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The Community of St John
Mgr Keith Barltrop, the Director of CASE (Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation) reflects on the charism of the Community ofSt John, one of the new ecclesial communities to have emerged since Vatican II
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"Feet on the earth but their heads in heaven" Are they a charismatic community? Not if by charismatic you mean speaking in tongues and laying hands on each other. When they talk about inner healing they are more likely to see it as coming through the long hours they spend in silence before the Blessed Sacrament. On the other hand, the community has taken the lead in introducing the Alpha course to France, and is thoroughly involved, for all its mystical and intellectual leanings, with the world of young people, families and children. A headline in a French magazine last year said they had "their feet on the earth and their heads in heaven" - at least, I think it meant that, rather than "head in the clouds"! But the most charismatic things about the community are probably its founder and the story of its foundation. I have had the privilege of knowing Fr Marie-Dominique Philippe, OP, for several years, and every time I meet him I am convinced I am in the presence of a saint, not least became of his joy and lightness of touch. 1 ince drove him to the Charterhouse Parkminster, Britain's most austere religious house, where we spent one of the funniest evenings of my life in the company of the Prior, an old friend of his, in a vain search for a bottle of Chartreuse. Someone once described Fr Philippe to me as "completely docile to the Holy Spirit", and the unlikely way the community was founded bears that out. In 1975 five of his recently graduated philosophy students at Fribourg University asked him to continue to care for their spiritual and vocational formation. Perplexed by this unusual request, and not at all inclined to think of himself as the founder of a community, he consulted Marthe Robin, the French mystic who for many years is said to have lived solely on the eucharist, and who is linked with so many of the new French movements. She told him he had no right to refuse them, that this could well be the way the Holy Spirit wanted to bring a new religious family to birth, and - she added pointedly - "I do not SB) it of myself, it is ln/m Jesus that I tell you this." Like all charismatic utterances, this one has to be tested by its fruits, which are impressive, not least because the community has had its fair share of difficulties as it matures: only last year ten brothers left the community after a dispute as to its true charism. The early history of well-known religious communities is full of such things. Fr Marie-Dominique, at least, professes himself astonished at the growth of the community, which he thought would always remain a tiny group. "A house in England?" What does the community have to offer, particularly if it eventually founds a house in England? What strikes any visitor to Rimont and St Jodard, the community's two houses of formation in the Loire and Burgundy regions respectively, is the extraordinary combination ofcharisms. The study of philosophy remains central, since the community believe that without it the young are all too easily led into intellectual and moral confusion by the siren voices of the New Age and other aspects of contemporary confusion. If philosophy sounds an unfamiliar remedy to English ears, one need go no further than Pope John Paul II' s Veritatis Splendor for confirmation, and this is no accident, since the Pope and Fr Marie-Dominique were firm friends. "The three wisdoms: philosophy, Scripture and wisdom" But philosophy is only one of the "three wisdoms"
which the community pursue, the others being Scripture and mysticism.
In this light, the dedication to St John becomes clear: the community
seeks a truth which is both rational and contemplative, a truth which
requires intellectual engagement, but can only ultimately be drawn from
a contemplation of the heart of Jesus, as experienced by St John when
he reclined on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper.
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The
magnificent Romanesque basilica in Souvigny, central France, was packed
to the gills 2 years ago, on Pentecost Sunday, for the solemn profession
of 15 new brothers of the Community of St John. The three hours that
this dignified, but joyful ceremony, took passed almost without noticing,
and was followed - after a short meal-break - by one of those open-air
multi-media displays that the French are so good at.