Viator Web

N 73, October, 2016

Electronic Newsletter
of the
General Direction

Random thoughts about an uncertain future

Father Jacques Houle, C.S.V.

Province of Canada
First Profession: 16 August 1965
Priestly Ordination: 8 June 1969
Director of Viatorian Catechetical Services

Random thoughts about an uncertain future

Yes, it may be uncertain, but there is still a future.

In the spring of 2015, I celebrated fifty years of religious life. Two
of us took part in that celebration the only two out of an original
class of eighteen who survived the quiet revolution, which in fact
was not all that quiet. Many things have happened since August
16, 1965. Life has progressed, particularly in a Province of Quebec
that is still struggling to settle its accounts with the Catholic
Church.
That celebration, which marked the end of an era and perhaps
even more, as well as a long time spent in forced seclusion as
the result of an accident, gave me an opportunity to draw up a
balance sheet and to look at what is coming. That is all that I
needed to see the significance of the questions proposed by our
Superior General. It is in that context that I agreed to respond.
Thank you very much for inviting me.

Turning Points

From the onset, the questions are clear. We are talking about the future and especially about
turning points in the plural. If those turning points concern mission, spirituality, and community
life, they apply to both the Congregation and the Viatorian Community. It is at the confluence of
those two realities that the stakes are the greatest. However, we cannot hide the fact that we
know that certain tensions at times lively tensions exist.
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There is much talk about structures, about the charter, about the constitution. That conversation
polarizes many of the resources and energies that some people would prefer to see dedicated to
other aspects of the Viatorian reality.
My proposal, therefore, will include two aspects. One of those aspects, more analytical in nature,
will have helped me to summarize. The other aspect, more future-oriented, will try to flesh out the
turning points to which we are called.
A little bit of history
In 1964-1965, I was a member of the very last strict observance novitiate class. Vatican Council
II was fully underway and we knew that the religious life that we would be living would be entirely
different. It is only in the last fifteen years that I experienced the daily life of large residences.
The community life that I had known was one of living close to others, of sharing the Word every
day with the three or four confreres with whom I was living in fraternity, as people used to say.
Our fraternal living included the people in our neighborhoods, those men and women who shared
in the mission that had been confided to us. I am thinking of my pastoral work in schools and in the
gigantic suburban parish that was without a church and where everything had to be invented. The
close community experience in which I lived at that time helped me to measure its power a
power capable of multiplying resources that were oftentimes very minimal.
When in 1994, from an important General Chapter, there came forth an urgent appeal to very
strongly and insistently encourage the provinces, regions, and foundations to move forward with
the development of Association (C.D. 5.2), that was precisely what my daily life had taught me. Lay
people had shared my mission and, very concretely, had enabled me to accomplish it. I am thinking
of a professional catechist who was working very closely with us the term associate was not
yet being used and who was amazed to discover that he had a patron saint in the person of
Viator.

We were working in solidarity with one another. We were

inventing together. We were praying together. I can remember
sharing in some moving eucharistic celebrations in which we
found support and nourishment. While we were not speaking
about association, we were living in community.

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Where am I? Where are we?

I just used the imperfect tense in saying that we were living in

community. Does that mean that I never again lived in community?
Obviously not, but not in the same way. The 1994 General Chapter
challenged us, as did also our superiors. At the invitation of the
provincial direction, I brought together a community of associates.
That community still exists, even though, over the last eight years,
more than half of its members have died.

We were united by the common denominator

of precise and concrete commitments in
parish settings, as well as by the ideal of
living out those commitments as Viatorians
very much aware of the heritage that enriches
us. Viatorians are educators who have their
specific charism, which is not always easy to
define, but a charism nevertheless that is
also part of the heritage received from Father
Querbes.
Thus it was that I found myself responsible
for a pluralistic community, composed of
religious and committed lay people. While we
did share the Word and our lived experiences,
support one another, and have the same
missionary interest, we had no common
mission. In spite of that, year in and year out,
the community maintained itself. But did we
really succeed in living in community?
Additionally, when we are faced with the question of the future,
the moment of truth emerges as well. What I am living on the
level of the little community that I animate is a reflection of the
larger community that is ours, which we normally call the
congregation. Where are we? What are we doing? How is our
charism being translated? What service are we providing? What
do we mean by living in community? Where is our next
generation in Europe as well as in North America?
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Congregation and Community...

In the wake of the 1994 General Chapter and its challenges, Father Lonard Audet issued a number
of important documents, including his Circular Letter No. 8, in which he in substance exposed his
conception of the Viatorian Community, a subject that he would take up again in numerous
subsequent publications and in his conferences. It was with good reason that people consulted
Father Audet, since association was a concern for many religious congregations. Association took
on numerous faces, from simple pious activities to very well constructed projects such as ours.
But in re-reading them, does not one discover in the official transcripts of the colloquium on Laity
and Consecrated Persons How do they fit together? (Notes on Ignatian Spirituality, May-August,
2005) that the encounter between those two states is not an easy one? There are long debates
about lay identity, about the role of the consecrated, about membership that is full-fledged but
different, about participation in apostolic works or resources in order to read the signs of the times
and to stand in solidarity at the service of the mission. Must we not conclude, eleven years later,
that many answers are still being awaited?
Additionally, our situation is not lacking in originality. We speak about being equal but different,
especially defending the fact that all share, in the Church, the same charism of catechist and of
servant of the Word. During the aforementioned colloquium, while speaking about the Viatorian
adventure, Father Audet explained:
all are now called Viatorians, whether they be religious or lay associates. They thus
represent two distinct branches of the same tree, two branches attached to a common
trunk whose roots reach down into our foundational charism. Those two branches are
henceforth full-fledged heirs of the charism of our founder and co-responsible for its
development (Page 122).
Our archives, however, teach us that Father Querbes project changed, that his way of thinking
necessarily evolved. But insofar as this image of trunk and branches is concerned, it is interesting
to recall this extract from a rough draft of a letter to Bishop Depins dated 1828, in which can be
found the first hints of Father Querbes intuition. The vocabulary used by Father Querbes reveals a
great deal.
The Congregation could be composed of three categories: First, the Brothers, bound
by simple vows at the age of about thirty-three and, up until then, by the observance
of a common rule; Second, the Confreres, who, after having been brought up in the
minor seminary and after fulfilling the functions of school teachers, get married,
while manifesting their desire to continue being members of the society; Third, the
Affiliates or those who, without having studied in the minor seminary, would desire,
after several examinations, to enjoy certain advantages of the association. The first

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this institution. It is especially for them that the institution is being founded; it is by
them that the institution must be directed. The other two categories do not
participate in its administration; they are not so much branches as they are
dependencies, a sort of third order, alongside the Congregation (Pierre Robert,
The Life of Father Louis Querbes, page 145).
That was the point of departure

A problem of intermingling?
To understand well our recent official documents and the vocabulary used, even if no legal questions
have juridically been raised, the Congregation has now made space for the Viatorian Community.
But have we really settled the question of intermingling clerics and lay people or have we very
simply confused the issue? That is what the current uneasiness that we are experiencing leads us
to think. It would be foolish to try to hide that fact.
Since the image of the common trunk and the two distinct branches seems to be the most prevalent,
we must note that the differences are becoming more and more indistinguishable under the general
umbrella of Viatorians without specificity. Must we conclude that what is being proposed is a kind
of amalgam? But would we not be harming the very idea of association and running the risk of
seeing it disappear in the concept of Viatorian Community? The difficulty that the Canadian Viatorian
Community has had in establishing a certain degree of financial autonomy would perhaps be one
of the symptoms.

A first step to be taken

Would not, then, the first step to be taken be that of redefining the groups? In re-reading Father
Lonard Audets Circular Letter No. 8, I note that, after his vibrant plea in favor of the creation of
the Viatorian Community, he does not hesitate to revisit the model that he is proposing. After
doing so realistically, he concludes that, in perfect faithfulness to the founding vision of Father
Querbes and to the history of our origins, it would be permitted, with a bit of imagination and of
creativity, to think about alternative solutions that would make possible a better relationship between
the Congregation and Association in a sort of federation that would respect the proper identity of
the two groups (page 10).

Should we not be looking along those lines? The notion of a federative structure could have its
appropriate place in a proposed charter that would not in any way be definitive. That could make
for an interesting debate in Madrid.
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And three others...

The real issues, however, lie elsewhere. Our Superior General has pointed out three issues: mission, spirituality, and community life. Would it be good to put them in order of importance? Perhaps
not, but I am tempted to accord a special ranking to one that seems to me to be the cornerstone for
the entire edifice, whether we are thinking about the Congregation or the Viatorian Community.
1) Community Life
I have personally experienced two models of community life. The first model would be that of our
larger residences with their three-star hotel lifestyle. In that model, living in community consists of
coming together to pray and to share meals and when such is
possible in certain graced moments to have an open discussion
as a group about some question of current interest, be it Viatorian
or otherwise.
On the other hand, I have also experienced the tightly-knit life of
small communities with their ups and downs, but especially with
their rich moments of sharing, first of all, among religious that
was our daily way of life but also with friends and with men
and women collaborators. I have seen what a local community
can contribute to its surroundings. People need and are thirsting
for community life. Otherwise, people remain in sterile isolation.
Fortunately, I still have the opportunity to share the life of a small
community composed of religious and associates.
But here, we must be very prudent. The vocabulary that we use holds many traps. My present work
experience in the world of catechesis and as a teacher in the National Liturgical Office has led me
into the catechumenal universe, where questions are also being asked about community.
Neophytes and catechumens have a real need for a genuine welcoming and accompanying
community. And they are not the only ones...
But we discover that the situation of Christianity that Qubec has experienced has, as it were,
released it from any obligation to deal with the reality. As a matter of fact, people find that they
have inherited a community model or perhaps, more correctly, a parish model whose first
concern has always been to furnish a framework rather than to provide accompaniment. Is the
Church of Qubec the victim of a pernicious confusion between parish and community? The Church
is dying from no longer knowing what constitutes a community.
But, might not the same be said about us? We are trying to slide from being a congregation to
being a community. We know very well that there is something outdated in the word congregation
and that, spontaneously, we prefer the word community. But, at the same time, are we justly
evaluating what is hidden in its heart? We are talking here about accompaniment, about closeness,
about life. In fact, do we not refer to community life?
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Who will teach this to our Church, which is dying in its desert? It needs to cross paths with community
people, religious and laity alike, who will share with the Church what keeps them standing and
moving forward. The reality is two-sided and, for both us and for the Church, we have reached the
point of making or re-making a community orientation. The question must never be considered
closed. If we are concerned about passing on structures, perhaps we must very simply think about
reviving and sharing that which provides us with life today and the models that support that lived
experience. We must never lost sight of the fact that we possess a community expertise. Besides,
in that respect, the emergence among us of the phenomenon of association is more than
meaningful.
2) Spirituality
Speaking about spirituality is not simple in itself. To put it briefly, let us say
that spirituality inspires both our
personal prayer and our community
prayer. Spirituality is also an inheritance
received from Father Querbes with the
courage that dwelled within him. One
fine day, when disappointments were
accumulating one after another, Father
Querbes did indeed write: The Bishop
can disband us with a stroke of his pen.
We will strap a knapsack on our back and
go forth guided by Providence in search
of new challenges.
Father Querbes drew his nourishment
from two sources the Word and the
Liturgy. It is not surprising that those
sources have defined what makes a
Viatorian different.
When he finds himself treating the
wounds of the French Revolution, the
Christian education of young people, not
to mention their basic education, as well
as the re-christianization of adults,
present themselves as urgent needs.
Thus it is that Father Querbes chooses
to invest in two fields that of
catechesis by means of education and,
with great originality, that of liturgy by
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way of worship. The collaborators that he dreams of gathering into an association will certainly be
teaching personnel, but first and foremost lectors-teachers-catechists, as well as acolytessacristans-cantors who will see to the good order of liturgical celebrations. All of these are lay
people who find themselves being given ministerial roles.
So a bridge must be constructed and new orientations must be established. While coming directly
into contact with the Word of God in its integralness is not the least of Father Querbes concerns,
there is another one active participation in worship that also dwells in his heart. Convinced,
among other things, that such can be accomplished through music and singing, he gets down to
work immediately and publishes, in 1835, a first collection of sacred songs.
Additionally, we must carefully discern what is really his. While his approach to liturgical questions
is limited to what is available in his time and place, his personal intuitions provide a certain
enrichment. In the nineteenth century, going beyond the ritual to make liturgy into a foundation of
Christian spirituality or making the liturgy the object of theological studies or being concerned
about active participation were already more or less in the spirit of the time. Nevertheless, in that
context, Father Querbes was somewhat of a visionary. He had certain attitudes and emphases that
were his alone. And it is out of those that takes form the charism that we have inherited. Should we
search elsewhere? The 2000 General Chapter issued several invitations along those lines. But I do
not remember hearing any echoes among us.
Insofar as the Word is concerned, why should we not look at it afresh with the Viatorian eyes that
are ours as lectors? What exactly do lectors do? Two things. They will either read the Word for
themselves in the privacy of their room or in a library. Or they will read the Word for others by
proclaiming, loudly and strongly, the text that they have before them as they deliver the words that
it contains. Lectors, therefore, have a twofold relationship with the Writing. Their own reading
experiences convert them into disciples, as happens, for example, through lectio divina. In addition,
their function as lectors, as proclaimers, puts them at the service of forming disciples. They are
therefore performing a public service, a community service, which technically defines liturgy.
The foregoing are all truths that have been repeated to us over and over again. And yet, that is
where our specificity is to be found. That is where we must ceaselessly return to continue learning
and relearning. If some of us are feeling exhausted and are being tempted to throw in the towel, it
is because it is time to change directions and to return to what is essential.

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3) Mission
As soon as we begin reflecting a little bit deeply about community life and/or spirituality, we
inevitably are led to mission. Community life is not reduced to going around in circles and remaining
closed in upon itself. That would constitute a death sentence. And for what reason? The Church of
Qubec, with its program for closing parishes and selling religious buildings, is seeing its community
tissue melt away. Who is going to help? Where are the community people? Where are the Viatorians?

Rather recently, a Viatorian returning from Haiti was telling me that there is an urgent need to
form catechists in that country. Where are the Viatorians? That same question was raised at the
meeting held in Sainte-Luce-sur-Mer (Qubec) in July, 1999. Looking back at the profound changes
that had taken place in the situation of religious education in Qubec, with it having been relocated
to parish settings, and recalling the great sense of emptiness that was being felt, one of the
speakers had expressed his astonishment at not seeing the Clerics of Saint Viator getting to work.
Where were the Viatorians? And, today, where are they?
I can already hear people responding: Viatorians are always catechists in whatever they are doing.
Such is to be hoped, but it would be urgent to understand that we are talking about evangelization,
about christianization, especially in a world where things religious are drifting away. People have
a need to know and to understand. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How
then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe him
whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches? (Romans 10:13-14).
Where are the Viatorians?
And what can be said about the liturgy? It must not be forgotten. Viatorians should be specialists
in liturgy. But what are we ready to invest in liturgy, in research, in formation? The return to so
many of the confining practices inherited from the nineteenth century, with the risk of losing some
of the precious things acquired from the Vatican Council, demands that we reflect on the evangelizing
function of liturgy. Where are the Viatorians?
Everything fits together. We have the good fortune to have inherited both a community experience
and a twofold mission. That inheritance is the life of Father Querbes. That inheritance was his
everyday experience and his constant battle.
If there are changes to be made, I sincerely believe that Father Querbes is with us!
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