Kathleen Berken was a high school and college math teacher before joining the staff of the Compass, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. In 1999, this single parent of two grown children joined L'Arche as an assistant in a home housing five core members with cognitive disabilities. L'Arche was founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier. This Christian community now has 130 houses in 30 countries around the world. Berken came to this ministry with high hopes as to what she could give and learn from individuals with developmental disabilities:
"The gift of L'Arche is seeing God in core members' virtuous acts and even in their violent behaviors. I really do try to find God here. I pray every morning to see God's face, but sometimes God hides behind unimaginably poignant, sometimes absolutely absurd, and sometimes frighteningly horrific masks. I try to distinguish shadow from substance, illusion from truth."
Her model for what she expected to experience was Henri Nouwen who lived for ten years at the Daybreak L'Arche community in Toronto and wrote so movingly about how his heart was softened by those he served.
Berken is unprepared for the exhausting work of taking care of 6 men with their broken, often unintelligible speech, neediness, and vulnerability. Much of the time she is sad, lonely, and impatient. It takes a while for it to sink into her consciousness that L'Arche is a place where she finds herself, is healed, and experiences God's loving presence. Then the author learns that she has Stage IV breast cancer and undergoes surgery and 18 weeks of chemotherapy.
In 2002, Berken is severely beaten in the face by one of the core members of the house where she lives and works. It teaches her how hard it is to forgive and what it means to have trust that God is with us in all of us troubles. On the last page of the book, Berken quotes Jean Vanier:
"We do not have to be saviors of the world! We are simply human beings, enfolded in weakness and hope, called together to change the world on heart at a time."
This inspiring memoir shows that Berken's heart has been changed through her service. She is now in her tenth year at L'Arche.
