Taanayel 2024 Provincial Meeting – Called under the Banner of Christ

Approximately 85 Jesuits from the Near East and Maghreb Province, which includes Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, the Holy Land and Turkey, gathered in the Lebanese Bekaa in the monastery of Taanayel to listen again to the calls and the challenges of their countries. It is at the heart of Ignatian spirituality to see the reality around us, to listen well to its needs, to put this in our prayer, to discern the call of the Lord, to choose and decide what to do according to “His will”.

New to the province and first time to this gathering, I consider the chance to participate in the 2024 PRO Province Gathering a real privilege. Selfishly perhaps, it was first and foremost a chance to « put faces to names » of all the Jesuits I’ve heard fond stories of at table. Thanks to all the free spaces of the gathering – the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, coffee breaks and evening socials – I was also able to encounter these fellows on my « own terms, » getting a chance to break ‹ new ground › in conversations with them about how, when, and where Christ has called us in this least Society. I was particularly eager to meet the more (geographically) marginal of our brothers – notably from Ankara and Algeria – savoring and stretching the already impressive socio-religio-cultural diversity of this province and the Society’s even-more diverse engagement with it.

The gathering was not only a space to break new ground, however. After a first year of full-time priestly mission in a similarly marginalized house, but for geo-political reasons, I also cherished the opportunity to reconnect with brothers I had already met in Paris, Beirut, Amman, or Egypt; it was a time of retrouvailles, as well, catching up on each others’ missions and their corresponding consolations, desolations, and invitations. Again, this came around during meals and breaks, but especially in the robust « spiritual conversation » sessions. I loved applying the relatively « new » process of three-round sharing (a round of reflections on what « I » believe followed by a round of affirmations of what « you » believe, followed by reflections on what « we, » together, believe). I was moved by the depth of reflection, sharing, and listening – but even moreso by how the Spirit could and did find telling convergences in our ten groups’ sharings, then shared for the whole conference to hear! (This latter wonder was even more particularly pleasing for me, our group’s reporter, making my job a bit easier!)

Despite the provocative topics for these conversations that attempted to fend off any superficial langue de bois, I felt that (at least our group) was up to the task! We brainstormed together. We wondered together. In both French and Arabic, we named honestly and clearly our hopes and obstacles, the open doors and the brick walls in our experiences of the topics of community life, ecology, social work, or our particular Jesuit roles therein. I felt that our conversation was a kind of work, building on one another and pulling back the curtains on possible ways forward. While at the end of the day, I think while we can say that the process of praying and discussing together is itself valuable, there is still the oft-mentioned and nagging sensation that there’s still a lot of work yet to do: how do we incarnate all of these spoken possibilities and critiques back at home in our mission-communities… this being the ultimate goal of all our talk? That’s up to us in the coming months, sailing on the sails of our hoisted hopes with the winds of the conference’s fraternity at our backs.

Fr. Garrett Gundlach, S.J.

Delayed departures from Beirut were not included in the meeting and travel schedules that we received in the days leading up to the Province meeting in Taanayel. Nonetheless, these enabled us to experience the fraternal and gratuitous welcome that extended well beyond the end of the meeting. The reasons for the unplanned extension of our stay in Lebanon are known to us all and continue to drive our prayer for peace in Gaza, in the Holy Land, and in the entire Middle East.
I was asked to write about some thoughts that stayed with me after the meeting. Although I have lived in the Middle East since 2016, I have only been applied to the Province for just over one and a half years. These few lines are no more than a first-timer’s experience.
My main takeaway was getting to know so many Jesuits from or working in the Near East and Maghreb for the first time. Beyond helping me to put faces to names I had heard about, the meeting was a unique opportunity to spend time getting to know several fellow Jesuits who serve in this corner of the Lord’s vineyard and to appreciate the challenges we face on daily basis in quite distinct situations.
I was blessed with a sharing group in which each one of us could speak openly in the manner of spiritual conversation. This renewed in me the conviction that such meaningful conversation is indeed possible among us Jesuits. Only that it needs a climate of trust and the personal investment of each one of us.
Our liturgies, celebrated in different rites, were prayerful reminders of the diverse millennial Christian heritage of these lands, of the evolution and perseverance of Christianity in countries marked by religious persecution, migration, changing borders, and ongoing conflict. I loved the chant in the Armenian, Coptic, and Melkite rites, as well as the morning prayer with which we started every day, and the evening meditative-exhortative roundup by Hani Rayès. Maged-William’s final vows, pronounced in the eloquent simplicity of a fraternal Sunday Eucharist, were both a highlight and a reminder of our joyful duty to pray and work for new vocations to the Society, as well as to welcome and support younger brothers in our communities.
Despite our evident shortcomings on various fronts, sometimes the subject matter of table talk, for me, the bottom line of this Province meeting was an increase in gratitude for the Society of Jesus, through which the Lord continues to call us in his service under the banner of the cross.

Fr. Joseph Cassar, S.J.