As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you. Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you, O LORD, my God. (Esther 4: 16)
“We need to have some courage and confidence in God who shows us the road and will not abandon us when we act in his name and for his glory.”
Letter of Eugene de Mazenod to Fr Eugene Guigues in Canada, 5 December 1844, EO I n 50
REFLECTION
LEAD, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home—
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.
(John Henry Newman)
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “”Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” (Jon. 3:1)
Go forth, beloved sons, you and your companions chosen by us, to the task entrusted to you, so that in these distant regions of the earth which have been assigned to you, you may always work to promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls … May the angels of God assist you. On our part we will never cease to implore for you an abundant shower of graces.”
Eugene de Mazenod’s Mandate as Superior General sending the Oblates to the new mission of Oregon, 22 January 1847, EO I n 78
REFLECTION
Loving God, the Apostles were the first missionaries of the Gospel commissioned by your son, make us messengers of your love and hope to the people we meet in our everday lives.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mt. 6:8)
“It is true that I have always put all my confidence in the goodness of God… and I ought to avow, if ever I have prayed as much, never have I prayed with so much consolation (effect of an absolute but filial confidence) to the point of speaking to our Lord as I dare believe I would have done had I had the happiness of living when he moved about this earth to spread his goodness and grant to each what he asked.”
Letter of Eugene de Mazenod to Fr. Henri Tempier, 16 February 1826, EO VII n 224
REFLECTION
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Thomas Merton
“I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40)
“They will have a compassionate charity for the misery of the poor and they will count themselves happy to be able to relieve, in their needs, these suffering members of J.C.”
Eugene de Mazenod’s Rule for the members of his Christian Youth Association EO XV, n. 135
REFLECTION
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
(St. Teresa of Avila)
For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:17-19)
“O my God, don’t I have every reason to devote myself entirely to your service, to offer you my life and all that I am, so that all that is in me may be employed and spent for your glory? For by how many titles do I belong to you? Not only are you my Creator and Redeemer, as you are all men’s, but you are my special benefactor and applied your merits in an altogether special way to me; my generous friend, you forgot all my acts of ingratitude to help me as powerfully as if I had been always faithful to you; my tender father, who carried this rebel on your shoulders, warmed him against your heart, washed his wounds.
Eugene de Mazenod, Retreat Notes EO XIV n 95
REFLECTION
Lord our God, in every age you call a people to hear your word and to do your will.
Renew us in these Lenten days: washed clean of sin, sealed with the Spirit, and sustained by your living bread, may we remain true to our calling and you alone. Grant this through Christ, our liberator from sin, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, holy and mighty God for ever and ever.
(Sacramentary, Sunday I Lent)
Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners. (Lk. 5:32)
It was felt that, coming from the mouth of the One who is Himself “eternal life”, it is still “spirit and life” (Jn 6:64), it has brought life to those who have received it; it [the Word] has been like a celestial light that has come to invest their souls and has made them know the truth”
Bishop de Mazenod’s Pastoral Letter on the Missions, 1844
REFLECTION
Living Lord,
Your love has held me and kept me through my sinfulness. Now may your hope and healing lead me quickly to a place of restoration. O Lord the oil of your healing flows through me like a living stream. I will keep my eyes on you, and trust in you. I give you all that I am, and rest in your peace. I hold tightly to your promises. They are like a spring that overflows with goodness.
Adapted from https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/prayers-for-healing
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn… (Is.58:6-8)
Charity embraces everything; and for new needs, it invents, when necessary, new means: spiritual help, bodily help, bread for the soul, bread for the body; instruction for ignorance; advice, guidance, support for weakness; asylum for virtue or for penance; pious sentiments, sweet consolations, supernatural strength for the dying; All kinds of good works are being generated in the name of Jesus Christ.
Bishop de Mazenod’s Pastoral Letter 7 Feb. 1847
REFLECTION
What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. (Saint Augustine)
“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.” (Dt. 30: 19-20)
The new proclamation and acceptance of the law amidst a people who had, in some way, given up God’s commandments and who again want to be under the loving yoke of the Lord must be done in a way that leaves a deep impression.
Letter of Eugene de Mazenod to Fr. Bruno Guigues, 5 November 1837, EO IX n 652
REFLECTION
Dear Lord,
Today, I choose life. I choose to follow you always. Help me to know you more as I journey through Lent. Increase my faith and trust in you in all my hard situations. Help me to hear your voice guiding me and correcting me as I spend time in prayer during Lent.
Help me to make the right choices when it is so hard to do. Help me to hold fast to You when I am tired and weak. Today Lord, I choose life by choosing to make you my life.
Amen.
Adapted from: https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-daily-prayer/a-prayer-to-choose-life.html
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5: 20)
“Yes, my brothers, come, and you will see with what joy we will help you to take up your yoke that will seem too heavy only for the first few moments of your conversion, for when once you are freed from sin, light will take the place of the deep shadows that reigned in your souls, God will seem so lovable to you, he will fill your hearts with so great a consolation.”
Eugene de Mazenod’s sermon to the poor of Aix en Provence, 1813
REFLECTION
Each year you bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the paschal feast.
By more faithful prayer and works of charity and by celebrating the mysteries of our rebirth, we are led to the fullness of grace as your sons and daughters.
(Preface for Lent I, Sacramentary)
Arrival of Fr. Lempfrit, a Carthusian whom the Pope transferred to our congregation, placing him under obedience to me. This Father requested to enter our congregation in order to dedicate himself to the conversion of indigenous people; he brought with him a Brother who had left the Carthusians before having made profession therein in order to follow the same vocation. The Father had not at all left the order of Carthusians for reason of discontentment or of lack of stability, but only because he could not resist the powerful attraction which compelled him to evangelize the native peoples.
Diary of Eugene de Mazenod, 14 January 1847, EO XXI
The Brother was the 25 year-old Italian, Gaspare De Steffanis, who was the first Oblate Brother to go to Jaffna, where he would be a missionary for 31 years.
REFLECTION
Guide my path, Lord.
Send me among the people you have made, Whether across the globe or across the street.
Give me the grace to be welcomed in
And the courage to stand out.
May my words compel
As they invoke your spirit.
May my acts shine
As they demonstrate your faithfulness.
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