-
Recent Posts
- FAILURE IS NOT FATAL: IT IS THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THAT COUNTS
- HE PUT BEFORE ME SOME VERY GOOD REASONS FOR HAVING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR CONGREGATION SET UP IN HIS INTERESTING DIOCESE
- THIS PRELATE INSPIRES ME SO MUCH
- 25 JANUARY 1816 – 25 JANUARY 2025: THE GIFT OF HOPE CONGREGATES PILGRIMS INTO A COMMUNITY
- WHAT IS TO GIVE LIGHT MUST ENDURE BURNING.
Recent Comments
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate on FAILURE IS NOT FATAL: IT IS THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THAT COUNTS
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate on HE PUT BEFORE ME SOME VERY GOOD REASONS FOR HAVING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR CONGREGATION SET UP IN HIS INTERESTING DIOCESE
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate on THIS PRELATE INSPIRES ME SO MUCH
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate on 25 JANUARY 1816 – 25 JANUARY 2025: THE GIFT OF HOPE CONGREGATES PILGRIMS INTO A COMMUNITY
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate on WHAT IS TO GIVE LIGHT MUST ENDURE BURNING.
Archives
Meta
-
“A father’s communication with his many children… that is one of the most agreeable occupations of my life” 1857
Just as our first attempts as toddlers to stand don’t work out, neither did some of Eugene’s first attempts at sending his sons to other lands. He learned from them what was necessary for them to succeed. Just as we are able to learn from many of our first attempts as sons and daughters of Eugene and as God’s children learn. The courage we we receive from God is what helps us. I cannot help but think of Jesus on the cross: he did not fail but was resurrected. (There is a small part of me that wants to laugh as I realise that I have and am looking not just at Eugene, but Jesus himself as my model; I never expected this.). Our joy is to be found in how we are always in the processing of becoming who God has created us to be.
My beloved sister has dementia that has robbed her from being able to recognize people or being able to understand technology. I tried a zoom meeting with her but that did not work out. I did notice though, that each time I told her how much I loved her she would put her face close to the tablet and stare intently at it as if to figure out how my voice was coming from it. I also saw how her fear would rise because she could not figure it out and she became angry and anxious again. My beloved sister… I am not about to give up on you or myself.
We recognize that it is not only our need to be able to love others, but their need to be loved. God never measures, and what we might call a failure, God seems to look only at how hard we are trying and then fills us with hope and courage in our becoming who God has created us to be.
Eugene and his sons and daughters do not give up, our Charismatic Oblate Family does not give up, in fact they offer their entire lives and so are given the courage to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and St. Eugene de Mazenod. This courage which God offers to us is one more mark of love…