The novitiate year was a time specifically set aside to live the intimacy of Jesus and the apostles, during which the future Missionaries were allowing themselves to be formed in perfection: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of…
Please visit Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us Situations vacant! I conclude these reflections on the 1818 Rule with the picture that Eugene gives of the qualities required in a prospective candidate to the Missionaries. He has to have a great desire for his own perfection, an unlimited love for Jesus Christ and his Church, and an enormous zeal for the salvation of souls. He must have a heart that is free…
The cross of Jesus Christ is central to our mission… This is the focal point of the spirit of Eugene, handed on to the Mazenodian family today. 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 know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3: 10). CC&RR, Constitution 4 For this reason…
Please visit Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us It is said that the “habit does not make the monk” – but what Eugene is getting at in this article of the Rule is that our exterior appearance can be an indication of an inner attitude. The missionary will never be allowed to curl his hair, or to wear buckles on his shoes, or rings on his fingers. Everything on and about him…
Please visit Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us When an ambassador comes to a new country to represent his Head of State, he presents his “credentials” to the president or monarch of the new country where he is. For Eugene the Cross is the “credential” that shows that it is God who is sending the Missionary to be the co-operator of the Savior among the people to whom he is missioning. The Oblate…
Please visit Eugen de Mazenod speaks to us Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the Cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday? Tears of sorrow because: I had looked for happiness outside of God and for too long with resulting unhappiness. Tears that changed into expressions of peace and joy as he realized how much God loved him: Blessed, a thousand times blessed, that he, this…
Do not forget to visit: Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us. Just a click and you are there! 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…
Do not forget to visit: Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us. Just a click and you are there! The common theme running through all the descriptions of the ministry of the Missionaries was this infallible rule: We are never to lose sight of one of the principal ends of our Institute, which is to help the most abandoned souls. As Eugene unfolds the ministry of the Missionaries in the 1818 Rule, he…
Posted on March 28, 2012 by frank Santucci, omi Do not forget to visit: Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us. Just a click and you are there! It goes without saying that it is never permitted to receive even the least recompense for preaching, or the administration of the sacraments, or any other ministry. 1818 Rule Part 1, Chapter 3, §1 Preaching The Missionary co-operator of the Savior must imitate the example…
Posted: 22 Mar By Frank Santucci, omi Do not forget to visit: Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us. Just a click and you are there! As an outstanding preacher himself, Eugene had no patience with the flowery preachers who had style and played with words but had no solid content. His diary entries spare them no criticism, and in his Rule he wanted to ensure that his Missionaries never fell into this…
