Community of Mours :
Mours: a festive month of May!
We often talk about the month of May, like the month of holidays and long weekends, this year it will have been for us here, a festive month!
The 150th Anniversary Jubilee, organized by the AAPB (Association of the White Fathers’ Friends) of Paris and the Missionaries of Africa of MOURS, was celebrated on Sunday, May 19th. Yves has participated in several preparatory meetings in Paris and Mours. Jean-Louis prepared the park’s walkways to allow visitors to get some fresh air and planned for the lawns to be able to accommodate the 150 people invited for the day. Jean for weeks had been preparing an exhibition to present the Missionaries of Africa and MSOLA and renovated the glass roof space to install the panels brought by Bernard Lefebvre. Everyone on their own side had their hands in the game so that everything could go well. Everything was planned for us to live this day in the heart of nature: mass, conferences, aperitif and meal on the lawn and under the lime trees… But the weather changed our plans at the last minute and the day before we decided to review the program of installation of the festivities!
The tables, benches, sound system and barnum, graciously brought by the municipality and the Mours festival committee, had to be re-planed : the barnum was installed to allow us to have an aperitif outside, but we had to close ranks to enter the chapel for the Eucharist and sit in the glass roof.
Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise presided over the Eucharist and gave the homily… One of the participants, not used to listening to a bishop’s homily, had these words : “a message adapted to all the participants”.
Yves Masquelier in his welcoming address pointed out that this celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Missionaries of Africa brought together here: on the one hand White Fathers and MSOLA Sisters from the Paris region, but also Mgr Claude Rault, Bishop Emeritus of the Sahara and Fr. André Ferré from Tunisia, on the other hand the Friends of the White Fathers of the Paris region, but also the diocesan family of Pontoise, priests, religious and lay people, representatives of the town hall and the committee of the Monts festivals as well as a delegation of Burkinabe Christians from the region.
After the aperitif taken outside, we sat in the glass roof to enjoy an excellent meal.
Nous avons réalisé notre projet d’accueillir à Mours pour le 150è anniversaire 150 personnes ! Même si les conversations étaient parfois rendues difficiles à cause du nombre, la joie était bien présente et les remerciements se sont multipliés à la fin du repas quand les gâteaux du 150è ont été présentés par le personnel de la cuisine, alors qu’à l’extérieur la pluie tombait.
C’est à nouveau dans la chapelle qu’ont eu lieu deux conférences : l’une concernant l’histoire et le rôle qu’occupent les AAPB dans notre secteur et leur participation à l’aide pour l’Afrique, présentée par M. Bruno Dupuy, président des AAPB de Paris ; et la seconde par François Richard sur l’histoire de Mours avant l’arrivée des PB et surtout ce qui s’est vécu à Mours de 1950 à nos jours.
Si le thème de la 3è année de préparation de ce jubilé était de « regarder l’avenir avec espérance », nous pouvons dire aujourd’hui que « la mission, c’est notre vocation », comme l’indique le titre de la lettre pastorale de notre évêque, Mgr Stanislas Lalanne, et que nous nous y engageons tous avec les forces que nous avons.