A QUARTER OF AN HOUR OF MEDITATION WILL PUT YOU BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Eugene, whose life had been changed at the sight of the Cross, and who saw the image of the crucified Savior as the most important Mazenodian symbol, was horrified that one of the Oblates did not see any meaning in carrying the cross in the penitential procession.

Bishops and Cardinals carry the processional cross during Jubilees and times of disasters, and a missionary would blush if he were to carry this precious burden when it is a question of drawing God’s mercy on a people gone astray! Would he not realize that it is so much in conformity with the spirit of Jesus Christ to make public reparation in the name of the sinners he has come to save?

Eugene calms down and assures Guigues of his paternal affection:

Good-bye. my dear son, a quarter of an hour of meditation will put you back on the right track.    I embrace you.

Letter to Eugene Guigues, 26 January 1838, EO IX n 657

But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”    (Galatians 6:14)

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1 Response to A QUARTER OF AN HOUR OF MEDITATION WILL PUT YOU BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    The Cross. Jesus on the cross, crucified, dying. Not a very beautiful picture but it is, at least for Eugene and also myself one of the strongest and dearest tenets of our faith, of who we are living in faith. It was from this death on the cross that Jesus was resurrected.

    I am reminded of how Jesus’s resurrected body still showed the signs of his crucifixion, they were visible to Thomas.

    This was no empty gesture of love – this was the real thing.

    I have sat this morning reflecting on the wounds of Jesus, on the cross and what it means to me when I put on my little cross. It is a symbol of who I am, – not something to be discarded or to be embarrassed about.

    It will soon be time to get dressed and prepare for my day. I will put on my cross and as I think of what this will look like I am reminded of some of the very first constitutions in our Rule of Life: “Our call… to live Christ Jesus… in apostolic community… To live Christ Jesus crucified…”

    This is how we are sent out… This is who we are…

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