CELEBRATING 206 YEARS OF COURAGE TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE APOSTLES
If, as I hope, you wish to be one of us, you will not find yourself in unfamiliar territory; you will have four companions.
If presently we are not more numerous, it means we wish to choose men who have the will and the courage to walk in the footsteps of the apostles. It is important to lay solid foundations.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 9 October 1815 O.W. VI n 4
In bringing the missionary group into existence, Eugene used the model of Jesus and the apostles.
The missionary vocation was to be apostolic. From the first Rule of Life that he wrote, he expressed it this way:
What did Our Lord Jesus Christ do?
He chose a certain number of apostles and disciples whom He formed in piety and filled with His spirit;
and after having trained them in his school and the practice of all virtues, He sent them forth to conquer the world which they soon brought under the rule of his holy laws.
1818 Rule
Like Henri Tempier, the members of the Mazenodian family must follow the model of the apostles, and have the courage to do so whatever the consequences.
Henri Tempier’s reply to Eugene’s invitation was a source of great joy for Eugene. It shows the apostolic “one heart and one soul” that marked his relationship with Eugene:
“May the good God be blessed for having inspired you to prepare for the poor, for the inhabitants of our countryside, those who have the most need of instruction in our religion, a house of missionaries who will go and announce to them the truths of salvation.
I share your views completely, my dear brother… What you want most in those you choose as your collaborators is priests who will not get into a rut of routine and daily hum-drum, and, as Father Charles’ predecessor used to say, plod along day after day without accomplishing anything; you want priests who will be ready to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and work for the salvation of souls with no other reward here on earth but hardship and fatigue. I think that God’s grace has given me this desire. If not, then I wish with all my heart that I will have it, and working with you will make it all the easier to attain. You can, therefore, count entirely on me.”
27 October, 1815 Cf. REY I, p. 183
Eugene described his apostolic ideal in the original version of our Preface:
What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute?
Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God;
their first fathers are the Apostles.
They are called to be the Savior’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind;
and even though, because of their present small number and the more urgent needs of the people around them, they have to limit the scope of their zeal, for the time being to the poor of our countryside and others,
their ambition should, in its holy aspirations, embrace the vast expanse of the whole earth.
The Church, that glorious inheritance purchased by Christ the Savior at the cost of his own blood, has in our days been cruelly ravaged…
Nota Bene (1818 Rule)
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Today’s Gospel is the naming of the 12 Apostles, those very same apostles that Eugene has set out as our models and whose example we are called to live as mentioned in the Constitutions and Rules. Because I struggle with words like “apostles” I did a little bit of research and learned the name of a female apostle, Junia, who was mentioned in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (16:7). And I discovered the root of the word apostle comes from the Greek word meaning “one who is sent off.” Aha I exclaimed to myself – we are talking about missionaries here. I could see myself in those images. I laughed softly with joy: two gifts in the same breath and so I would no longer need to avoid the word apostle in my life, my way of doing things.
This gift reminded me of my experience in listening to Catherine Clifford, a professor from St. Paul University, speaking about the history of synodality in the Church. This explains Pope Francis’s call to synodality in our church today. There was joy and gratitude in that gift that Catherine shared with us. Both gifts allowing me new freedom.
I look at both Eugene and Henri Paul Tempier being invited by God and finding themselves within the image of what they were called to. The joy that is expressed in both of their letters as they set out to discover what their new life would look like.
I am again reminded of Eugene’s sharing of how he looked for happiness outside of God. And how he began that journey of finding out exactly where he belonged, an evolving journey, no different than Tempier’s journey. No different from my own journey, for I can now push aside the ‘yes buts’ that I have secretly struggled with and carried for so long.
Again this morning I have heard God say my name and share my joy as I am sent out.
Someone once asked “what’s in a name?” Everything! My name is the name that I heard God say to me “Eleanor, I have called you by name…”
Today we celebrate our name, the name of our Mazenodian Family, our Oblate Family. It is a name that has grown deeper as the years have passed for there is more intimacy, more meaning and lived depth within it.. The Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
I could not let the day pass without coming to this place where we have looked at our humble beginnings together and now to give thanks to God for such a name, such a family.
The thought of this fills me joy and gratitude – it is quiet, but the fire that burns within me is still untamed.
We have spent this past week preparing for today. I could not let it go by as just another Saturday. And tomorrow we will once again come together to in silent prayer from around the world, in our practice of Oraison as Eugene inspired and asked of us, we who are his sons and daughters. But for today we sit quietly and reflect on the name given to us by God and give thanks.