{"id":5569,"date":"2023-10-02T01:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T23:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5569"},"modified":"2023-10-01T15:55:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T13:55:14","slug":"we-fulfill-ourselves-to-the-extent-we-have-the-courage-to-give-of-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5569","title":{"rendered":"WE FULFILL OURSELVES TO THE EXTENT WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO GIVE OF OURSELVES"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1822, Eugene had written to Fr. Henri Tempier: “First companion of mine, you have from the first day we came together grasped the spirit which must animate us and which we must communicate to others… everyone knows this in the Society and they count on you as they count on myself.” (Letter to Henri Tempier, 15 August 1822, EO VI n 86)<\/h3>\n

Twenty five years later this was still true, and was the reason why Eugene sent him to represent him in the various communities and to make necessary decisions.<\/h3>\n

On your return, you would do well to visit all our houses without exception, and to inform yourself precisely about everything that is going on. Almost everywhere people have begun to make remarks on the placement of our men; I pray you to repeat everywhere that this practice is becoming abusive and untimely.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

As the missionary demands increased, Eugene was not always able to place the missionaries in situations that they would have preferred. Responding as best as possible to the needs of the people they were ministering to was a paramount consideration.<\/h3>\n

I know as well as anybody the worth of each member and the needs of each house; so it is useless to pester me in my dealings. I have pointed out rather sharply that no one should repeat such complaints. I am decided not to listen to them. There is trouble enough in organizing the difficult placement of our men with the rather small number of good men we have available, without someone coming along to increase my difficulties.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The tone of impatience in these words is perhaps explained by the following words of an exhausted bishop:<\/h3>\n

I am answering your letter at the end of a four-hour ceremony.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Letter to Henri Tempier, 17 August 1847, EO X n 939<\/em><\/h3>\n

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

In the individualistic self-satisfaction society in which we live, it is good to be reminded of the words of Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you” and to renew our resolve to put the needs of others in the first place.<\/h3>\n

“This is the paradox of the Gospel: we are free when we serve, out of love. That\u2019s where freedom comes from. We fulfill ourselves to the extent we have the courage to give of ourselves. We possess life if we lose it (cf. Mk 8:35). This is pure Gospel.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1822, Eugene had written to Fr. Henri Tempier: “First companion of mine, you have from the first day we came together grasped the spirit which must animate us and which we must communicate to others… everyone knows this in … 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-5569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569","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=5569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}