Tertianship at Bikfaya

On Monday 27 September, the anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, a new European Tertianship was inaugurated in Bikfaya, Lebanon, by Fr Franck Janin, President of the Conference of European Provincials, and Fr Michael Zammit Mangion, Provincial of the Near East. This third year, organised by the Conference of European Provincials with the help of the Near East Province, will be accompanied by Fr Dany Younes, instructor, and Fr Nawras Sammour, superior of the tertianship community.

Arriving at night in Bikfaya, I discovered the next morning after having understood how my shutters opened the magnificent setting in which we have the privilege of living this eight-month experience offered by the Society of Jesus. Anchored on the rock of Mount Lebanon, at an altitude of 900 m in the village of Bikfaya, the residence of Notre Dame de la Délivrance, which was the first house of the Society when it was restored, offers a splendid view of the ocean located 7 km away. Such a viewpoint invites peace, leads to contemplation, and the search for the essential.

We are 7 tertians from Goa, South Africa, Rwanda, Congo, Poland or France and together we will make community with our instructor and our superior. Two Indian tertians will join us in a few weeks, once their visas are obtained.

The theme of our third year will be reconciliation. For this, we will reread our Jesuit history for 9 weeks before the 30 days retreat which will take place from 22 November to 21 December and for which we count on your prayers. Then we will study the Exercises, go on a 9-week experiment before returning to revisit the foundations of our Institute.

This reconciliation, which is undoubtedly necessary if we reread any of our Jesuit histories, we discover that it is also necessary in this land of Lebanon, through the witnesses who come to speak to us about the challenges of inter-religious dialogue, the history of the country, and the churches that live together there. This morning Mgr César Essayan, Vicar Apostolic of Beirut for the Latin Rite Catholics in Lebanon, came to speak to us about his work as a pastor and the challenges it represents, with migrants, religious communities and political reconciliation in the Land of the Cedars. An invitation to consent to the death of that which bears no fruit so that resurrection can come into our lives.