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Monthly Archives: November 2010
PARISH MISSIONS: IT IS THE SAVIOUR HIMSELF WHO MUST SPEAK THROUGH HIS CO-OPERATORS
Today the members of the Mazenodian family are urged that it: is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: WE CAN ONLY CONVERT IF WE ARE CONVERTED OURSELVES WITH WHAT WE TEACH
Listening to Eugene’s missionary heart speaking, makes me recall Pope Paul VI’s words “Contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, or if he listens to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” Discourse to members of the … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: ONLY INSOFAR AS THEY HAD IMBUED THEMSELVES WITH JESUS CHRIST, WERE THEY CAPABLE OF BEING SUCCESSFUL
Eugene’s letters to his Oblates concentrated largely on practical issues regarding the missions – since they were the communications of the superior keeping the ship on course – however, underlying every counsel and practical aspect, one finds the most important … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: THE EXEMPLARY LIFESTYLE OF THE MISSIONARIES AS THE KEY INGREDIENT OF THE MISSION
In order to achieve the goals of mission preaching, Eugene laid down the foundational principle: the preacher himself had to know the Saviour and imitate him. Just as Eugene’s own mission was a communication of his own experience of God, … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: THE EXAMPLE AND APPROACH OF THE MISSIONARIES CHANGES THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE
In the previous entry Eugene spoke about the initial coldness of the Mayor of Marignane towards the missionaries. They persevered in their efforts to win him over, and in Eugene’s diary entry four weeks’ later he describes a man with … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: NOT EVERYONE GAVE THE MISSIONARIES A WARM WELCOME
In describing the opening day of the mission in Marignane, Eugene had spoken about the warm welcome that the missionaries had received from the villagers. Noticeably absent were certain members of the middle class, the Mayor and the lay administrators … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: WARMLY WELCOMED BY THE PEOPLE
Generally the parish missions were welcomed by the majority of the people of the villages, who had been starved of genuine religious renewal. The description that Eugene gives of the greeting they received in Marignane shows the intensity of the … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: AIM AT THE CONVERSION OF THE PARISH AS A WHOLE
While the missionaries aimed at personal conversion, their ultimate ideal was to help the whole parish to grow together. The local pastor was involved in the mission – at no stage did the missionaries take over the running of the … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: AIM TO ALLOW THE BLOOD OF THE SAVIOUR TO FLOW IN THE VEINS OF HIS BODY
In 1859, two years before his death, Eugene wrote about the missionary goal to which he had constantly adhered throughout his life: In effect, because the Church forms only one body, of which Jesus Christ is the Head, those who … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: AIM TO BRING BACK THOSE WHO HAD STRAYED
The Rule described the principal aim of their missions as to bring back to the Church those who had strayed: it is supremely important, it is urgently imperative, that we lead the multitude of lost sheep back to the fold, … Continue reading