Charles de Foucauld - Spirituality of Imperfection, Seminar was held in Sadhoke, Pakistan

Gujranwala, Pakistan: December 16, 2009, (PCTV Newsdesk)

Seminar “Charles de Foucauld- Spirituality of Imperfection” was held in Sadhoke-MAP from 3rd Dec -6th Dec 2009. So, Father Emmanuel Asi a renown personality in Pakistan for his numerous activities for the betterment of Christian Community. He is known for his MAP (Maktaba-e-Anaveem) as they conduct the youth programs and seminars for the betterment of Christian Community. So, thanks to MAP that they arranged this 4 day seminar for the youth as well as all age groups in the remembrance of Brother Charles. There were lectures, meetings and group discussions about the His life and greatness in this 4 day seminar.

Charles de Foucauld was born on September 15, 1858 in France. He lost his faith early in life, but at the age of 28 had a powerful conversion experience. From that moment on, all of his life was fixed on living the Gospel and his love for Jesus. After a variety of experiences as a Trappist monk and a time spent in the Holy Land, he conceived of a new form of religious life, a life closer to the daily lives of the poor. As Jesus at Nazareth, he wanted to live amidst the people, rooted in a culture, sharing the condition of those who live from day to day by the work of their hands-- of those who have no security at all and who are the poorest of the poor. He did not envision preaching the Gospel in words as such, but by crying it out with the witness of his whole life; a life lived in shared friendship, silence and prayer. He wanted to go beyond all of the boundaries of religion and race and to become known as a "universal little brother"; the little brother of his beloved Jesus. Brother Charles of Jesus died on December 1, 1916 at Tamanrasset in the midst of the Sahara. An innocent, defenseless victim of an assassin's bullet he fell to the sand like the grain of wheat which dies so that it can bring forth its fruit... Throughout the world today there are many little groups (religious brothers and sisters) which claim as their spiritual father-- Charles de Foucauld.

It was a cold day and I wake up at 7:30am on Friday 4th December. Last night was tough due to a lot of travel from Islamabad to Sadhoke but with a hope to spiritual treasure. I was sharing my room with Father Emmanuel Asi. The offering prayer was at 7:30am and it was the start of this 4 day Seminar. I woke up deliberately with a happy face and mood and rushed towards the washroom. I was getting late so I took the bath and changed my clothes excitedly. It was a very cold morning due to a lot of greenery and my teeth were shattering. I went to the chapel service, surprised to see 30 people from different areas of Pakistan, as this was place were in rural area. The rhymes and bible recitation relaxed my mind and provided satisfaction which I can’t explain in my words. At 8:30 am it was the time to have breakfast. It was a good time to meet people, so I regard all of them and introduce myself. At 9:00 am, It was the first lecture by Fr. Emmanuel Asi about the spirituality of Brother Charles. His main focus was on the struggle, efforts and hope of Brother Charles in searching the God. He used to say that “ If the God is there, let me be knowing him” And after knowing his aim he said that I was for it and I’ll live my life for it as it’s my only aim in my life. After that, we had a tea break for half an hour. The 1:30 hr lecture made people excited as there were so many discussions going on among the people on tea party. No sooner or later, at 11:00 am it was announced that there will be a group discussion to be held for 1hr. The groups were made with 5 to 6 people, altogether there were 5 groups made. And. We had a good discussion about the life of Brother Charles. After that at 12pm, we had the chapel service and prayers. It was fairly conducted by Father Emmanuel Asi. At 1pm we all were gathered for the Lunch. I avail this time to meet other people and have a sharing of thoughts. This time made me relaxed and I really enjoyed this time. At 3pm, we had a great tea time and it was a relaxing time in so much cold there. At 3:30pm, we were again gathered in our previous groups. A selected verse of bible was given to all of the group members and were said to read it again and again and share the views that come in our minds.  At 5pm, Father Mukhtar Alam shared his views about the importance of sharing a pious person like Brother Charles within us. As we are fed up with our lives, faraway from God, having numerous troubles and as our spirits are restless. At 7pm, we had the “yukhrasti sijda” in which we have to bow down in front of God for an hour and keep on thinking about the God or his some particular event, so that we can have a better contact with him. After that, we had the dinner meal and I was feeling quite sleepy due to lot of these activities, without any rest. After the dinner, Little Sisters of Jesus prepared a documentary about the early life of Brother Charles, its importance and shared it with us. After that, some started talking to each other or some went for the rest due to much cold weather. When I was lying on my bed, spontaneously thoughts were coming to my mind about the life of Brother Charles and the things which I learnt from the lectures.

Next day, I woke up at 7am, the Morning Prayer was changed to 7:30am, I rushed to washroom, the water was cold enough but it had no match with my excitement. I was happy that it will be a happy relaxing day as yesterday. So, I changed my clothes and went to the chapel. After it, at 8:30am, we had the sweet, delicious and cold breakfast as the sun wasn’t risen yet. At 9am, Mr Mushtaq Asad proposed a lecture about the daily negligence of God and made a comparison between us and Brother Charles. He focused on the point that it is very important to show your innersole. You mustn’t be a copy of someone. You should be inspired by someone but should not copy someone. He said that history doesn’t include someone who has copied something from someone. Instead, he includes those who become what they haven’t copied. Second point was that we always go for perfection but we don’t seek for imperfection. In case, Brother Charles went for the people with imperfection rather than perfection. After it, we again had the tea party, according to our previous routine. After it we were again arranged in groups and discuss and share the views abut the today’s lecture of Mushtaq Asad. After that, at 12pm, we had the prayer offering conducted by Fr. Mukhtar Alam. And after that, we had the lunch and tea party. I used this time to be spent with other group members from different cities. At 3:30pm we had the biblical sharing with one verse selected and were said to share views upon it within our groups. After it, at 4pm we had the lecture by Father Inayat Bernard upon the main focus of Brother Charles. He focused on the importance of family with there gatherings upon meals. They are important as they allow every family member to discuss their daily problems and troubles. He also focused on that Jews don’t even like those people who aren’t Jews. But Jesus said that “I say to you that you should love your enemies and pray for those who trouble or irritate you”. After that we again had ”yukhrasti sijda”. Then we had the dinner party and after all there were small shows performed by the youth. Next day we had the offering prayer by Fr. Emmanuel Asi in the morning at 7:30am, then we had the breakfast and attended the last lecture by Sister Rihanna about the affection of people towards Brother Charles. There love and affection towards his personality. Then we had the tea party and it was the time for departure. I met everyone even If I hadn’t talked to him. And we made the group photo. These types of programs esp. related to the personality of saints or great peoples are very important to our youth. These seminars help the youth in personality development and aware us with the great personalities. Like this Brother Charles four day Seminar, we got a chance of think deeply and examine the life, desires and hardworking of Brother Charles for the people who were hopeless and they weren’t happy at all. And it was only the Brother Charles who left the army and priesthood to help the poor people and lived his whole life faraway from the comforts.

I got a chance to have an interview by Sister Rihanna from France and is a member of Little Sisters of Jesus. I asked her for a few questions about her journey and struggle to Pakistan. Sister Rihanna came to Pakistan in 1974. She is a member of the Little Sisters of Jesus Congregation. She claimed that they came to share the life of Brother Charles to fellow Christians and Muslims. As Brother Charles said that his search of God was started when he was inspired by Muslim teachings, belief and customs. She also said that there are two congregations under the Brother Charles teachings. One is the Little Sisters of Jesus and the Charles Group. In it, our motto is to follow the Life of Jesus at Nazareth. They are working with the sorrows of neighbors and have been working with handicapped children. There are also some people attracted by our spirituality and have regular meetings and sharing of the Gospel with us. They are called the “Charles Group”.

Report by Adoni Aamir