Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their values and aspirations.

Constitution 8

For the past 200 years, the expression usually associated with the Oblates is: “They are always close to the people!” It is something that we are proud of and a characteristic that was insisted on by St Eugene himself. We recognize it in his self-description at the age of 26:

A person’s rank in society does not enter as a factor at all into the feeling that brings me to love someone who of a truth loves me.

The way in which he elaborated on this is illuminating as he shows that anyone who was suffering or needed him could count on his closeness:

The proof of this is the unbelievable affection I have for the servants who are truly fond of me; I hate being separated from them, it is a wrench for me to leave them, I take an interest in their welfare, and will not overlook anything to secure it, and I do not do this out of magnanimity or greatness of soul, motivations of that kind influence me only when it is a question of people who are cold, but out of feeling, tenderness, really the only word for it is friendship. You must not think on that account that I do not feel called to do anything for anybody except those who love me. Quite the contrary, anyone who is suffering, or needs me, can count on my help.

Eugene’s self-portrait for his spiritual director, October 1808, EO XIV, n. 30

This was abundantly illustrated in all his later life choices. For example, as a seminarian he chose to teach catechism to “the poorest in the parish, children of tavern keepers, in a word, a vermin-ridden lot.”

As a newly-ordained priest he opted to ask to dedicate himself to the poor and the youth of Aix, thus setting the pattern for all his lifelong ministry of closeness to people who normally were on the fringes of society.

We shall support lay people in the discernment and development of their own talents and charisms, encouraging them to undertake ministries and apostolic commitments and thus to shoulder the responsibilities which are properly theirs in the Christian community.

Rule 7 f

From the beginning the recipients of our ministry obviously were lay people. As our communities became permanently established, so too did our bonds with the people grow. From being recipients of our ministry people developed into cooperators in our ministry doing so in a variety of ways.

Over the years the cooperation became more clearly defined. Someone described this process as a graduation from receiving the crumbs of our spirituality and mission at table, to sitting at the table to share the fullness our charism, spirituality and mission.

Today we speak of the Oblate Charismatic Family, and just as a human family has many expressions and roles, so too does the expression and life of the Oblate charism in the laity change.

In 1842 Eugene acknowledged this cooperation by incorporating a married couple as “Honorary Oblates” who received the “merits of the sacrifices, prayers, fasts and generally in all good works” of the Congregation as a sign of gratitude for the help they had given to the Oblates (Letter to M. and Mme. Olivier Berthelet at Montreal,” September 25, 1842, EO 1 n 13).

Today we understand that everyone who lives by the Oblate charism is incorporated into the Oblate Charismatic Family according to their state of life.

We have as our goal to establish Christian communities and Churches deeply rooted in the local culture and fully responsible for their own development and growth. (Constitution 7)

While Eugene and the early missionaries did not have the background of modern studies in sociology, anthropology, inculturation etc, they nevertheless had a profound love for the people they were sent to. They tried to adapt their message using local customs. From the beginning Eugene founded his Missionary family specifically to preach in the local Provencal language. He went along with local customs even if he himself was not always  convinced of them, but he realized their importance for the people.

Over the years many Oblates, as part of their missionary work, have produced grammars and dictionaries for various Indigenous languages. They were pioneers in studying and documenting these languages, often putting the spoken word into writing, compiling dictionaries, and translations of religious texts.

Father Lacombe’s ladder of salvation is just one example of conveying his message through the expressions of the local culture (see:https://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/News/spotlight/01-2009.php).

Today the newest challenge is to evangelize by entering into the “local culture” of social media and artificial intelligence.

We have as our goal to establish Christian communities and Churches deeply rooted in the local culture and fully responsible for their own development and growth.

(Constitution 7)

During the missionary expansion in Eugene’s time, hardly anyone understood this principle. The missionaries were sent to countries that had already been colonized, and came with their European cultural outlook through which they worked for the conversion of people – with no training or tools to understand and appreciate the depth and richness of the local indigenous culture.

Eugene suffered when he thought of countless people around the world who did not know Jesus Christ and he responded through his missionary sons.

Therefore I am waiting impatiently for some information about your establishment among the natives. That is really your mission. A Vicar Apostolic would not have to be sent to look after a few scattered Catholics, and I for my part would not have accepted the mission if that were all it involved. It is the conversion of those who do not believe that we must keep in mind. All our efforts must be directed to that end. If we kept no hope of reaching that goal, then we ought to give up the mission.

Letter to Bishop Allard, Vicar Apostolic of Natal, 28 October 1859, EO IV (Africa), n 28.

The missionaries came with a heart filled with love for Jesus Christ and with the desire to bring the people they came to serve to know the beauty of that love that brought salvation. They gave their lives with sacrificial heroism to the people. Let us never forget their good intentions and the lived reality of their oblation.

Nearly a century later, a new awareness has developed. It is this that is reflected in Constitution 7: our ecclesial communities must be deeply rooted in the magisterium and sacramental life of the Church while searching honestly as to how these truths find their expression and life in the culture of the people with whom we are ministering.

Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God which finds its fulfilment in the celebration of the sacraments and in service to others.

Constitution 7

When we meditate on Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, we invariably are led to examine the quality of our life-options, our faithfulness to the truth and to what is life-giving. It is this reflection, in the light of the Word of God, that leads us to the sacrament of reconciliation.

Eugene’s preaching and that of the early Oblate missionaries was an invitation to a prolonged intimate encounter with the Savior acting through the priest as spiritual guide and instrument of forgiveness and new life. The confessional was to be the place of transparent encounter between a person in their brokenness and the healing mercy of God. One of Eugene’s earliest sermons gives this message using the imagery of a sinner being stuck in a muddy swamp that makes release seem impossible:

In the same way the preacher of the Gospel, is saddened at the sight of sinners sinking in the dreadful swamp of their evil deeds, bogged down with no desire of getting out. They futilely try all that their gentle charity inspires them to do to have them return onto the way.

Finally seeing their obstinate determination to be lost, the preachers make the most frightening truths re-echo in their ears. They arm themselves with the whip of the holy Word, and increase their blows until at last with a huge effort these sinners get out of the mud and free themselves.

Then it is with open arms that the ministers of Jesus Christ press them close to their hearts and take delight in pouring ointment on all their wounds to ease them.

(Instruction at the Madeleine, preached in Provencal, on the fourth Sunday of Lent 1813, EO XV n 115.)

Today, as our reflection on the Word of God becomes a mirror to see ourselves, it also becomes an invitation to ask for forgiveness and to begin again with God’s strengthening sacramental grace. As a priest of many decades, I have been privileged to witness the transformative power of this sacrament in countless persons. It is a means of encounter with God that is always available and yet so easy to ignore.

Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God which finds its fulfilment in the celebration of the sacraments and in service to others.

Constitution 7

It was the Savior who had to speak through his co-operator and invite the listener to a deeper encounter, as Eugene wrote in his Rule:

The missionary – lest his preaching be in vain – will pray and get others to pray to the Divine Master of hearts, to deign to accompany the words of his minister with that powerful grace, which moves and converts souls, and without which all words are but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.

Eugene de Mazenod’s 1826 Rule Part I, Chapter 3, §1, Art. 24.

The preaching of parish missions, for which we were originally founded, was all about preaching the Word of God and inviting people to respond by celebrating the sacraments. The goal of the Missionaries was to have every person celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation and receive the Eucharist.

A sacrament is a privileged moment of encounter with Jesus Christ. May our listening to his Word lead us to a deeper expression of communion with him and an appreciation of his sacramental presence..

To put ourselves increasingly at the service of God in his people, we will set aside special times each month and each year for deeper personal and community prayer, for reflection and renewal. One week each year will be spent in retreat. Fraternal gatherings and an exchange on apostolic experiences could well precede or follow the retreat.

Constitution 35

This week we will be away for our community retreat and St Eugene will not speak during this period

Our website does contain 15 years of Eugene speaking which I invite you to peruse: https://www.eugenedemazenod.net

Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God…

Constitution 7

  In proclaiming the Word, it is our tradition to be simple and direct and to speak a language adapted to and easily understood by our hearers.

Rule 7g  

Saint Eugene’s life was dedicated to explaining the Good News of salvation to those who were most in need. He and his missionaries wanted to  produce listening hearts that would transform their lives. The invitation he wrote in 1818 continues today:

Our one and only aim should be to instruct people

not only to break the bread of the Word for them but to chew it for them as well;

in a word, to ensure that when our discourses are over,

they are not tempted to heap foolish praise on what they have not understood,

but, instead, that they go back home edified, touched, instructed, able to repeat in their own family circle what they have learned from our mouth

Rule of 1818

We are so blessed today to have many commentaries and reflections available to help us to understand the Word of God and to be able to “chew” it so that it becomes an integral part of our lives.

Like Eugene, let us make Scripture reading and the Lectio divina a part of our daily lives. (Just enter “lectio divina” into the search engine of your computer and you will discover a wealth of helpful information on this practice)

Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God…

Constitution 7

In his Diocesan Pastoral Letter on the missions, Bishop Eugene wrote in 1844:

Handed on to his Apostles by Jesus, this Word has lost none of its power in the course of the ages. We have experienced the fact that because it issued from the mouth of him who is himself eternal life, it is always spirit and life.

So convinced was Eugene of the importance of Scripture in his life that he spent time every single day studying the scriptures. For him, the Lectio Divina was the opportunity to listen to the Word of God as a personal message. He included this practice in his daily program. Scripture scholars who have studied the writings of Saint Eugene point out how steeped he was in Scripture. He often quoted directly in his letters and in his diary, and, very often, he paraphrased the texts as part of his communication.

In the first Rule he wrote that “every member of the Institute is charged to study Sacred Scripture daily.” Today in our Rule, we read:

The Word of God nourishes our spiritual life and apostolate. We will not only study it diligently but also develop a listening heart, so that we may come to a deeper knowledge of the Saviour whom we love and wish to reveal to the world. This immersion in God’s Word will enable us to understand better the events of history in the light of faith (Constitution 33)

Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God…

Constitution 7

The very first two constitutions are so important because they give the sense of direction for all the Constitutions and Rules that follow. Constitutions 1 and 2 remind us very clearly that everything that we do is to be done as a cooperator of Jesus Christ. He has called us, he sends us, and it is his mission that we fulfill wherever we find ourselves and in whatever state of life.

All  the Constitutions and Rules that follow build on this reality. Constitution 7 emphasizes that our main ministry is to witness to and proclaim the Word of God. To do this effectively, we are drawn “to know him more deeply, to identify with him, to let him live in us” (Constitution 2).

The way to know him is through the Scriptures, and this is why, as we preach the Word of God, we have to be soaked in it. Our message has to come through our relationship with him, because it is he who speaks to us.

Eugene was constantly aware of this role of Scripture in his life as he wrote at the age of 55:

I give you thanks, O Lord, for having made shine forth this light from the sacred deposit of your Holy Scriptures. As you show me the way I should follow, and give me the desire to follow it, you will also give me the powerful help of your grace.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles,
May 1837, EO XV n. 185

May we have the grace to make these words our own.