“My heart is burning, like in the story of the pilgrims to Emmaus”

All my life, I have taken paths through random opportunities. A prep program was opening in my high school: why not? Teaching law and economics? Not my cup of tea, but why not? And yet, my life has been oriented. Very early. “You are going to see Jesus,” I was rashly told before my first communion. What a disappointment!

This is where my search for the face of Jesus begins. Two years later, the image of a pietà upsets me. Why did men make Christ suffer so much? As a teenager, I attended the incredible chaplaincy of Sceaux (Hauts-de-Seine), run by Father Jean-Claude Bée. I am learning to question biblical texts: how do they shed light on my daily life?

At 18, after my baccalaureate, I went to Taizé (Saône-et-Loire). The songs, the silence enter my heart. And the freedom, the depth of exchanges with young people from all countries… What joy! One day, armed with a notebook and a pencil, alone in the church, I take stock: what encounters, what experiences have brought me here? What to do with my life? Suddenly, I am taken. How to say? My heart burns, like in the story of the pilgrims to Emmaus (Luke 24, 32). I feel bubbling with energy. Ready to open doors. At the end of the stay, a brother came to me: “We are going to set up an international meeting in Paris. We need you to organize the reception of young people in the south of Île-de-France. » I cite my shyness, my inexperience, my entry into preparatory class. But I say yes.

The years have passed. It doesn’t stop. While investing fully in my professional life, various calls allowed me to do what I did not think I was capable of: participating with my husband in the Compagnons des Scouts de France national team; set up a catechumenate course; create a group to support migrants in the diocese, etc. Recently, some friends led me to follow a training course* where we deepen the foundations of faith in connection with our life. We had to come with a biblical word. This speaks well of my experience: “The rain and snow which come down from the heavens do not return there without having watered the earth and made it germinate, (…) so my word (…) will not return to me without result, without having done what pleases me. » (Is 55, 10-11).

* lecif.fr