PASTORAL CARE OF WORKERS

The city of Marseilles was experiencing the prosperity of an industrial revolution and its Bishop was concerned about the welfare of the workers of all ages. In his Pastoral Letter he referred to the adult men.

We are also hopeful about some gatherings of workers, either because a varied and useful instruction brings them closer and closer to the altars of the Lord, or because it attracts them in the evening to the same bench where their young son sits during the day to receive the lessons of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

Pastoral letter of Bishop de Mazenod to the Diocese of Marseilles for Lent 1847

One of the many examples of this was the Conference of Saint Joseph, which numbered over a thousand men in 1847. They gathered each Sunday to pray and to listen to a catechetical conference. On the first Sunday of each month there was a Mass offered for them at which many received communion.

Convinced of their need for education. Bishop Eugene encouraged them to attend night classes at the schools attended by their sons in the day.

REFLECTION

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

Cesar Chavez

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1 Response to PASTORAL CARE OF WORKERS

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:

    “God is ever at work in the world… We have thus to be open and flexible, learning how to respond better to new needs, how to find answers to new questions… (C68) I see this alive in Pope Francis…

    In today’s Reading from Acts Barnabas was sent by the Church in Jerusalem to Antioch where people were beginning to hear about Jesus. Inspired by this, Barnabas went and sought out Saul, taking him to Antioch to give further instruction to the people there.

    Today we hear how Eugene continued to guide his flock, offering them more – not content that they knew a little.

    I think of the freedom that Cesar Chavez is speaking of, knowing it within myself. “We are sent to evangelize the poor: the poor are evangelized.” It is thus within me when I offer formation to some wishing to become Oblate Associates and in being a part of our parish RCIA team. With the Scriptures also – I am being evangelized by others.

    “Ongoing formation encompasses all aspects of our development. It renews and develops our spiritual life and its inner resources and favours our growth in emotional and affective maturity. It increases our pastoral skills. It enables us to be critically aware of the integration of our life and mission at all stages of our development.” (C69)

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