.Europe Day.
.Together for Europe Day.
.9th May 2018.
We have a “second vocation”: we are a people of dialogue, communion, relationships, friendship and unity. It is only by building on a relationship of brotherhood that Europe will find solutions to its historical challenges.
At their recent meeting in Vienna, ‘Friends’ of Together for Europe unanimously agreed to find ways to explore synergies with the celebration of peace and unity in Europe, and to set in motion on this occasion their shared values.
In the days before and following the 9th of May Together for Europe will hold moments of celebration, of prayer, cultural events, round tables and so on in different European countries to showcase a new way of life, one characterised by “TOGETHERNESS”.
There will be plenty of colour and variety in all these incarnations of together in different countries, languages and cultures!
The ‘open secret’ that animates all these events will be the bond that links our charisms – new and old – a bond that transcends nationality, ethnicity, borders and Churches. Our brotherhood in Christ and with people of good will, weaves a network for Europe – “House of nations, family of peoples”.
9th of May is our celebration: a celebration of those who through the life of the Gospel nourish and strengthen a culture of togetherness within and between Movements and Communities, working with one another in cities throughout Europe.
Let us all live, showcase and share with others this culture of ours! 9th May could indeed become a “Together for Europe Day”, one aimed at encouraging all kinds of endeavours that will inject new life into existing institutions, highlighting the efforts of many and contributing to the fulfilment of the great European ideal in today’s Europe.
Various ideas, prayers and quotations for 9th May are offered on our website to inspire our own small but essential contribution to this big shared enterprise.
Together for Europe sees itself as an “artisan of fraternal relationships”,
the kind of relationships that it tries to build each day with the people of Europe.
Two young people from Western Europe and two from Center-Eastern Europe answer the same questions, and show us how to prepare together for the 9th May, Europe Day.
With different ways of expressing themselves, different accents, and the intense, open look that characterises young people, they are like tiles of a coloured mosaic that is as vast as the continent of Europe. Let’s begin with them in our own little Europe.
People say many different things about Europe. One of the most accurate descriptions of Europe was given by Pope Francis. According to him, Europe is not a “thing” but a “process”. Europe “is” not, it “is done”.
Together for Europe identifies with this definition because it sees itself as an “artisan of fraternal relationships”, the kind of relationships that Together for Europe tries to build each day with the people of Europe.
So, looking ahead to the 9th May this year, Jeff Fountain, one of the “friends” of Together for Europe, from the Schuman Centre For European Studies/YWAM has put forward a proposal. Just as every country celebrates its own national identity, why not celebrate our connectedness, our interdependence?
His invitation is addressed to each one of us and directs us towards a presentation of different projects that can be undertaken together: www.may9.eu