I AM THE ONE WHO ORGANIZED IT, WHO HAS TAKEN OUT ALL THE WEEDS, WHO HAS NURTURED IT, WHO HAS MADE IT WHAT IT IS, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS

” I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.” (Bishop Eugene de Mazenod)

In July, the Archbishop of Aix en Provence had died and some rumors were circulating that perhaps Bishop Eugene would be his successor. He had no such ambition as he was totally given to his Diocese of Marseilles.

Well, someone has told me that certain priests of Aix, afraid that I might be named Archbishop, got together to write a pamphlet against me and thus prevent such a misfortune. These poor folks could easily have spared themselves the trouble of this crime if they had known how far such a change, as any other, is from my mind…

The assessment that he gives of his own diocese was no idle and swollen-headed boast – it was clear that these things had been achieved in the second -largest city of France.

Let them be reassured: there is no archbishopric in the whole world which tempts me and which I might prefer to my present diocese to which everything ties me, since I am the one who organized it, who has taken out all the weeds, who has nurtured it, who has made it what it is, as everybody knows.

Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix en Provence, 27 July 1846, EO X n 908

Nine years before he had made this resolution:

I must attach myself to this people as a father to his children.

My existence, my life, all my being must be consecrated to it, I must have no thought but for its good, no fears other than I have not done enough for its welfare and sanctification, no other concern than that which must include all its spiritual interests and even in a certain way its temporal welfare.

I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

Eugene’s total oblation for his people was unmistakably bearing fruit.

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One Response to I AM THE ONE WHO ORGANIZED IT, WHO HAS TAKEN OUT ALL THE WEEDS, WHO HAS NURTURED IT, WHO HAS MADE IT WHAT IT IS, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS

Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:

October 20, 2022 at 12:13

I am thinking that here we have a type of martyrdom which is not always recognized. Eugene gave his life out of love for God and for the Church, out of love for his congregation, out of love for the many poor who were not touched by the structures of the Church… He simply kept giving himself in both his life and his death. Not a measure or comparing himself with others, simply his way of being. “…tell them I die happy…” Oblation…

I think of Jesus who gave his life for us, and in the sense of the Paschal Mystery this continues on, outside of the boundaries of time and matter.

It is how some parents give their lives for their children. And more practically I think of the people in the Ukraine, those who are giving their lives to try and protect their families and countrymen in this horrible war. A love shown in how some of our Oblates and holy men and women remained in the Ukraine to care for their flocks, the people there who had no way of leaving and no way of fending for themselves.

It is also in our own Oblate/Mazenodian family where we see some accept the call to leadership service – out of love for their/our brothers and sisters.

And we might , by the grace of God, on occasion recognize it in the bits and pieces of our lives.

“I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.” Eugene’s words might sound dramatic and over the top but we know that they were born out of a heart filled with love for others. As Frank put it, total oblation for his people.

Love always bears fruit. We see that in looking through the eyes of love, reflected in the lives we touch and by which we are touched.

I AM THE ONE WHO ORGANIZED IT, WHO HAS TAKEN OUT ALL THE WEEDS, WHO HAS NURTURED IT, WHO HAS MADE IT WHAT IT IS, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS

” I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.” (Bishop Eugene de Mazenod)

In July, the Archbishop of Aix en Provence had died and some rumors were circulating that perhaps Bishop Eugene would be his successor. He had no such ambition as he was totally given to his Diocese of Marseilles.

The assessment that he gives of his own diocese was no idle and swollen-headed boast – it was clear that these things had been achieved in the second -largest city of France.

Let them be reassured: there is no archbishopric in the whole world which tempts me and which I might prefer to my present diocese to which everything ties me, since I am the one who organized it, who has taken out all the weeds, who has nurtured it, who has made it what it is, as everybody knows.

Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix en Provence, 27 July 1846, EO X n 908

Nine years before he had made this resolution:

I must attach myself to this people as a father to his children.

I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

Eugene’s total oblation for his people was unmistakably bearing fruit.

One Response to I AM THE ONE WHO ORGANIZED IT, WHO HAS TAKEN OUT ALL THE WEEDS, WHO HAS NURTURED IT, WHO HAS MADE IT WHAT IT IS, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS

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