THE UPHILL BATTLE TO PROPOSE JESUS AND THE APOSTLES AS THE MODEL FOR ALL CHRISTIAN GROUPS

The community of the Apostles with Jesus is the model of our life.
Our Lord grouped the Twelve around him to be his companions and to be sent out as his messengers (cf. Mk 3:14). (Constitution 3)

Apostolic community was the foundation and the reason for the success of all the Oblate ministries. Eugene was convinced of the efficacity of this Biblical model of discipleship which gave witness to the ongoing presence of the Savior – despite the human difficulties sometimes encountered.

Once he had been installed as Bishop of Marseilles, one of his first actions was to insist that the diocesan priests stop living alone, or with their families, and come to live together as a community of priests in the parish they cared for. Eugene was convinced of the importance of community life and the mutual priestly support needed for successful parish ministry. It was to be an uphill battle for the next 24 years, because the majority preferred their independence to the yoke of community life

Letter to M. Gay, parish priest of Cassis, to invite him to come to an agreement with me regarding the arrangements for the new situation that I have arranged for him. I very clearly express to him my unshakable intention of establishing community life for the pastor and the curates in all the parishes successively, while starting with his.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 11 February 1838, EO XIX

Constitution 3 can provide a model for all our groups. Today it is the foundation of the synodal process which bears abundant fruit in many situations.