OUR WORDS TO YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WITHOUT RESULT

Posted on September 1, 2023 by franksantucci

Three months after Bishop Eugene’s successful appeal to the people of his diocese for financial aid for those suffering in Ireland, Pope Pius IX issued an Encyclical Letter to all the countries of the world on the same topic.

Not long ago, we received an Encyclical Letter from our Holy Father the Pope, inviting all the Bishops of the Christian world to make an appeal to their flocks in favor of the unfortunate people of Ireland. We were still unaware of the Sovereign Pontiff’s intention when, moved by consideration of the magnitude of the evil afflicting our brethren, we anticipated the charitable invitation of the common Father of the faithful. Our words to you have not been without result;

The people of Marseilles had been very generous and were the first to respond.

Your hearts have understood and you have responded with an eagerness which, in addition to so many other good things you have done, has manifested in the presence of the entire Church the eminently Catholic spirit which animates you. Your alms for the Irish have merited your being cited as an example to the rest of France… Ireland has also been particularly consoled, my dear brethren, by your helpful sympathy.

Having already been generous financially, Eugene invites them to respond in a different way: by converting their concern into support in prayer.

We have come today to present to you the Apostolic Encyclical. It is no longer precisely a request for your generosity; we are communicating it to you in order to request another kind of almsgiving, spiritual almsgiving. You must understand the Holy Father’s wish that we order public prayers to obtain from heaven the ending of the double scourge of famine and fever, which is desolating a region so dear to the Catholic Church, and to preserve other countries from the same calamities.

Bishop Eugene’s Circular Letter to the people of Marseilles, 12 June 1847, EO III Circular n 3

REFLECTION

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

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One Response to OUR WORDS TO YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WITHOUT RESULT

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    September 1, 2023 at 13:13

    We are often led from prayers of sorrow to a new way of being and giving.

    In today’s world we find ourselves being repeatedly asked to give to any number of charities to help others who are in the most dire of circumstances. And while some may be able to give more than others we find ourselves struggling to make ends meet. We might find ourselves asking ourselves and God “what more can we do?”

    Eugene’s response to the Apostolic Encyclical is to speak of spiritual almsgiving, prayers. In doing this we turn to God again and then wait for an urging from the Spirit to lead us; we might be led to join a group or to find our focus on those who are on the fringes of life.

    Our simple acts born out of love and sharing that love, then become nourishment to others who are suffering and looking for a way to belong. We find ourselves being consoled in another way as we see the beauty in our new friend and we ourselves being consoled as we focus on a beauty that others might not readily see and we rejoice and give thanks to God for the gifts we ourselves are receiving.

    “In so doing, we risk finding ourselves among the marginalized of our community, our society and our church, taking our place among the poor and the powerless, walking with those who, like us, hold within themselves tremendous beauty, strength and gifts as well as weaknesses, brokenness and limitations, that together… (from the OMI Lacombe Canada Mission Statement)

    In so doing we receive the gift of consolation from one to whom our caring prompted a sharing of gratitude: “Thank you so much, ____! This warms my heart and soothes my soul to be surrounded by accepting and loving people.”

    Reply

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