SOME ARE DRAWN TO ANSWER THE CALL OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGH THE JOY AND GENEROSITY OF OUR LIVES

Once Madame Gontier and her girls had vacated the premises, the whole Carmelite convent building was available for the Missionaries. With many rooms available it was now possible to accommodate others.

Eugene had begun his Youth Congregation three years earlier, and these young people came to the community house every Thursday and Sunday. They saw, with their own eyes, how the Missionaries were living, the spirit among them and the zeal and passion for mission of this first enthusiastic group. They liked what they saw and they were attracted to follow in their footsteps. It is not surprising, therefore, that the first four novices who came to join the Missionaries were members of Eugene’s youth congregation.

We can thus understand what is at the basis of Eugene’s words two months later, when he is away and writes to the community of Aix:

I embrace our dear novices and pray God that he will grant that they imitate your virtues.

Letter addressed to “To our dear brothers, the missionaries at Aix”,
July 1816, O.W. VI n.12

The first novices came because they “wanted to imitate” the virtues of the Missionaries. Since it was the vocation of the Missionaries to imitate the virtues and example of Jesus Christ, we have here a clear example of charism: to follow Jesus Christ in a manner that is common and particular to a group. Today, our Constitutions and Rules continue this thrust that dates back to our beginnings as a religious family:

Jesus never ceases to call people to follow him and to proclaim the Kingdom. Some are drawn to answer that call through the joy and generosity of our lives. We must lose no opportunity to let people see how urgent are the needs of the Church and the world and come to know the way in which our Congregation responds to those needs.

Constitution 52

 

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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