{"id":6134,"date":"2025-09-16T01:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=6134"},"modified":"2025-09-15T18:40:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T16:40:52","slug":"the-liberating-power-of-the-word-of-god-c7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=6134","title":{"rendered":"THE LIBERATING POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD (C7)"},"content":{"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 the sacraments and in service to others.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Constitution 7<\/h3>\n

When we meditate on Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, we invariably are led to examine the quality of our life-options, our faithfulness to the truth and to what is life-giving. It is this reflection, in the light of the Word of God, that leads us to the sacrament of reconciliation.<\/h3>\n

Eugene\u2019s preaching and that of the early Oblate missionaries was an invitation to a prolonged intimate encounter with the Savior acting through the priest as spiritual guide and instrument of forgiveness and new life. The confessional was to be the place of transparent encounter between a person in their brokenness and the healing mercy of God. One of Eugene\u2019s earliest sermons gives this message using the imagery of a sinner being stuck in a muddy swamp that makes release seem impossible:<\/h3>\n

In the same way the preacher of the Gospel, is saddened at the sight of sinners sinking in the dreadful swamp of their evil deeds, bogged down with no desire of getting out. They futilely try all that their gentle charity inspires them to do to have them return onto the way.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Finally seeing their obstinate determination to be lost, the preachers make the most frightening truths re-echo in their ears. They arm themselves with the whip of the holy Word, and increase their blows until at last with a huge effort these sinners get out of the mud and free themselves.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Then it is with open arms that the ministers of Jesus Christ press them close to their hearts and take delight in pouring ointment on all their wounds to ease them.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

(Instruction at the Madeleine, preached in Provencal, on the fourth Sunday of Lent 1813, EO XV n 115.)<\/em><\/h3>\n

Today, as our reflection on the Word of God becomes a mirror to see ourselves, it also becomes an invitation to ask for forgiveness and to begin again with God\u2019s strengthening sacramental grace. As a priest of many decades, I have been privileged to witness the transformative power of this sacrament in countless persons. It is a means of encounter with God that is always available and yet so easy to ignore.<\/h3>\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-6134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6134","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=6134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}