As an adolescent in Venice, Eugene had stated:
I shall fulfil those duties at fixed times, but with the freedom of God’s Spirit which will allow me to respond to whatever the circumstances demand. (Rey, Vol. I, p. 26.)
René Motte and Al Hubenig write:
“Freedom” is the key word because it would be an important value throughout Eugene’s life. Later, for example, the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution occasioned universal male suffrage – the first time that such a voting right was granted to the working classes. However, it came with a serious problem. To exercise this new right, voters had to go to the central town of the canton or to a major city. For those living in an urban area, it meant little inconvenience, but the majority of people lived in remote rural villages and hamlets far from the voting centres. Thus, for a peasant, it meant walking all the way to the county seat to vote.
Eugene de Mazenod was then Bishop of Marseille. He wrote a pastoral letter to all parish priests telling them to dispense from the obligation of Sunday Mass all persons for whom that obligation would pose a problem in the exercise of their franchise. It is worth noting that the French general elections of 1848 took place on Easter Sunday!
Living in the Spirit’s Fire, p. 18
The ‘freedom of God’s Spirit’. We see this in Jesus’s new commandment to love one another and the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’. St. Paul’s letters are filled with the ‘freedom of God’s Spirit’, particularly when he speaks of the different parts of the Body of Christ.
This is how Pope Francis works – with the freedom of God’s Spirit – so much more than living by ‘the letter of the law’.
I recognize the ‘freedom of God’s Spirit’ in today’s world and find in it the lived expression offered to all the members of the Mazenodian Family. “We are a clerical Congregation of pontifical right. We come together in apostolic communities of priests and brothers…” (CC&RR C1) Mais the charism and spirit of Eugene de Mazenod are not limited to so few; even before the Church canonized Eugene, the Oblates were already looking at what were values what made up their spirituality and how these were shared with more than just their vowed members. Vatican II opened the Church and the congregation to share with all of the laity the call to live in a specific way ‘the freedom of God’s Spirit’. “The charism of Saint Eugene de Mazenod is a gift of the Spirit to the Church, and it radiates throughout the world. Lay people recognize that they are called to share in the charism according to their state of life, and to live it in ways that vary according to milieu and cultures. They share in the charism in a spirit of communion and reciprocity amongst themselves and with the Oblates.” (CC&RR R37a) Oblate Associates, Honorary Oblates, friends and family, co-workers – each as we are called by God – all members of the Mazenodian Family.
A lot of words this morning as I try to describe the ‘freedom of Gods Spirit’ in what it looks like to be a member of our Mazenodian Family, and live as Easter people.
Gilbert Bertrand writes: “This is another reason why I love the founder. I lived with Rene Motte in Aix en Provence in the ‘90’s, for 4 months. He was The Historian of the Congregation.”