The year after their arrival in Marseille, we find the zeal of the Missionaries bearing fruit and the foundations of their future ministry in the city being laid. Initially, they had been tied to chaplaincy to the orphanage and in participating in parish missions in Provence. Their center of focus now was the Calvaire, the area where the enormous mission cross had been erected.
In the course of the year 1822 the support of the people to this place of devotion increased.
The structure was rudimentary with a rocky cave underneath, symbolizing the hill of Calvary and the sepulcher. A wooden platform had been constructed from which to hold services and Rey describes how on Good Friday the stage collapsed during the service, injuring Father Maunier.
He had, however, the courage to go back and preach the Passion to the assembled multitude assembled in the enclosure of the Calvary – it was Good Friday.
The large crowds who came on pilgrimage and the attendance of the local inhabitants made it clear that something more permanent was called for. The Missionaries thus began to bring some of the people together in a more organized way by establishing two sodalities to assist in the ministry of the Calvaire, one for men, and the other for women.
On 3 May the first inscriptions of members for two associations took place, one for men and one for women. These were to develop in an important way and to be an asset to the church of the Calvaire.
Rey 1
“Prayer is commitment. We don’t merely co-operate with God with certain things held back within. We, the total person, co-operate. This means that co-operation equals commitment.” E. Stanley Jones
I spent a couple of hours yesterday talking with a friend about how there is a place for the laity in the church, not just as receivers but also as givers. We do have something to offer and we are an integral part of the church. We are in many ways all priests in how we love and serve. But still I hesitated in responding this morning, because the first thing that came to mind was the word “commitment”, and the pain that comes with being told to wait – we (those receiving the commitment) are not quite ready yet. My heart echos the frustration and sorrow that John has spoken of. At the same time I do not want to become mired in this and have it rule my days and nights, I do so not want it to, in any way, close my heart or raise walls even a little bit. By some miracle I start to think of the many times Eugene experienced frustration and being unable to move forward in the way he wanted to. In waiting for them to allow Fortune to become Bishop of Marseille, in waiting for some of the foreign missions to “produce” results and what we would now call converts, frustration with his own health and human weaknesses. Surely if he could manage to get past these small things that can become so big within us, then I should be able to let go of this. In truth I need to ask myself do I want to let go? And if I do then why do I continue to let this bother me, to let this distract me, to let this block and push out my God-given joy?
Who and what shall I take joy in? I love this quote from E. Stanley Jones “Prayer is commitment. We don’t merely co-operate with God with certain things held back within. We, the total person, co-operate. This means that co-operation equals commitment.” God knows of my commitment, God knows what is in my heart and that must be enough. I need to, with all that I am, co-operate with God – that is why and what I have been created for. That is my commitment. As my figers move across the keyboard I start to sing again the Magnificat and I find my heart weeping just a little, not from sorrow, but perhaps it is because it is opening up. This is my commitment, and there is joy in knowing it is enough.