On the 21st May, we celebrate the feast of St Eugene de Mazenod, father of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the De Mazenod family. For the Australian Province, this may be the first time we celebrate the Feast Day with a more formal sense of our De Mazenod Family identity since our De Mazenod Family Gathering in August 2019. Who could have imagined the situation we find ourselves in today when we gathered last year, yet we have managed to continue developing the De Mazenod Family spirit in the Australian Province.
Like any father, we look to him as an example, and we model our lives on him. There are many characteristics of de Mazenod, which I find appealing, but at the moment amid this Pandemic, his ability to be daring and creative seem to stand out.
As a young man, he experienced instability first hand when his world was turned upside down by the French Revolution, becoming a refugee. His experience growing up gave him great resilience and a sense of daring to try new things and never give up in proclaiming the Word of God.
Let us pray on this feast of St Eugene de Mazenod for his intercession our behalf to God, that we might follow in his footsteps of daring and creativity as we face these challenging times together.
God bless
Fr Christian Fini
