MAY THEY BE REKINDLED, MAY THEY LIGHT THE WAY

Posted on November 3, 2022 by franksantucci

“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”  (Allan Bloom)

On July 19, Eugene had written in his diary:

I do not at all want any smoking wicks in the Society, may they burn, may they burn, may they be rekindled, may they light the way or leave.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 July 1846, EO XXI

In order to rekindle the spiritual knowledge and missionary zeal of the young Oblates, the Founder took practical steps. Yvon Beaudoin explains:

Fr. Rey presents this text in this way: “The Founder did not lose sight of the formation of his missionaries. This year he instituted a course of high studies which he entrusted to the experience of Fr. Vincens. Several young Fathers were named to follow it for several months. Religious formation was not at all neglected. A superior, requesting indulgence in favor of a religious whose conduct left something to be desired, told the Founder that it was necessary not to extinguish the wick which still was smoking.” This superior was without doubt Fr. Vincens whom Bishop de Mazenod accused of being too condescending towards the less obedient and less fervent religious.

All of us, whatever our state of life, need ongoing formation in the way of discipleship. I am never too old to learn how to deepen my relationship with God. How much time and effort can I dedicate to this?

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One Response to MAY THEY BE REKINDLED, MAY THEY LIGHT THE WAY

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    November 3, 2022 at 12:00

    This morning I am reminded of the words from the poem Ulysses:
    “I am a part of all that I have met;
    Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
    Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
    For ever and forever when I move.
    How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
    To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
    As tho’ to breathe were life!”

    I have reached the age where I am physically slowing down yet my heart and my being have never been so hungry to go deeper and experience God, to then share that with others. Never have I felt so alive, on fire… My whole being seeks new nourishment that will rekindle me so that I do not stop living and fade into a way of passivity.

    And the Beloved never seems to tire of introducing me to all who also meet in his heart. I have joined my parish RCIA Team and we meet every Wednesday after dinner. I am nourished and rekindled as I listen, and share; and though it is late (for me) when I get home, I am more alive than ever – that is the gift of the young seekers with whom we are journeying. At the start of this day the memory of my experience last night stokes the fires of my heart lighting the way this new day.

    While I know a little about St. Eugene, I begin my day here, rediscovering what it is like to walk with him every day. And in walking with him I am also walking with the Beloved who invites me daily to see more through his eyes of tender mercy. It has become my way of breathing and being – may I never tire of it. May I never slow down, but rather may I continue to run to and through that arch of experience that Tennyson wrote of.

    I continue to seek You out, to find you in the hearts of others and within the dark corners and crags of my heart. Lord, may I never grow tired of You, may I be like the burning bush that Moses saw – totally on fire with your love yet never consumed.

    Reply

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