Assumption Together, lay people of Bondy testify
The Religious of the Assumption have been present in Bondy since 1955. The friendship shared with many lay people for decades is a strength for the community. Assumption Together is a living reality in Bondy! On March 12, 2022 Marie-Magdaline, Michèle, Huguette and Marie-Agnès will renew their commitment as associates of the community and Ana-Isabel will make her first commitment.
Not to forget and to give thanks for what I have received: to discover the meaning of the Incarnation
I have been walking with the Sisters of the Assumption for several decades. Linked to practical circumstances - the enrolment of my daughter in the catechism of my parish - this encounter was for me a new start on a living and renewed journey of faith.
Without theorising about it, and even without always paying attention to it, I gradually discovered the meaning of the Incarnation: an attentive look at each person I met, a real listening to the other, weaving bonds of brotherhood.
I got to know St. Marie Eugenie through contact with the Sisters of the Assumption and other lay people active in the school structures.
Strengthened by these daily relationships, I naturally tried to find out more about the message of St. Marie Eugenie. These are discoveries that make you dizzy, so deep and diverse are her initiatives that we never finish knowing.
So, my membership in Assumption Together is in a way a culmination: I now cultivate a close relationship with the sisters and friends who give content to the message of the Gospels.
How does the spirituality of the Assumption help me through my trials? Like so many others, I have just lived through two years of pandemic, associated with the death of my husband. This situation made me feel isolated and absent. But I was able to measure that I was not really alone; the relationship with the community and friends never totally stopped: whenever it was possible I came to share the prayer of Vespers, and - thanks to the new technologies - the various news received from the Congregation, and/or from the other communities made me share the various events experienced. This support encouraged me to hang on and ask the Lord for the strength to stand. Isn't this the "joyful detachment" taught by St. Marie Eugenie?
A revitalised baptismal life
With the sisters of the Assumption, I found a fraternal life rich in life and sharing between lay people and religious, a place where the welcome is always warm. Within the Community of BONDY, through parish life, retreats, pilgrimages, participation in the services, I find a place of renewal in the midst of the tumult of our lives.
Over the years I have discovered the Assumption, its foundress Saint Marie Eugénie and the charism of the congregation. Little by little I let myself be inhabited by the silent prayer, the strong times lived together, the songs... And I discovered this "joyful detachment" which inhabits our sisters and remembered this phrase of Saint Marie Eugenie "love never says enough". Through the Way of Life and all the moments spent with the sisters and their friends, my baptismal life has been revitalised.
With COVID, our lives were shaken up, no longer allowing us to come and drink from the source of the Assumption freely, and I realised how much my commitment to the community of BONDY nourished not only my life of faith, but also my human life in my family or at work.
Differences are a grace to build a better world
I have known Assumption Bondy since 2006, and my children attend the college and the high school. The Assumption allows children and young people to have an education with values that help build a better world. The schools welcome each child in a benevolent way while keeping their identity, so that they can grow with others. Differences are a grace because they allow the Assumption identity to be affirmed.
The sisters leave their comfort zone to go to the poor where they are, everywhere in the world.
Personally, the Assumption allows me to remain anchored and centered on Christ in my daily life. The meetings, retreats, pilgrimages and spiritual accompaniment help me to grow in my faith.