Second of August, anniversary of my Baptism. Mass with the Capuchin Sisters. This Mass has become an institution on this day. I can think of no greater help than the prayers of these holy ladies to thank God for a benefit such as that of my regeneration.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 1 August 1849, EO XXII
REFLECTION
For Eugene the anniversary of his baptism was more important than his birthday. It was the anniversary of his being born into the life of Jesus Christ.
We are claimed for Christ by the sign of the cross.
It is a claiming of God and somehow a claiming of who each of us are because we are children of God. It is a symbol of who we are, in the present moment unbounded by time or physicality.
“If we bear in our body the death of Jesus, it is with the hope that the life of Jesus, too, may be seen in our body (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will also know the power of his resurrect (cf. Phil 3:10).” C 4)
I think of how Fr. Ron Rolheiser OMI speaks of the “Passion of Christ” – yes it is in the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ, but it is also in how he lived, died, was resurrected – fully human and fully divine. Like so many of the saints, Eugene himself was a very passionate man.
There are many who were created with the gift of passion – not something to be stifled or toned-down, but rather something to be deepened, lived and celebrated.