ONE HEART, ONE SPIRIT, ONE OUTLOOK

After two weeks of the intensity of living the experience of doing a parish mission together for the first time – where they worked day and night practically non-stop, Eugene exclaims:

Among us missionaries, we are what we should be, that is to say that we all have one heart, one spirit, and one thought; it is admirable! Our consolations, like our hardships, are unequalled.

They didn’t have time to stop for much introspection, so Eugene reflects the gut feeling of what they are living in practice during the mission. They were united in their vision for the mission, in the methods used and in the spirit that permeated all their activities – despite their human failings and weaknesses.

This unity of heart, spirit and mind is a theme that we will regularly encounter as we explore Eugene’s writings. The spirit of the apostolic ministry of the early Christians was the foundation of his life-long model for the missionaries:

“The whole group of believers was one of heart and soul… With great power the apostles gave their testimony…” (Acts of the Apostles 4:32-33)
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1 Response to ONE HEART, ONE SPIRIT, ONE OUTLOOK

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    As I read this there is something niggling at the back of my mind. I am thinking of those times when as a member of a group I was not with the group 100%, I might have been distracted or tired or upset, a hundred different reasons, but all to say that I was not fully one with the group in whatever we were doing. And I think that made a difference to the group itself. We all know of times when working together with a group and one person is not exactly “carring their weight”, or perhaps needs an attitude adjustment – it affects the life of the group. It is the same with families, with communities.

    I find that for me much of it is my attitude, my focus. That is one of the reasons I come here to this place every day. It teaches me, it focuses me, on what I need to hear and points out what I can be and do. It gives me a way of doing that. God speaks to me here, through the words and writings of Eugene, through the energies of Frank who daily puts this together, through all of you whoever you are who come here like me to learn and discover and focus. We are united without even knowing it.

    I find myself drawn, perhaps because this is how I have been called to live, and I find myself drawn to not so much trying to imitate Eugene and his Oblates, but trying to live out my life united in the same spirit, with the same growing heart, with the same outlook, focus (through the eyes of our Saviour) in my day-to-day life. It is with the love of the community, the support, the “walking together” that it happens. It is in prayer and love together, a joined heart. It works. And it is as Eugene wrote: “…we all have one heart, one spirit, and one thought; it is admirable! Our consolations, like our hardships, are unequalled.” As a member of this Mazenodian Family I am becoming. I am becoming who God created me to be, I am becoming so very fully alive. This one heart, one spirit, one outlook – is a formula for real life, or at least for this life. I thank God for it all.

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