{"id":5574,"date":"2023-10-06T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T23:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5574"},"modified":"2023-10-01T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T14:23:54","slug":"accused-of-being-ambitious-because-certain-dignities-fell-upon-me-without-my-seeking-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5574","title":{"rendered":"ACCUSED OF BEING AMBITIOUS BECAUSE CERTAIN DIGNITIES FELL UPON ME WITHOUT MY SEEKING THEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Bishop of Marseilles, Eugene became aware of some criticism to the effect that he was ambitious and looking for honors. In his private journal, which he never intended others to see, he reflects on moments when he was offered positions of importance and never accepted.<\/h3>\n

The first was after his ordination to the priesthood. He recalls:<\/h3>\n

It was during this period that I refused the bishop who had ordained me, Bishop Demandolx, the honor which he had offered me of staying with him in the position of his vicar general; that\u2019s the first response that I could make to those who accorded me the title of being ambitious because certain dignities fell upon me without my seeking them. I still see the window frame where the good bishop so greatly urged me to accept his compelling offer. He esteemed my title of friend of the family, we were compatriots, he would feel very happy to have me with him. I would be delivering him from a painful servitude…<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

I was hundreds of miles away from the thought of elevating myself. While expressing my thanks, I apologized and stressed my obligation to return to the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, where I was director. The saintly bishop had no idea what was going on in that house in Paris. We know that the Sulpicians, forced to withdraw, had entrusted the direction of the seminary to M. Teysseyrre, Tharin, Gosselin and myself….<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

When I told him that I needed to go to fulfill the role of director and, yielding to this consideration, he said to me, sighing: That\u2019s different, I am insisting no further; I left him in this opinion and I returned to Paris, where I stayed for one year more as a priest.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 31 August 1847, EO XXI<\/em><\/h3>\n

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

Being a nobleman, son of a judge, a graduate of St Sulpice and an accomplished speaker and organizer, it is easy to understand why many offers of ecclesiastical positions and honors came his way.<\/h3>\n

“When ambition ends, happiness begins.” (Thomas Merton)<\/h3>\n

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

As Bishop of Marseilles, Eugene became aware of some criticism to the effect that he was ambitious and looking for honors. In his private journal, which he never intended others to see, he reflects on moments when he was offered … 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-5574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5574","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=5574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}