How can I help you? – Article by Father Tardif, o.m.i.
How can I help you? – Article by Father Luc Tardif, o.m.i.
A word from the rector in the July-August 2025 issue of Revue Notre-Dame-du-Cap.
This question is at the heart of the pilgrimage we are proposing to all visitors this summer. During the Novena, we’ll be answering this question from different angles. For this question is rich in meaning, and sets us on our way.
It is first and foremost a gesture, an initiative to enter into a relationship with another person. It opens a door to express our readiness to serve the needs of others. It gets people talking, and can build new bridges.
This question presupposes that we are open and capable of giving priority to the other. Far from disturbing us, the other awakens in us the desire to be close to them, to meet their needs. We’re also doing the other person a favor by allowing them to name what they’re looking for, what they want. From the moment we stop to ask this question, our inner rhythm changes: we let the other person affect our relationship with time and perhaps slow down our errands and our movements. Such a question expresses our desire to welcome and our sense of hospitality.
In the Gospel, Jesus dares to ask a similar question. To the blind man crying out in the middle of the crowd, Jesus stops and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the other man replies, “That I may see, Lord!” In fact, Jesus loves questions: “What are you looking for?” he asked the disciples at the very beginning of their companionship. At the end of his earthly journey, he again asked Mary Magdalene, weeping at the empty tomb: “Who are you looking for?”
“How can I help you?” Every time we ask this question, we’re ready to experience a change: it triggers something new. We’re ready to receive the other without censorship or control. We let it set the agenda, whether for the next few minutes or for life! Questions get us moving.
This question shows a certain audacity: we dare to take the initiative in conversation. A simple question allies and promotes a culture of encounter, fraternity and communion. It expresses our missionary sense: we step outside ourselves to give priority to the other person, to make ourselves close to his or her situation, in solidarity with his or her aspirations. “How can I help you?”
Father Luc Tardif, o.m.i., rector