Originally Published on OMIWORLD.ORG

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HOMILY: CLOSING EUCHARIST, NOVEMBER 30, 2024

On December 3, we will remember the anniversary of the canonization of our Founder. On that occasion, Pope John Paul II said: “Eugene de Mazenod was a man of the Advent, a man of the coming. Not only did he direct his gaze towards that coming, but he also dedicated his whole life to preparing for it. Eugene de Mazenod was one of the apostles who prepared modern times, our times…..”. Today too, the Lord calls us to dedicate our lives to preparing for the coming of the Lord and to explore new ways to incarnate our missionary charism.

Looking at our world and our Church, we can think that we have similar challenges to those of St. Eugene in his time: war and post-war situations, revolutions that challenge our value systems, lack of hope, a Church in search of answers and in need of reform, etc. Called to live the service of authority as men of Advent in the style of St. Eugene, what can we learn from him?

Docile to the Spirit, men of passion

St. Eugene was not a theoretical man who prepared a plan for reform or founded the Congregation from his office desk. Passionate for Jesus and for his Church, he was able to personally accept the call to conversion in order to be a missionary to the poor and to found the Congregation. The saint we know today was forged in intimacy with Jesus and being docile to his Spirit. The newness we seek can only be born from there.

To serve our brothers and sisters we need to cultivate with humility an attentive listening to the Spirit who will show us the signs of his action in our world and in our Church. The Spirit is already speaking to us and awaits our response. The first step is to accept the call to personal conversion in order to live the Gospel and share with others the passion for Christ and the newness of his Kingdom. Do we take the risk of living the Gospel more radically?

Generators of family

Aware of his limitations, St. Eugene sought other companions with whom to walk together. He founded our Congregation and worked to make it a family in the style of Jesus’ community with his Apostles. His love for the Oblates, rather than creating a “structure”, made of us a family. A family enriched today by diverse cultural sensitivities. St. Eugene, by his way of loving and caring for relationships, was able to make each Oblate feel that he is our father, not only our superior or founder. A father who always invites us to live the Gospel more and better and to strengthen the bonds of unity. We are called to love each Oblate with passion, to walk with him to live the Gospel, to strengthen the bonds of unity not only in our Units but with the whole Congregation. We are also called to strengthen the bonds of communion and mission with the charismatic family. This is done by taking care of relationships, as St. Eugene did, in the style of Jesus with his apostles. Do we take the risk of being generators of missionary family life?

Passionate for the poor

“In the face of new needs, charity invents new means”. These are words of St. Eugene that he himself embodied. This is part of our DNA as we see in our history. Eugene was not afraid to take risks to open new missions, even when there were few members. He tried everything, he risked everything, to respond and announce the Good News to the poor of his time. Let us do the same. We can only be men of Advent if we dare to risk to be missionaries WITH the poor and announce Jesus Christ as their only full hope and this demands new means inspired by charity. Do we risk to move from our known worlds to respond creatively to the mission with the poor?

This closing Eucharist is at the same time a Eucharist of missionary sending. The Lord calls us and sends us to exercise our service of authority by being men of Advent, prophetically living the Gospel. Men who live with passion their relationship with God, generators of family life in communities that live the Gospel. Men capable of exploring new missionary paths to respond to the urgent needs of the Church and the poor. Let us pray together to St. Eugene to accompany and assist us in our mission through the missionary oblation of our lives.