THE CHURCH KNOWS HOW TO UNDERSTAND GREAT THINGS AND ASSOCIATE ITSELF WITH TRULY USEFUL INVENTIONS

May these benefits of the natural order remind us of those even greater in the supernatural order

Rey concludes his narrative by recalling how much Bishop Eugene’s speech was acclaimed.

This speech earned the Prelate many eloquent congratulations. We will quote just one letter, from Cardinal de la Tour d’Auvergne, Bishop of Arras: “Monseigneur, I read with admiration and keen interest the speech you gave at the inauguration of the Marseille canal. This gigantic undertaking could not have been more magnificently celebrated than by you, Monseigneur. The eloquence and dignity of your words have made this ceremony unforgettable, and the part you played in it, by doing the episcopate such great honor, proved to our century that the Church knows how to understand great things and associate itself with truly useful inventions. I thank you, Monseigneur, and I congratulate the city of Marseille for the benefit it has received from the canal, just as I praise it for having called upon religion to magnify this extraordinary work”.

Rey Volume 2 pages 255-256

REFLECTION

The Second Vatican Council stressed the role of the church in the modern world:

“Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.”

Lumen Gentium 1

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1 Response to THE CHURCH KNOWS HOW TO UNDERSTAND GREAT THINGS AND ASSOCIATE ITSELF WITH TRULY USEFUL INVENTIONS

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:

    I am reminded of the devastation of the Church following the French Revolution: “The Church, that glorious inheritance purchased by Christ the Saviour at the cost of his own blood has in our days been cruelly ravaged.” (The Preface)

    It is not just in the spiritual realm that we find miracles as we walk with God – it is also here in the physical world as the Spirit guides us in ways that allows us to be in the Kingdom of God.

    Vatican II did not fail and lose relevance as some might suggest, any more than did Eugene’s charism (gift of the Spirit). I think of the Synod on Synodality which will meet next year.
    I think of how Eugene did not dwell on the past, but how he allowed it to become a part of himself as he moved forward… I think of how we are being invited to get to know our Church and each other in her eyes, in the way that we continue to walk in the light shed by Eugene and by his many sons and daughters in today’s world, to move ‘Forward Together’…

    We shall support lay people in the discernment and development of their own talents and charisms, encouraging them to undertake ministries and apostolic commitments and thus to shoulder the responsibilities which are properly theirs in the Christian community.” (R 7f) Living with this gift we each being to invite all peoples to join us in our walking as “pilgrims in hope of communion. ”

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