When I was in Normandy, I was devoted to my local Chruch with all my heart ; then I wanted to discover a different Church. It was to the Church of Korea that the MEP sent me. A very new church (the first baptisms were barely 200 years ago) and founded on the blood of martyrs, who bore witness through their lives of their attachment to the Christ.
I think that any Frenchman who discovers these faithful koreans, will find the piety and ardour of their faith striking. Through their history and culture, the Koreans are inhabited by transcendence and display an admirable faithfulness. The energy that flows from the parishes impressed me very much. In between Sunday masses, the parishioners garther, by group of age, to sing, pray, study, serve or help, and doing all this, naturally, with simplicity. Their generosity is a great lesson for me. They do everything with all their hearts, and live with a great sensibility.
Mass : different and familiar
I discovered from the first day that the Church is truly catholic, and truly universal. I was arriving in a new city, a new country, a new continent, I could not understand what was being said, and yet, the first korean mass I participated in felt familiar. It is a priceless blessing to be a part of this unity and fraternity, knowing that in the whole world, there are christians who pray to God with the same words, who receive the same commandments, and live the same sacraments. The Pope, the symbol of this unity, has left positive traces, still visible today, when he visited Korea two years ago.
When my mission seems demanding, prayer is a strength, for that is how we draw strength from all the life. That was what I left France with and what I use often in this mission I have been given.
I am inhabited by a great joy, being on the path of God. And I sincerely thank the whole staff of the MEP Volunteering service who helped me for my departure and have allowed me today to live this fundamental experience.
