Jean Vanier

Whoever exalteth himself shall be abased,
And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:12

It would be hard to find anyone living today who better exemplifies this gospel saying than Jean Vanier, the son of a Governor General of Canada.  Vanier seemed destined for a distinguished academic career, having received a doctorate in philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Paris for his dissertation on Aristotle.

But in 1964, at the invitation of the Dominican priest Father Thomas Philippe, Vanier made an extraordinary career change: together with two men with developmental disabilities, he founded the l’Arche community.  Starting with a single home in France, Vanier has created a world-wide network of communities inspired by the Beatitudes.

At the heart of these communities are people with a developmental disability and those who share life with them.  Some time ago I went up to Richmond Hill to visit the L’Arche community there, which is called “Daybreak.”  What was once a farm in rural Ontario is now hemmed in by million dollar homes; a community living by the Beatitudes now has to defend itself against a secular community motivated by greed and selfishness.

Why would Vanier, or, for that matter, any of those who have volunteered to work in these communities, abandon the way of worldly success, in order to create homes for those whom society has rejected?  Quite simply, out of love for Christ, who during his earthly ministry showed solidarity with those whom society had marginalized, and who declared to his disciples, “Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me” (Matthew 25:40).

If Jean Vanier illustrates the self-humbling of the exalted, the core members of the l’Arche community, as the handicapped residents are respectfully called, illustrate the exaltation of the humble.  Supported by the love and assistance of those with whom they have now found a home, these “least” of Jesus’ brethren have been able to achieve their personal best and to become useful members of the society which had no use for them.

I cite one example among many.  In a shell after the death of his mother, Mel Kirzner came to “Daybreak” at the age of 27 unable to talk.  Today, although legally blind, Mel navigates the TTC on his own to work at the Daily Bread Food Bank, where he has been honored as volunteer of the year.  Mel also fulfilled a lifelong dream when he celebrated his bar mitzvah at the age of 54.

Our community here at the Good Shepherd knows only too well what is meant by the abasement of the exalted.  The crowded church of yesteryears, where you had to come early to get a seat, is now a small community of faithful souls, who hope against home, not to regain the glory of the past, but at least to be able to have a future. 

May the example of Jean Vanier’s love for Christ’s poor inspire us to embrace the gospel paradox that it is in giving that we receive, and it is in dying to self that we find new life.

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October 4, 2009