On Sunday 15 May, Pope Francis will canonise Charles de Foucauld in Rome. Although he died in obscurity, his message that the Gospel is best ‘shown’ rather than ‘told’ has since inspired a growing number of followers

I was born in France but grew up in the city of London, Ontario. My father was a New Zealander and my mother French. My parents were deeply educated in their faith and religious books and conversations abounded at home. At 16, I was sent to Mexico on a student exchange. It ended rather badly, with me being shipped home nine months later. My parents were at the airport waiting for me. There were no questions, just a sense of gratitude that I was back safe and sound. I didn’t realise it at the time but the experience of the prodigal daughter would be the background on to which a call would be grafted.

During the following weeks, I picked up a copy of Letters from the Desert by Carlo Carretto. Until I began to read it I had vaguely thought of entering a cloistered order. But Carretto spoke of contemplation in the marketplace. It was a shock and a call. Hadn’t Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in the small town of Nazareth? Could you make a better choice than theirs? The incarnation had made the bustle of everyday life a meeting place with the Father.

I was particularly intrigued and disconcerted by the central character. His name was Charles de Foucauld. This former French cavalry officer seemed oddly out of sync with the rest of an otherwise riveting book. Carretto wrote that Foucauld “was convinced that the most effective method of preaching the Gospel was to live it. Especially today, people no longer want to listen to sermons. They want to see the Gospel in action.”