Let us rejoice then mutually over all the good done by our brethren in the four quarters of the world. With us, it is wholly a question of solidarity. Each works for all and all for each. Oh! how beautiful, how touching is the communion of the saints
Letter to Jean Baudrand, 11 January 1850, O.W. I n. 126
The concept of all the members of the Church forming a “communion of saints” – a family in God – is one that we come across regularly in Eugene’s writings. Our Rule of Life today continues to stress the necessity of working in a spirit of fraternity in the local church:
We coordinate our missionary activity with the overall pastoral plan of the local Churches where we work, and we collaborate in a spirit of brotherhood with others who work for the Gospel.
CC&RR, Constitution 6
Leflon’s descriptions of the 1820 mission in Marseille reflect the struggle for harmony despite human weaknesses.
The pastor of the Cathedral, particularly, did not want the Missionaries of Provence, although they would have been better suited to his flock; his parishioners reacted to his blunder by flocking to Saint Laurent church and the church of the Carmes to hear the Founder, thereby adding to the congestion of those two churches.
In this letter, the president related the remark made to Father Gautier, pastor of the cathedral, by the pastor of Saint Theodore’s, Father Bonnefoy, who took up the defense of Father de Mazenod in the course of a meeting of church wardens and pastors of the city:
“Today is not the only time that you have declared yourself opposed to the revered Missionaries of Aix. Could the reason be that after having requested the gentlemen from Paris as preachers in your church, you have forced your parishioners who did not understand them any more than if they had spoken Russian, to flock constantly to Saint Laurent and the Carmes? It is your fault and not that of the priests from Aix.
Reported by President de Mazenod to Fortuné, March 14, 1820. P.R., FB VI-3.
Despite the human weaknesses and divisions, the harmony of the mission was achieved
Although each missionary group had done God’s work and had won great popularity, their appeal was not to the same class of people. The Provençals were favorites in the workers’ quarters while the Parisians monopolized the favor of the aristocratic and bourgeois quarters, each group being suited to these quarters respectively due to their style of preaching. Along with apportioning the work satisfactorily, they maintained the most complete harmony among themselves because of the friendship existing between their chiefs, Forbin Janson and de Mazenod.
Leflon 2, p. 115 – 116
The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings. Albert Schweitzer
There is actually a lot here today that can be reflected on. I think though what speaks to me first is how God continues to provide each of us within the “communion of saints” and within the “family of God” with whatever we need to be nourished and grow and live. No matter where I have been in my own little individual life God has put me on the path /pointed me in the direction / opened my eyes to what will be life-giving for me as a part of the whole. We are a people, each and every one of us, separate and united, we are a people who are called to be one with each other, to touch one another, in be in relationship with…
Today I find myself looking at how God provides and nourishes, whether they are the rich of Paris in the 1800s or the wealthy and powerful of Ottawa in 2012, the poor and abandoned in Aix or Marseille or those who have been ‘trafficed’ and left voiceless and powerless down the street from where I live. I certainly cannot help them all, and in truth I do not even see them all. But together with others from my community, my family I can touch some. With others.
I find myself looking and wondering at my place and belonging in this great church of ours. I am not blind to the pain and messiness of it’s humanity, nor will I run from those parts that I struggle so hard with. As I write this people and faces come to mind and they are not all ‘friends’, but if I allow myself the freedom to let go of ‘my’ struggles and pain I find that the view changes and I can experience a touching, a being with, a loving and accepting. There is a little hidden joy there somewhere and perhaps that is what Eugene writes about when he says: “Oh! how beautiful, how touching is the communion of the saints…”.
Thank you Eleanor for your reflection today.
We see that in Forbin Janson and Eugene they were first friends, they knew each other and respected each other.
The opportunity for personal sharing and mutual respect is key.
As I live within this Oblate Family of ours, I know I see the world and church through the eyes and heart of the experiences of my life. Each one of us does. And so it is not about which is better which only leads to Ego, Righteousness and a Sense of Superiority but one of Celebrating the Diversity of our experiences and visions and seeing it not as different or better but part of the whole.
And some folk may turn me off, but will listen to you and for that, I celebrate your gifts and rejoice that you are my brother, you are my sister.
Wow Jack – what a beautiful way of putting it. I hear you and join in as you say that we are celebrating each other as part of the communion of saints. What joy love brings to each us, each and all.