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Jesus “took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.” Mark 6:34
Imitating the “virtues and examples of Jesus Christ” led Eugene to deal with the last area of mission in the 1818 Rule: the mission of the houses where the community of Missionaries lived. Each of these communities had a church, open to the public. Missionaries outside and at home, –they were to use their church to continue their evangelization activities as a center of permanent ongoing mission.
Finally, to make themselves useful to the places in which the houses of the Institute are established, not only will hear the confessions of all who come to them, but they will have the public recitation of morning and evening prayers. In the evening these will be followed by an instruction or meditation…
The major thrust of their ministry was to instruct a people who had been left ignorant by the many years of Revolution. Eugene now continues by listing the areas of instruction where the Missionaries needed to concentrate
in which, they will gradually deal with
all the guiding principles of the Christian life
and of authentic piety,
so that they will bring souls to the love of God and his Son Jesus Christ,
in the practice of mortification
and the other virtues,
in the frequent reception of the sacraments,
and in devotion to the most holy Virgin, the octaves of whose feasts will be faithfully celebrate.
On Sundays, in addition to the services held in the morning for the Congregation of Christian Youth, there will be a catechetical instruction in the evening.
1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter 3, § 7. Public exercises in the church
All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives. Dalai Lama
Source: Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us
