IN REGARD TO WEALTH, I DID NOT HAVE ANY NEED OF IT, IN REGARD TO GLORY, I DID NOT WANT IT.

Posted on October 9, 2023 by franksantucci

A couple of days before his priestly ordination in 1811, Eugene had written:

You, you alone will be the sole object to which will tend all my affections and my every action. To please you, act for your glory, will be my daily task, the task of every moment of my life. I wish to live only for you, I wish to love you alone and all else in you and through you. I despise riches, I trample honours under foot; you are my all, replacing all else. My God, my love and my all: Deus meus et omnia.

Notes made during the retreat in preparation for priestly ordination, December 1-21, E.O. XIV n.95

Now 35 years later, within the context of refuting the accusation of seeking personal honors, he recalls how he lived this resolution after his ordination in 1811:

I then returned to the diocese of Aix, where I begged to be given no assignment, wanting to devote myself to the service of the poor, prisoners and young children. The path of wealth or of glory still did not lie there. In regard to wealth, I did not have any need of it, in regard to glory, I did not want it.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 31 August 1847, EO XXI

REFLECTION

The return of the talented son of a wealthy prominent family would have opened many doors for advancement in Aix en Provence. He could have asked for one of the best city parishes or a lucrative position in the diocesan administration, yet he opted for going against all these expectations and dedicated himself to the poor and most abandoned. I imagine that Madame la President de Mazenod may have experienced some discomfort when in the company of her noble friends and their social standards.

“Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others” (Gordon B. Hinckley)

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1 Response to IN REGARD TO WEALTH, I DID NOT HAVE ANY NEED OF IT, IN REGARD TO GLORY, I DID NOT WANT IT.

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    October 9, 2023 at 13:46

    A very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving from Canada to all who come to this space. It is still dark outside and the streets remain quiet as they await the dawn. A perfect time to give thanks for all that God has given to us. I find myself longing for more communion and oneness with God, the Beloved. Not something to try and capture but rather be like the streets quietly waiting for the life that dawn will bring…

    Recognizing as did Eugene, I see how we are loved, led and supported, one step at a time by the Spirit: sometimes in wonder and other times of inknowing (or understanding) even while celebrating the many small moments of discovery with glimpses of who we are created to be; ongoing creation.

    My own silent vow to God joins with Eugene to love – to give all of my love to God, and in doing so becoming able to love all others. I remember thinking “…if I can touch one person in my lifetime I will be blessed and that will be enough”. Rather than waiting for others to come to my door step I went out to greet them, much as Eugene did and does each of us as we are called…

    There is a certain wisdom that we are given as we age, that courageously (and seemingly recklessly) God bestows upon us which fills us with the desire to lovingly serve each other and all whom we meet.

    “Jesus ‘always love those who were his own in the world,’ and to the very end ‘he showed how perfect his love was’ (Jn 13: 1). His Spirit inspires all Christians to constancy in their love. The same Spirit develops in us a close attachment to the congregation. […]We will help each other find joy and fulfillment in our community life and in our apostolate, supporting one another in our resolution to be faithful to the Congregation, whatever the circumstances which could provoke its dispersal or tempt us to withdraw from it.” (C 29)

    Reply

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