TUESDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER: I have seen the Lord! He is risen and alive for me!

Posted on April 11, 2023 by franksantucci

Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.

John 20:18

As a result of the French Revolution the people of the countryside of France were locked in their ignorance of their faith. Eugene de Mazenod had recognized the presence of the Risen Jesus in his life, and he dedicated his life to proclaiming “I have seen the Lord!” to those who were the most needy of coming to know the Risen Lord.

Inviting others to enter into his life of proclamation, he founded the Missionary Oblates, and insisted that their time be divided between “seeing the Lord” in prayer, reading and reflection and the proclamation, “I have seen the Lord!” whom they had encountered in this way:

The Missionaries will divide their group in such a way that while some strive in community to acquire the virtues and knowledge proper to a good missionary, others are travelling in the rural areas proclaiming the Word of God.
 When their apostolic journeys are over, they will return to the community to rest from their labours by exercising a ministry that is less demanding

Request to the Capitular Vicars of Aix, 25 January 1816, EO XIII n.2

In these days, let us use this time in a similar way so that each day we too can proclaim “I have seen the Lord! He is risen and alive for me!”

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One Response to TUESDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER: I have seen the Lord! He is risen and alive for me!

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    April 11, 2023 at 13:27

    This’s mornings reflection with Mary and Eugene is an invitation to every member of this Oblate Family to enter into a life of proclamation. It is not dependant on our state of life, what we wear (I think of Constitution64) or even about what we are able to ‘do’. It is about who we are.

    I think of my friend Germaine who while being confined to a wheelchair, unable care for herself physically or even to speak out words, proclaimed the joy of being a beloved of God, simply with her being.

    I recollect how John Collett OMI shared his struggle and what he taught me about obedience and “returning to the community to rest from his labours by exercising a ministry that is less demanding” and I have never forgotten my moments with him. I am reminded of how Chris Rushton, OMI was able to do that with his being, towards the end of his life in the hospital – in much the same way that my friend Germaine did throughout her life. I remember at my work Retirement party how one co-worker remarked that I always seemed to know when she was struggling and I would promise to pray for her, and others nodding their heads – I had not realised that I was proclaiming that “I had seen the Lord.”

    It is not just about the “doing” of it, but about “how” we serve and love. How today will I dare to proclaim: “I Have seen the Lord! He is risen and alive for me today.”

    Reply

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