Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

Our mission requires that, in a radical way, we follow Jesus who was chaste and poor and who redeemed mankind by his obedience. That is why, through a gift of the Father, we choose the way of the evangelical counsels.

(Constitution 12)

Eugene insisted:

My intention in dedicating myself to the ministry of the missions to work especially for the instruction and conversion of the most abandoned souls, was to follow the example of the Apostles in their life of devotedness and self-denial… Hence I considered choosing the evangelical counsels, to which they had been so faithful, as indispensable, lest our words be no more than what I have noticed about the words of those who proclaim the same truths, namely sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Eugene’s Memoires, quoted in Rambert, I p. 187

In this sprit, for all of us today, following the counsel of poverty aims at detachment from consumerism and materialism and develops generosity.

Following the counsel of chastity aims at purity in a world saturated with the misuse of sexuality and proposes fidelity.

Following the counsel of obedience aims at counteracting the cult of the ego, autonomy and pride and proposes following the will of God and rightful authority.

Our mission requires that, in a radical way, we follow Jesus who was chaste and poor and who redeemed mankind by his obedience. That is why, through a gift of the Father, we choose the way of the evangelical counsels.

(Constitution 12)

From the start we need to clarify that the evangelical counsels are not just the “vows’ that religious make, but that they apply to everyone.

The invitation of Jesus to follow him means to accept his invitation to holiness. We do this, not only by living according to his commandments, but also by the counsels which are a special path to follow Jesus more closely and radically. We do this by imitating three aspects of his life: his chastity, his poverty and his obedience.

All of us are invited to live our baptism in this light according to our state of life in marriage, the single life or religious life. In the case of the Oblate brothers and priests, we bind ourselves to these counsels by making vows.

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “You may practice the counsels according to the measure of your state in life; for while not everyone is called to renounce all things, all are called to prefer God above all things” (Introduction to the Devout Life).

St Eugene de Mazenod is an excellent example of this radical choice of God which he proposed to his Oblate Family:

If we wish to achieve the same results as the Apostles and the first followers of the Gospel we must use the same means as they and, this all the more because we do not have the power to perform miracles and so we must bring back those who have gone astray by the splendor of our virtues.

Letter to M. Arbaud, 1 January 1819, EO XIII n 22.

Growing in faith, hope and love, we commit ourselves to be a leaven of the Beatitudes at the heart of the world.

(Constitution 11)

“Do this and you will live” are the words of Jesus. “Do this and you will live” are the words with which our Constitutions and Rules are entrusted to us.

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us the beatitudes as an evangelical itinerary for our lives and a source of happiness for each of us.

For Eugene, they were contained and expressed in the Rule.

My dear sons … take in hand, once and for all, the Rule that the Church has given us and be imbued with its spirit. I ask you: to what have the members of our Institute devoted themselves, what have they sworn to be for their entire life? Listen: “They must wholly renounce themselves, and strive solely for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the growth and salvation of souls. They must continually renew themselves in the spirit of their vocation

Eugene’s Circular Letter to all Oblates, 2 February 1857, EO XII p. 209 f

Together we await Christ’s coming in the fullness of his justice so that God may be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15: 28).

Growing in faith, hope and love, we commit ourselves to be a leaven of the Beatitudes at the heart of the world.

(Constitution 11)

The lives and symbolic actions of the Biblical prophets bore witness. They were men and women who interpreted situations through the eyes of God and spoke on behalf of God. The goal of their words and actions was conversion, to invite people to the liberation and salvation offered by God. Eugene saw the world through the eyes of the Crucified Savior and became the instrument of the charism given to the Church: “that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection” (C 4). It is summed up in the Preface’s injunction to lead people: “to act like reasonable persons (rendre les hommes raisonnables), first of all, and then to act like Christians, and, finally, we must help them to become saints.”

In the Preface, Eugene stressed the necessity for prophetic witness:

“Take great care about what you do and what you teach,” was Paul’s charge to Timothy, “Always do this, and thus you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Tim 4: 16).

Being witnesses of God’s mercy and divine justice is an integral part of who we are as Oblates, and our mission of being “co-operators of the Savior” is part of the prophetic mission of the Church: being witnesses to the new world born in his resurrection.

(A Companion to the OMI Constitutions and Rules – Reflections by the Oblate Charismatic Family, p. 181-182, https://www.omiworld.org/wp-content/uploads/Oblatio-Studia-14.pdf)

We fulfil this mission in community; and our communities are a sign that, in Jesus, God is everything for us. (Constitution 11)

The community is missionary in the example it gives to outsiders. Speaking of the ministry of the community of Notre Dame de l’Osier to priests:

“People vie with one another in their admiration for the regularity, good order, piety that reign in the house… They find edification in everything: the silence that reigns in the house. the punctuality at all the exercises, the office, the small refectory penances. So be always what you ought to be and never let the presence of strangers bring you to make changes in anything whether it be in the Rule or in our customs. If one can find in your house no more than a group of priests living under the same roof, as pastors from the surrounding neighbourhood might do, you will be guilty-before me before the Congregation and before God; and the people for whose sake you surrendered your Oblate way of life will go away but little edified and certainly deceived in their expectations.”

“Community” in the Dictionary of Oblate Values, https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/community/#_Ftnt43

“We fulfil our mission in and through the community to which we belong. Our communities, therefore, are apostolic in character… By growing in unity of heart and mind, we bear witness before the world that Jesus lives in our midst and unites us in order to send us out to proclaim God’s reign.”

Constitution 37.

We fulfil this mission in community; and our communities are a sign that, in Jesus, God is everything for us. (Constitution 11)

The whole community is always missionary. The letters which the Founder writes to the missionaries and from the missions are a tangible means of creating one heart and one soul in the community – sharing details of how things were going, and also praying for each other. “I have no need to tell you how much I bless the Lord for all he is doing through your ministry; we are all in transports of joy, as if this were new to us. I have read our fathers’ letter to the community.”  This is a concrete sign of what it means that the community is apostolic and that all are missionaries, because those who stay at home are praying for the workers, and studying to prepare themselves in turn for their own preaching when their turn comes: “If you do not pray for us, we are in a bad fix.”

… The abilities of the individual are there for the good of the community and its mission: “The Good Lord did not give you your talents for your own use only; but in calling you to the Congregation. he wished you to use these talents for the good of the whole family.”

“Community” in the Dictionary of Oblate Values, https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/community/#_Ftnt43

“The call and the presence of the Lord among us today bind us together in charity and obedience to create anew in our own lives the Apostles’ unity with him and their common mission in his Spirit” Constitution 3

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). Constitution 11

Eugene’s lifelong commitment to seeking and preaching the Kingdom was also communicated to the laity of his diocese as a Lenten ideal.

Contribute, then, with all your means, our dearest brethren, to this return of minds to religion, and to this end let each one begin with himself, so that from this holy season of Lent, each of you may be inflamed with a true zeal for your own sanctification, whether you need to rekindle in your soul a faith that is nearly extinguished, or whether you need only to reform or perfect your morals;

set a good example in all sincerity, perform good works with generosity; comfort the afflicted with a fraternal love for the poor, and act in this not for the sake of human interest, but for a more perfect and higher end: “Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you in addition” (Mt 6:33).

Bishop Eugene’s Lenten Pastoral Letter to the people of Marseilles, 1849.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). Constitution 11

Fr. Leonard was travelling around France in search of men willing to become Oblates to serve the foreign missions

No matter how busy and overworked I am. I always have a moment at night to answer your letters. Eleven o’clock has struck, no matter. We will have enough time in the grave for sleeping. I can only encourage you to carry out the mission you have received … continue with renewed confidence the great work which brings our Society the means of extending its zeal.

… Goodbye, my dear Father, even though I write to you far into the night, you easily can see that what I tell you is not the work of darkness; light shines at all hours to the eyes of those who are seeking first of all the kingdom of God and do not want anything else but the Will of the heavenly Father.

Letter to Fr Leonard, 6 October 1847, EO X, n. 944

These words remind me of Newman’s hymn, “Lead, kindly light, amidst the night’s encircling gloom.” The presence of God in the Kingdom is the light we are asked to search for at all times, especially in the darkness that surrounds us.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

Constitution 11

One of the young Father de Mazenod’s main ministries after his ordination was the Youth Association. Some of its members became priests, and Eugene rejoiced that they persevered in extending the Kingdom of God despite the power of evil against them.

Letter from Gibelli…  May this dear child be blessed. His letter gives rest to my heart. Holy young man, keep up your work. Build eagerly since so many false brethren demolish the fine work of the Savior; save souls with zeal since so many dishonest ones poison them. All of you, my dear children of the youth association, who fight under the banner of Mary for the glory of Jesus, redouble your efforts, be blessed a thousand times for all the work you do in so many dioceses to extend the kingdom of God and destroy the empire of the devil.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 20 April 1839, EO XX.

This is the spirit of the Preface referring to the struggle that all members of the Oblate Family experience at times in the face of evil around them – being part of this Family is an encouragement for each one.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). Constitution 11

Very often Eugene’s letters to his missionaries express this sentiment:

your wonderful mission of making Jesus Christ known and extending his kingdom as you walk in the footsteps of the Apostles.

Letter to Fr. Semeria in Ceylon, 25 January 1848, EO IV, n. 2.

He encourages his Oblate family in this mission:

One of my greatest joys is to receive your letters; the tiniest detail of what concerns you interests and touches me. How could I be insensitive to the sufferings that you are enduring to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and to respond to your beautiful vocation, which has called you to the most meritorious mission that I know.

There is no doubt that you are buying souls at the price of your own blood, you, the first apostles of those souls whom God wishes to save by means of your ministry. If there had not been you to seek them as far as the ends of the earth, what would have become of them?

I can understand that the consolation of seeing so many creatures made in the image of God enter into the sheepfold of Jesus Christ as a result of your care for them is a great recompense for all your efforts, an unutterable consolation; it is this that sustains your courage, and, I can say to you, softens the pain that I feel in being separated from you.

Letter to Fr. Maisonneuve in Red River, 13 March 1857, EO II n. 230