“Zeal for the Church consumed him.”

       “The Church, that glorious inheritance purchased by Christ the Saviour at the cost of his own blood, has in our days been cruelly ravaged.”  Eugene de Mazenod wrote those words almost 200 years ago, yet they are dismayingly apt today.  In Eugene’s time, it was the French Revolution and its aftermath that decimated the Church.   At various points, the Catholic faith itself was banned, churches were burned and clergy and bishops defected en masse.  Internal theological controversies and external political intrigues tore apart the fabric of faith.  Indeed, from Eugene’s point of view, the Church was under attack from within through the actions of some of its members and from without by members of a newly liberated society. 

       The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.  Today, again, from both within and without, the Church is being ravaged.  From the inside, there are the horrific sins of the abuses and scandals, compounded by decades of some woefully inadequate and mistaken responses by those in authority.   From the outside, a global media frenzy often exaggerates or even distorts what is happening, painting all the faithful with the same evil brush.   Yet, even while recognizing the distortions, many Catholics, shocked and shamed by the recent reports, question how to remain faithful. 

       I think Eugene’s response might be helpful here.  In looking at the sad state of affairs in his time, his response was not to leave the Church but rather to be consumed with zeal for it.   In his eyes, to love Christ was to love the church and to love the Church was to love Christ.   It was as if he saw, in the sin and the suffering of the Church from both within and without, the Body of Christ being crucified once again.   

      A passion for reform overtook him and he single-handedly wanted to rebuild the Church in France.  His creative response was the establishment of the parish missions with a committed band of right-minded priests who would witness to the true Good News with their preaching and with the quality of their lives.  Thus was born the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. 

      It is a challenge we can take up.  As Richard Rohr has said, “The best solution for the bad is the practice of the better.”   It would be a powerful witness to the world if Christian Catholics truly witnessed to the gospel message.  As we humbly went about our lives, practicing compassion, love, service and a love of justice, a re-newed face of the Church would be seen and perhaps the Good News would be good once more. 

Sandy Prather HOMI

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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