Prayer used by St. Eugene de Mazenod before Meditation

O Mary Immaculate, faithful adorer of the Father, Mother most admirable of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, inspire within me the same sentiments that were yours while pondering the revealed mysteries which you treasured in your heart. Grant that I may ever live in union with your Son, my Savior, together with all who, by meditation, give honor to the most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Oblate Text

In all things, do not overload yourselves with work and do not think that you are wasting your time when you are taking a rest, (St. Eugene de Mazenod to the Fathers of Nimes, December 1, 1828).

From the Gospel according to Mark:

“Jesus said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them,’” (6: 31-33).

Reflection:

Several years ago, an article was published in a magazine for pastoral ministers about pastoral ministry burnout. It seems that even in listening to Jesus in the Gospel who invites us to go away and rest, or even in recognizing the commandment about keeping the Sabbath, there is a part of us that feels guilty taking the time to refresh our souls and bodies as we continue the important work of evangelization. The article makes an interesting claim about this burnout, stating that the spiritual identity of the minister is based solely upon their responsibilities and no longer in their relationship with Christ. Do we consider our missionary work so important that we make it about ourselves instead of our personal relationship with Christ? St. Eugene expected zealous missionaries. However, he also saw the extreme demands the mission placed on them.He saw how often his missionaries succumbed to illness for not caring for themselves. He, therefore encouraged them to rest, to not feel as rest was a waste of time. The missionary pilgrim will always find something that needs handling or someone who needs our help. Even our Lord, as he invited his disciples to rest, discovers those still seeking his help. What is important in our pilgrimage is that we are not self-reliant on the mission’s demands. St. Eugene founded an apostolic community precisely because they would emulate the example of the apostles gathered with Jesus. Our first missionaries managed to find rest because they shared the mission as community. Today we are also encouraged to live apostolic community as the Mazenodian family. This prevents being overloaded with the demands of the mission. It prevents from our pride and ego making us think that uf we are not present, the work of evangelization in our local communities may not get done. Let us ask St. Eugene to teach us the value of resting so that our missionary efforts may truly be fervent.

Reflection Questions:

1. What conscious choices can you make to assure that your spirit and body are rested to continue being a missionary pilgrim?

2. What prevents you from going away to rest a while?

3. Identify ways in which living apostolic community with your local Mazenodian family can help you find those moments of rest.