Fr. François
PARADIS is very clear that his involvement in the Returning to Spirit is very
much the work of an Oblate. His involvement flows from the forty years of
ministry with First Nation Peoples in Western Canada. There is a very natural
connection between his ministry within First Nations communities and his
training and education work within Returning to Spirit.
“This is my work
to reach out to the marginalized and the poor.” Within in Canada, “the
residential schools have made people very poor.” This was not the original
intention in the establishment of the schools but “the Gospel got twisted in
the process. This ministry is repairing the damage that has been done even by
very well intentioned people.
“As a priest I
share the ministry of Jesus Christ. His ministry is all about reconciliation. I
see my ministry as bringing faith to the healing process. It is to help people
see the beauty of who they truly are. Returning to Spirit is a whole process
that gets us into reconciliation. This is the healing that Jesus wants. Some of
these people may return to Church but that is not the first purpose of
Returning to Spirit. Its first purpose is healing and reconciliation. Through
the process some people have rediscovered God.”
There is a
framing of his explanation. “Some people have always gone to Church but they
are full of hurt and anger. This process is very much in line with de Mazenod.
This is to return them to their dignity. It is to help them live in the dignity
in which they were created.”
François summed
up the entire ministry and the process of Returning to Spirit. “It is returning
to the spirit of who they actually are as a human being.”
François first
became acquainted with Returning to Spirit when he made his first workshop in
February of 2004. By January of 2006 he had received his training to be a
trainer of others for this process. In July 2007 he joined the Return to Spirit
team full time.
The process
begins with a five day workshop that directly seeks to empower three parts of
the participant’s life: empowering you to yourself, you to others and you to
your own life. The first three days seek to identify what is in front of your
spirit that prevents the person from being fully alive. What prevents this
person from embracing their own life? What keeps them stuck into their own
past? How do the negatives of the past keep showing up in the present?
The process of
this five day workshop asks where have they given up their personal power? What
keeps them from having personal power? How can they have personal power within
their own life?
The entire week
is very experiential. There are homework assignments for each evening that ask
the participants to apply to their own personal situation what they have learnt
during the day. The goal is to reach the point where they no longer have any
stuff that remains in the space between their relationships. What are the
angers, the resentments that block their relationships?
Each step of the
process builds on the preceding step. It is all inter-linked with one piece
building on the others pieces. The direction is to learn how to shift from
enduring life and just reacting to situations to a strength where they are
creating their own life. It means to move into an appreciation for their own
identity and live with authentic self-expression. It from within the spirit of
each person that the empowerment arises.
François is very
clear that there have been wonderful changes in peoples’ lives. “There have
been times of physical healing. Some people explain this as mere coincidence
but this is definitely a gift from God. It is God who brings about the
reconciliation that we talk about during the week. So many of these people
reach a completion to their lives that was unthinkable before the process
began.”
His work with
Returning to Spirit comprises training with non-aboriginal peoples (priests,
sisters, religious workers, lay people, social workers and educators). The
other team within Returning to Spirit focuses on aboriginal peoples. Once the
first workshop has been completed, the two groups (aboriginals and Church
people) join together for a more intense five days of working towards
reconciliation.
As he moves into
the future François plans to be involved in this ministry “As long as Returning
to Spirit lasts.” This was spoken with affirmation. (By Nestor GREGOIRE in www.omilacombe.ca)
