{"id":5533,"date":"2023-08-22T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T23:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5533"},"modified":"2023-08-19T02:39:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T00:39:04","slug":"i-was-the-pastor-of-this-flock-which-i-was-entrusted-with-shepherding-and-that-it-was-the-body-of-jesus-christ-which-i-was-giving-them-as-nourishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5533","title":{"rendered":"I WAS THE PASTOR OF THIS FLOCK WHICH I WAS ENTRUSTED WITH SHEPHERDING AND THAT IT WAS THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST WHICH I WAS GIVING THEM AS NOURISHMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mass at la Mission de France, preceded by the reception of a Protestant and by the Confirmation of a certain number of adults. The chapel was filled with 700 men, the greatest number belonging to the infuential class of Marseilles society and who all took Communion from my hand. Nothing is comparable to the imposing sight of this fervent assembly and to the recollection which was continuously maintained during this rather long ceremony.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene then gives us an insight into his mystical experience of being in the presence of God and being God’s sacramental minister:<\/h3>\n

The presence of the Holy Spirit descended upon the souls of the Confirmands was perceptibly communicated to all the whole assembly; for my part, I sensed its gentle influence and when I thought, while distributing Holy Communion to these numerous faithful, that I was the pastor of this flock which I was entrusted with shepherding and that it was the body of Jesus Christ which I was giving them as nourishment, it was impossible for me to contain my feelings and tears flowed from my eyes, so much was my heart overflowing with a fullness of joy and of happiness.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

By turns I adored, I gave thanks, I prayed to our divine Savior. The three quarters of an hour, during which the Communion continued, passed like an instant.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 18 April 1847, EO XXI<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

REFLECTION<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here we have a privileged glimpse into Eugene’s loving relationship with the Savior who had conquered his heart some 40 years earlier and made him his loving co-operator.<\/h3>\n

An invitation to us to refocus on our own relationship with God and to “adore, give thanks and pray” to the Savior who constantly holds out his open arms to us and becomes one with us in his Eucharist.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

“When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.”\u00a0\u00a0 (Saint Francis de Sales)<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mass at la Mission de France, preceded by the reception of a Protestant and by the Confirmation of a certain number of adults. The chapel was filled with 700 men, the greatest number belonging to the infuential class of Marseilles … 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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5533","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=5533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}