This week, the service was prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Tibhirine, Algeria
Reflection text
Blessed are those who live as brothers and sisters
Brother Christian de Chergé, Happy are those who live as brothers, 2026, p. 174-175.
We discover that we are very ordinary… it is the somewhat bitter reward of life in a small community; and to accept ourselves as very ordinary in this way is the curious result of the work of grace in us.
As long as St. Peter believed that he could do better than the others, he was not mature enough for the high seas of the Church: he had to weep about it!
We have to accept that simple changes in temperature or pressure can cause uncontrollable mood swings. And also that natural things kept on a tight rein can come back at us at a gallop […].
And how else can we act when, going further, we experience within ourselves, once we have become a monk, tastes, aptitudes, temptations that are exactly the opposite of the Gospel ideal: on certain days, we would be ready to punch and even kill our neighbor for something trivial, something stupid. One feels a monster of jealousy, lust, laziness, selfishness rising within oneself… And what about pride and self-love? […]
And far from being a privilege for an elite, the monastery is above all a safeguard: what would we have been able to do in the world if we had stayed there…! “Take my life, I’m no better than the others!”
That is why we are right to begin everything by asking for God’s mercy and that of our brothers and sisters. But if we accept ourselves more and more as so ORDINARY, it is because CHRIST is, and HE alone is, more and more this EXTRAORDINARY MAN for us.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and the circumstances
From April 13th to 15th, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will be in Algeria to begin his journey in 4 African countries. He will visit Algiers and Annaba.
God Our Father, may this visit of the Pope encourage Christians living in Algeria and give joy to all Algerians, so that they may live more in a fraternity that freely respects difference. We entrust to you in particular those Algerian Christians for whom living their faith remains a daily challenge.
30 years ago, on the night of March 26 to 27, 1996, 7 of the 9 monks of the Tibhirine monastery were kidnapped. They were killed about 2 months later.
Our Father, may the witness of gospel non-violence of these disciples of Jesus enlighten the consciences of the men and women of our time, too often manipulated by political or religious leaders, the media and networks of influencers.
In Algeria, most of the meeting places of evangelical Protestant Christians have been closed by the authorities for several years.
God our Father, sustain them in this trial, may it strengthen their faith, their hope and their charity. We pray that the Catholics of Algeria will not be insensitive to these discriminations, and that they will be close to their brothers and sisters in the faith.
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)