Anniversaries That Call Us to Greater Generosity

In 2025, we will celebrate two important anniversaries: 50 years since the beatification of Eugene de Mazenod and 30 years since his Canonization.  Pope St. Paul VI beatified him on Mission Sunday during the Holy Year of 1975. In his homily, he described St. Eugene as “a man passionate about Jesus Christ and deeply devoted to the Church,” urging us to “let ourselves be set ablaze by the fire of Pentecost” to awaken a renewed “missionary enthusiasm.”

It was the First Sunday of Advent in 1995 when Pope St. John Paul II declared Eugene a saint. He called him “a man of Advent, a man of the Coming.” Eugene spent his life readying the world for what was to come, with a heart rooted in faith, hope, and apostolic charity lived heroically.

As we prepare to celebrate the feast of our Founder in this Jubilee Year, we find ourselves living in a new time, full of global challenges, and welcoming our new pope, Leo XIV. In this context, let us ask Saint Eugene for the grace to be bold and generous, as he was. May we live our missionary charism with passion, and may each member of our Charismatic family offer concrete signs of hope to the poor and to the Church.

By Luis Ignacio Rois Alonso, OMI

Published on the OMI World website