chaunu, a word from the Gospel pierced my heart. That evening, for the first time in my life, I got down on my knees and prayed. A single word came out of my mouth: « Forgive Me »!
At that time, I was in conflict with several people. The Word of God had made me understand that in the people I had hurt, it was God I had hurt.
The next day, as I was taking the train back to Lausanne, a fire ignited in my heart. And, in a split second, I understood that God is love and that he dwells within me, through this fire that has never gone out.
It was a kind of ‘Damascus Road’ or ‘Conversio subita’, as John Calvin calls it, in the two possible senses of the Latin term: both ‘sudden’ and ‘undergone’!
From that moment on, I devoted myself to the Word of God, with the desire to study it, understand it and serve it. And I started to do this by spending an academic year in Aix.
The Church, a road to Emmaus
The second reality that marked me was that of the Church, which I experienced concretely through the fraternity with the students and professors. It was within this fraternity that I heard a clear call to serve God in his Church.
I came to understand that the risen Christ is the heart of the Church, which comes to life as we walk with Him, seeking to fulfill His will.
I also understood that there is not only the road to Damascus, but also the road to Emmaus. A road with questions, highs and lows, peaks and dark valleys. But it is also a road where Christ joins us in the Holy Spirit to lead us to the Father.
With him among us, we can open up to one another, express all our questions. And as at Emmaus, he gives us his light, nourishing us with his Word and his Bread. His presence is above all a grace, but also a responsibility. We have to be vigilant in living with one another, so that he can fulfill his promise: « Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them ».
With the thirty or so students from the early days of the faculty, many of them men with long hair and beards, I discovered an immense reality, a mystery that continues to amaze me: the Church, « Christ among us, ‘the hope of glory ». A mystery that brings together Israel and the nations, as Dean Courthial was fond of saying!
For me, this faculty has been a place of spiritual transformation and of discovery of the greatness of service in the Church. May it continue to be a light for all those who seek the truth, and to inspire and transform lives!
Thank you all, and long live the Jean Calvin Faculty of Theology!
Laisser un commentaire