Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). Constitution 11
Eugene’s lifelong commitment to seeking and preaching the Kingdom was also communicated to the laity of his diocese as a Lenten ideal.
Contribute, then, with all your means, our dearest brethren, to this return of minds to religion, and to this end let each one begin with himself, so that from this holy season of Lent, each of you may be inflamed with a true zeal for your own sanctification, whether you need to rekindle in your soul a faith that is nearly extinguished, or whether you need only to reform or perfect your morals;
set a good example in all sincerity, perform good works with generosity; comfort the afflicted with a fraternal love for the poor, and act in this not for the sake of human interest, but for a more perfect and higher end: “Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you in addition” (Mt 6:33).
Bishop Eugene’s Lenten Pastoral Letter to the people of Marseilles, 1849.
I find myself quietly singing Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
And His righteousness,
And all these things
Shall be added unto you,
Allelu, alleluia.
It seems to me that if we allow ourselves to be/do that we will be well on the way. Right now one of my personal struggles is in saying: “Beloved, where are you?” And although I do not hear a response I must admit that that there is a surety within me that God is and that God loves me personally. But the feelings are not there! Surely He has not abandoned me after making the miracle of life continue to live on in me.
Blind trust and hope are what carry me. I would have thought that I might seem different. This new life demands all of me and I am having to let go of so much: control, independence and things like my treasured books and writings. It is so difficult. I have to laugh at myself. I have said quietly to him who the listens so perfectly that I am not ungrateful but…