Father Stan Rougier is celebrating his 90th birthday. As he humorously recalls, his first " appearance " was near Lourdes, in the family home in Jurançon on June 23, 1930, the fifth of six siblings. At the end of the year, he will celebrate his 60th year as a priest. Having recovered well from Covid-19, we had the chance to meet this long-time friend of Fondacio on June 9.
"The passion of meeting"
His "passion for encounters" remains intact. The book of the same name underlines one of Stan's credos: "In the evening of our lives, we will only be rich in the connections we have woven day after day ", a practice that he continues to live daily and to transmit with enthusiasm. The very vivid memory of the many encounters, of the many faces, which have enriched Stan's life, particularly in camps with young people, testify to the decisive importance of an authentic presence to build oneself solidly. "The empty heart does a hundred times more damage than Covid. We make each other through encounters. In the eyes of God, each human being is more valuable than the entire universe."
Passing on the considerable treasure of what life has taught us is at the heart of Stan's vocation today, with three more book projects to continue sharing his hope . "Receiving life as a gift is the first remedy for fatigue and boredom. Joy, which is present in many stories in the Bible, is an excellent barometer, an inner compass to guide us, a sign that we are on the "right path". It is the call to a life that I call "life-size" where each man, each woman is on a mission for the world by deploying their talents to give their full measure."
The writer Christiane Singer, whose writing Stan so appreciates, said in this sense: "We are permanently necessary to the daily creation of the world. We are never the guardians of something accomplished but always the co-creators of something becoming."
“Young people, the future depends on you”
God does not act in our place. Free, we are called to act. "Because God is Love, he wanted to mobilize us. The cause of our misfortunes is not in an indifference coming from God, but in a passivity coming from men" Stan Rougier tells us. Thus the safeguarding of our planet, the fight for social justice, the construction of a more human and more just world will not come about by dint of praying to a magician God who would do the work in our place. " It is through an active, concrete and irreplaceable resistance that we will embody what the Gospel proposes to us as another world: this world, but this world differently. […] The unheard-of nature of the Gospel reveals a world where it would be possible to believe, hope and love" indicates Father Dominique Collin op
"What God are young people atheists of?"
These words often come up in Stan Rougier's writings. They express his commitment to renewing the language of the search for God to make the message of the Gospel audible to our contemporaries, and especially young people. Moreover, in his own experience of personal and inner construction, Stan speaks of the source of inspiration that Antoine de Saint Exupéry represented in his adolescence. He continues to verify the relevance of the writings of the author of The Little Prince to respond to the thirst for meaning of young people, as an invitation to the enchantment of the soul. The book " What can we say to men?" restores the intensity of Saint Exupéry's inner quest in words "that speak." It is the same challenge of announcing the Good News to our contemporaries, far from ready-made liturgical formulas or a jargon of Christians who can no longer say something meaningful to people, about the very essence of their lives. Stan Rougier's contribution to supporting and valuing all those who are in tune with young people and people to transmit Good News "that speaks" is fundamental. There is no age to replenish Hope.
Thank you Stan for being a traveling companion for Fondacio and for being a tireless awakener of this God who has placed his Power in our hands and who, out of respect for our freedom, never ceases to appeal to our consciences and our generosity.
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