When I was serving as a lay missionary in Canada, I looked into become a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, as that order is very popular up there, especially in the provinces of western Canada. I spent a year discerning a vocation with them. Today, we celebrate that founder of that order on his feast day: Eugene de Mazenod. Born in 1782 in Aix-en-Provence in the South of France, Mazenod was a child and a youth during the French Revolution. Europe had been going through the Age of Enlightenment in this era, in which human reason, philosophy, analysis, and the individual were emphasized over religion. During this era, the traditional places of power and authority in society, the government and the Church, were being challenged. Even though many in France turned away from the Church during those years, de Mazenod chose to enter 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 religious order the Oblates of Mary of Immaculate. Pope Pius XI called the OMI the missionary specialists of difficult missions. In fact, two influential American priests in recent years have been members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate - the popular Catholic author Father Ron Rolheiser and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. These two men embody the missionary spirit of the order that de Mazenod founded. The priests of the OMI are a major influence in Canada, helping maintain a Catholic presence in many rural areas of that country. Mazenod died in 1861 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate are one of the largest male religious orders in the Catholic Church today, with approximately 2,700 priests and brothers.
We just have a few days left in our Easter season, as we will celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost this weekend and the end of the Easter season. As we continue to hear about the missionary efforts of the Early Church in our readings from Act at daily mass today, we hear about Paul’s difficulties, as he is ordered to stand before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin to give testimony. Rather than trying to help Paul and encourage him, the Jewish authorities are plotting to kill him and destroy him, a reminder of what Jesus went through during his journey to the cross. Paul is cunning and intelligent as he traps the Sadducees and Pharisees, getting them in an argument that he knows that will keep them preoccupied, since these two groups do not agree in the belief in the resurrection.
The Early Church faced a lot of challenges in preaching the Gospel message. Missionary like St Eugene de Mazenod faced a lot of challenging in proclaiming the Gospel message as well. May we unite our prayers today with all the great missionary saints of the Church. May we be encouraged in our own evangelization efforts.
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