25 January 1816 marked the first day of community life for the Missionaries, with the arrival of the first three members. What we refer to today as the Mazenodian Family was born!
Eugene had bought some of the Carmelite Convent, with an arrangement that the seller, Madame Gontier, could continue using the greater part of the building for her boarding school for girls. In his Memoires, Eugene tells us that she had
… left us narrowly confined to the rooms she had conceded to us. To reach the top-floor apartment, which now serves as a library, we had to use the small staircase leading from the outside of the house; we had great difficulty squeezing into these quarters. Thus, two of our group slept in the room that has now become the library, while I myself slept in the narrow passageway leading to it.
The joy that Eugene is describing to us, sharing with us reminds me of a young couple who get married, their joy is palpable because of the love that flows back and forth with each other, eventually spilling over and out to those around them.
During the pandemic some of our celebrations of Church, of the family of the people of God, have had to change, adapting to new ways of coming together and celebrating that. There has been physical distancing once the churches reopened and the wearing of masks has invited us to smile with each other using our eyes to convey the messages of love and laughter.
Together we meet in Oraison, as a family. A way of meeting and being with each other in the heart of Jesus, the deepest and fullest way of coming and celebrating together in our time on earth.
As communities and as family we have come together using Zoom or other digital tools. I am thinking now of our Province-wide zoom gatherings to pray, to greet and be with each other. The joy and the laughter of simply being in a new way with each other. To be there and witness the shared love and joy is a gift that eases even the heaviest of burdens.
In a few weeks from now some of the members of our Oblate family will find different ways of coming together as community. We will renew our vows and commitments together; we will laugh and tells stories. And we will welcome new members as they make their first commitments and join with us in a deeper way the kind that happens when we are called and chosen, when we accept and become one as brothers and sisters.
I think of all that this morning as we come together to celebrate the anniversary of the first day of the Mazenodian family life together. Life will go on just as it did for Eugene and his new companions. Today our Provincial leaves to visit our Kenya Mission, and we keep him and our brothers and sisters in Kenya and around the world in our prayers.
Praise be Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate.