Born in northern France in 1601, John Eudes was ordained a priest with the Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri. As a priest, he cared for the sick in his Diocese during plagues in 1627 and 1631. He later was assigned to parish missions, preaching more than 100 of them, some lasting as long as several weeks or even several months. He had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He worked to get a feast established for the Sacred Heart, which did not happen until the middle of the 19th century. Pope Pius XI named his as the Father of the devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Central themes in his writings are focused on Jesus as the source of holiness and Mary as the model of the Christian life. He founded the congregation of Jesus and Mary, whose charism is devoted to the formation of clergy in diocesan seminaries. The Bishops of France have proposed him as a potential Doctor of the Church. He died in 1680.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about how it is difficult for someone who is attached to his material possessions to enter the kingdom of heaven. I think of the values exemplified by the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary which inspired the spirituality of St John Eudes. When I chose my name when I entered the Carmelite secular order, I chose the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart as well, at the suggestion of some of the Carmelite sisters here in Jackson, who know my work and my spirituality so well. May we focus our lives on the truth of God, on what matters most.
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