AN INVITATION TO PREPARE FOR THE FEAST OF ST EUGENE, PILGRIM OF HOPE IN COMMUNION

A pilgrim is “a person who makes a trip, often a long and difficult one, to a special place for religious reasons.” This dictionary definition certainly fits St Eugene de Mazenod as a “Pilgrim of Hope in Communion.” His entire life can be expressed as a long and challenging pilgrimage not to a physical place (like Jerusalem or Compostella for example) but to the “special place” of his ongoing encounter and dedication to his Savior.

Eugene was always on the move, leading and accompanying the members of his Mazenodian Apostolic Family to be witnesses of hope to the most abandoned. This journey is beautifully expressed in the Oblate Rule: ” Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection.” (C4)

In preparation to celebrate Eugene’s feast on May 21, I invite you to participate in some days of prayerful reflection on nine of the “road signs” of his personal journey which we make our own as members of his Missionary Family. Through “the eyes of the crucified Savior” these become the signposts or stepping-stones that he holds out to us on our pilgrimage.

WORD OF GOD

St. Paul wrote:

“I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us”

Philippians 3:13-14

With Saint Eugene, let us intentionally be pilgrims of hope and run with him to the power of the Cross and Resurrection of the Savior.

PRAYER

God our Father,
by the grace of the Holy Spirit,
you called St. Eugene de Mazenod
to gather a missionary family
to announce the Gospel
especially among the poor and most abandoned.
May we ourselves be inflamed with his zeal
for announcing and witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior
and receive through his intercession
the particular graces we ask for as pilgrims of hope.

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1 Response to AN INVITATION TO PREPARE FOR THE FEAST OF ST EUGENE, PILGRIM OF HOPE IN COMMUNION

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:

    I think of that fresco of Bishop de Mazenod leading others up a stairway – this morning we are invited to step up and join them.

    This morning we are invited to join with others rather than walking on our own. This is the gift of coming o pray together, as one with Eugene…

    The wording of this invitation seems deliberate – Eugene inviting us to the “special place” of his ongoing encounter and dedication to his Savior… “to be witnesses of hope to the most abandoned”. Seeing through the eyes of the crucified Saviour “the signposts or stepping-stones that he holds out to us on our pilgrimage”. And lastly “…let us intentionally be pilgrims of hope and run with him to the power of the Cross and Resurrection of the Savior”.

    Intentionally and intensely personal and communal – with each other and when called – carrying each other on our shared journey..

    Always “through him, with him and in him…” We are not the Good News, we simply share it on our journey, “witnesses to the Gospel” – pilgrims of hope.

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