It is the time of the year when everyone speaks of sacrifice, penance, fasting, suffering and so on. We are asked to meditate on the passion of Christ and the price He paid to redeem us.
For us, the followers of Cardijn, this meditation is not a ‘once in a year’ ritual but an every day event. By seeing the contradictions that exist in our day to day reality, we have judged the consequences and causes of such dehumanising situations in the lives of the people, learnt from experiences of those who have lived and struggled before us and dedicated our lives to act to restore human dignity and build another world.
We have discovered the joy in suffering isolation, dismissal, suspension, reduction in wages, imprisonment and even to face death for the sake of ‘love’ for humanity.
When we see small changes owing to our actions, when we see the smile on the face of those benefited from our actions and when our own mentalities and attitudes undergo change for the better, when we see bigger changes in the community….these events give us joy; this joy is like the joy of ‘resurrection’, the joy of Easter.
Cardijn Community International (CCI) is one such network which enables the followers of Cardijn to continue to live this life of ‘passion and resurrection’ and to promote Cardijn’s vision, spirituality and methodology.
CCI is in its 10th anniversary year. To commemorate this, we are organising an International Forum on ‘Peace Building towards Sustainable Development’ and a General Assembly of all Cardijn Followers from the 23rd to 25th July 2011 in Bangkok.
All Cardijn followers (even those currently in Cardijn movements) are invited to join us in Bangkok. Contact: cardijncommunity@hotmail.com for more details.
Wishing every one of you a very happy and blessed Easter.
M. J. Ruben
International Convenor, CCI
Stefan Gigacz
International Secretary, CCI