We are going through an era where the world seems to be going toward the
secular and away from the religious, but we forget that this has happened in
other time periods throughout history as well. The saint of the day illustrates this.
Eugene de Mazenod was a child and a youth during the French
Revolution. Europe had been experiencing the Age of Enlightenment, in which human reason, philosophy, analysis, and individual were emphasized over the Church and the traditional seats of power and authority in society. Even though many in
France turned away from the Church during those years, de Mazenod chose to
enter the seminary. He eventually became
the Bishop of Marseille, a larger trading port and a place where there was a
lot of poverty on many levels. He
eventually founded the Oblates of Mary of Immaculate. Pope Pius XI called the OMI the missionary
specialists of difficult missions. In fact, two of the most influential priests in recent years have been members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate - Father Ron Rolheiser and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, embodying the missionary spirit of the order that de Mazenod founded.
We hear of conflict and the difficult
circumstances Paul faced today in his ministry, of how he was beaten and
brought before the Sanhedrin, of how that body got into a fight amongst itself
between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Facing challenges and persecutions in nothing new in the lives of Christians,
is it? That is why it is so relevant to look at the daily readings and the lives of
the saints that we have throughout our liturgical calendar. We never know how these readings are going to
speak to us as we look at them in the context of the reality of our own world and our own lives. St Paul used a creative and cunning way to get out of a difficult situation. He could have been put to death, but was able
to escape with his life intact. As we enter the last days of the Easter season, may we ask the Lord to continue to speak to us and
guide us.
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