POINTING TO JESUS CHRIST THROUGH HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Marius Suzanne describes Eugene’s preaching on Good Friday of 1820 during the Aix mission. He who had been captivated as a young man by Jesus the Saviour on that Good Friday more than twenty years before, truly showed himself to be a co-operator of that same Saviour. He had imitated the examples and virtues of Jesus his Saviour, and was able to speak through personal experience:

But if the impression that this eloquent speech made on us was lively and deep, he touched us even more appreciably in the instruction that he gave us on Good Friday. He followed the Lord in the most important events of his painful Passion. He spoke to us with so much eloquence about the immense love of Jesus Christ for all people, and for each of us in particular; he attributed such moving prayers to Him, sentiments so lively and so ardent for our salvation; he prayed himself with so much fervour, that we were delighted with admiration, and penetrated by the deepest gratitude; and when he portrayed this divine Saviour burdened under the humiliating weight of all the crimes of mankind, of those thoughts, of those desires, of those actions, he said, raising his voice, for which you never blamed yourselves; when above all he made Him die while asking for forgiveness for us, and desiring that his Blood not be shed in vain for us, then we believed that we had discovered all the secrets of the holy soul of the Lord Jesus, and only then did we begin to know him and to love him.

M. SUZANNE, Quelques lettres sur la mission d’Aix, p. 11-12.

 

A good witness isn’t like a salesman, emphasis is on a person rather than a product. A good witness is like a signpost. It doesn’t matter whether it is old, young, pretty, ugly; it has to point the right direction and be able to be understood. We are witnesses to Christ, we point to him.   John White

 

(Note this entry was published in a different context above on January 17, 2011)

This entry was posted in WRITINGS and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to POINTING TO JESUS CHRIST THROUGH HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Happy Feast Day on the anniversary of Eugene’s Baptism. I am sitting in an airport awaiting my flight at this time. How shall I give witness today?

    I think that one of the reasons that Eugene was so successful was that he did give witness – it was not idle talk or just “saying good things”. He shared his life – his incredible love of God and even more, God’s awesome love of him and of us. That was one of the things that first attracted me to Eugene – his invitation to join him in this life of love. He freely said what he thought and lived and it touched me deeply. Actually, if truth be told – he grabbed hold of my heart – for after hearing the story of his life from an Oblate I was given the letter of Eugene to Henri Tempier (the first one) to read. He gave witness.

    That baptismal call – part of the beginning. So Happy Anniversary Eugene! May I too give witness to Jesus and point to Him somehow today – be it in the airport, on the plane or greeting my family in Vancouver.

Leave a Reply to Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *