SAINT EUGENE CALLS US TO LIVE AS A FAMILY UNITED BY HIS MEMORY
© Laurent Girard / Studio Mazenod (2011) – Tableau du Jean-Jacques Martin
Father Fabre’s first circular letter to the Oblates after the General Chapter which elected him to be Eugene’s successor contains the invitation:
“Let us be united in spirit and in heart
and we will be strong for doing what is good;
let us be united in the memory of a Father
forever beloved”
I look at how the charism of St. Eugene continues to be shared more than 150 years after his death throughout the whole world – not just a memory but alive, relevant and flourishing.
The charism, that gift given by the Holy Spirit, which is alive only in as much as it is shared with others, a living flow.
As I read the scriptures for this Pentecost Sunday I found myself reflecting on the way those who received the Spirit [of God] were able to speak in new languages. And if I am honest I am able to recognize with no little amount of wonder in how God has changed the way I speak – in how alive I am in God. Alive in the Spirit!
Frank continues to lead us on this adventure and there are others as I fondly remember the spirit of Kay Cronin, HOMI, leading even as she walks with me. Step-by-step, in the footsteps of St. Eugene, allowing Eugene to speak through us so that others might hear and be touched in new and wondrous ways.
Today as we celebrate Pentecost and the Spirit coming among and within us, as one family of sons and daughters of Eugene de Mazenod, we continue to be united in “the memory of a Father forever beloved”. Eugene’s spirit alive within us 162 years later!
Happy Pentecost to All, as we come together in love as missionaries without boundaries!