{"id":3172,"date":"2016-08-10T05:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T03:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=3172"},"modified":"2016-08-10T03:52:41","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T01:52:41","slug":"our-founding-vision-today-the-savior-responds-to-the-most-urgent-needs-of-the-church-through-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=3172","title":{"rendered":"OUR FOUNDING VISION TODAY: THE SAVIOR RESPONDS TO THE MOST URGENT NEEDS OF THE CHURCH THROUGH US"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

CC&RR, Constitution 7<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cmost urgent need\u201d for Eugene was for himself and his Oblate family to BE in order to DO. Every page of his writings points to his intention that we not be do-gooder activists responding to a dazzling array of needs. Non-stop activity on behalf of those in need is a sure recipe for burnout and for not being of any use to anyone after a time. Activism is a sure recipe for becoming exhausted, cynical, hyper-critical and a loner.<\/p>\n

Our Rule of Life mirrors how Eugene counteracted the \u201cDO syndrome\u201d (as well intentioned as it is) by stressing the response of \u201cvarious forms of witness and ministry.\u201d First WITNESS and then MINISTRY.<\/p>\n

His powerful vision statement, which we know as the Preface, leaves us in no doubt as to where to begin to respond to the deplorable situation and urgent needs of the Church in France, and now to our own. Originally he wrote this for Oblate priests, but the Mazenodian Family has come into being around this vision statement, and so it applies to all:<\/p>\n

\n
They are convinced that if priests could be formed, afire with zeal for men’s salvation, priests not given to their own interests, solidly grounded in virtue \u2013 in a word, apostolic men deeply conscious of the need to reform themselves, who would labour with all the resources at their command to convert others \u2013 then there would be ample reason to believe that in a short while people who had gone astray might be brought back to their long-unrecognized responsibilities. \u201cTake great care about what you do and what you teach,\u201d was Paul’s charge to Timothy, \u201cAlways do this, and thus you will save both yourself and those who listen to you\u201d (1 Tim 4: 16).<\/strong><\/h5>\n
How, indeed, did our Lord Jesus Christ proceed when he undertook to convert the world? He chose a number of apostles and disciples whom he himself trained in piety, and he filled them with his Spirit. These he sent forth, once they had been schooled in his teaching, to conquer the world which, before long, was to bow to his holy rule.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
And how should those who want to follow in the footsteps of their divine Master Jesus Christ conduct themselves if they, in their turn, are to win back the many souls who have thrown off his yoke? They must strive to be saints.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Preface<\/em><\/p>\n

Only after mapping a list of ways in which they are to become saints, does he then say that the Oblates will be qualified to \u201cspare no effort to extend the Saviour’s empire\u201d and to \u201clead all to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and, finally, we must help them to become saints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ministry begins with witness. DOING can only be effective if it is preceded by BEING \u2013 otherwise we get lost in the most urgent needs and have no compass or GPS to guide us in our responses. With intentional apostolic community, a focused personal and communitarian spirituality and life of prayer, we have equilibrium and the guarantee of having something solid to offer in our response to the cry of the poor in the most urgent needs of the Church: we serve them as the witnesses and instruments of Jesus the Savior, his co-operators through whom he works.<\/p>\n

\"FOUNDING<\/a><\/p>\n

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
\nno hands but yours,
\nno feet but yours,
\nyours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the earth,
\nyours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good
\nand yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 St Teresa of Avila<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}