This week’s service was prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community at Sablonceaux Abbey.
Reflection text
Practice blessing as the ultimate response to cursing!
Excerpt from the book “Reparation” by Cardinal François Bustillo (Fayard edition, 2025, taken from pages 149-152)
Biblical tradition has bequeathed us the sacred art of blessing! Far from being a mere word, a blessing was an offering, linking the living to their ancestors and souls to promises ! We are called to speak well in our daily lives, to do good through our words, and to dare to overcome our fear of being judged and scrutinized ! Blessings restore generous speech and a more benevolent way of being in the world. But before speaking, subject your words to Socrates’ three filters! (Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful?). Cultivate speech that is true, good, fruitful, and uplifting.
Our times call for new creativity in how we convey what is good and right, especially to younger generations! According to Ephesians 4:31, it is urgent that we root out bitterness, anger, and outbursts from our lives in order to revive words that bless, that do not hurt but uplift! Where humiliation brings down, blessing restores! Where contempt imprisons, praise liberates!
Let us make our society “a valley of baraka” according to 2 Chronicles 20:26, a valley of blessings, a place where human beings become accustomed to speaking well of one another naturally and freely! To bless is to create bonds, to build a social fraternity where everyone’s talents are highlighted, where successes are celebrated, where the beauty of the soul is recognized! By blessing even when it goes against the grain, we weave the threads of a more humane society! We enter into the great current of salvation history where God blesses his people!
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
For some time now, ecumenical meetings in the Diocese of La Rochelle have been linked to Jewish-Christian friendships. A training project for young people is being considered to help them learn about Judaism and combat anti-Semitism. A second meeting is planned for May 1st.
Lord, we entrust this ecumenical work to You, especially as it relates to our Jewish roots. May Your Holy Spirit guide those who embark on this path of mutual understanding and respect for one another.
For several years now, the brothers and sisters of the abbey have been working to make Sablonceaux Abbey a place of evangelization for visitors: an exhibition, a new chapel, a new shop… and welcome area, which will open at the end of March.
Lord, we entrust all these projects to You, as well as all the people who pass through the Abbey. May everything that is lived and built here be for Your glory, may this place be a space of peace, light, and proclamation of the Gospel.
On March 18th, at the Franciscan monastery in Paris, a conference will be held on the theme “Christian unity in Jerusalem: challenges, realities, and hope.” It will be led by Brother Stéphane Milovitch, a French Franciscan on mission in Jerusalem, where 13 different Christian denominations live. He will speak about coexistence, communion, and hope despite differences and wounds.
Lord, we entrust our world to You. We pray that violence will never be the solution to conflict, either between nations or between churches. May Your Spirit guide us toward unity and justice so that we may be peacemakers in our communities and throughout the world.
Prayer for Christian unity
Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen.
(Prayer written by members of the Chemin Neuf Community
inspired by a prayer of Father Paul Couturier)