Walking with St. Eugene: Oblate Youth Pilgrimage of Faith and Mission

Young pilgrims from the Oblate world have set out to walk in the footsteps of St. Eugene de Mazenod, founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

This is more than a trip. It is a chance to encounter the heart of a man who gave his life to the Church and to the poor. As they walk the same roads, they are being invited to something deeper. In his homily, the Superior General called them to renew their passion for Jesus, for the Church, and for the mission. This is not about looking back. It is about saying yes today.

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HOMILY AT SANTA MARIA IN CAMPITELLI
30 July 2025

Dear young people, Oblates, and members of the charismatic family!

We joyfully walked together through the streets of Rome, following in the footsteps of Saint Eugene de Mazenod. We expressed our joy at belonging to a large family in which people from all over the world have found their home. Thus, we are preparing to celebrate the Jubilee and meet Pope Leo XIV. Thank you for so many beautiful moments of encounter, of songs, of joy, of prayer, of shared fraternity. Thank you for this Eucharist in which the Lord gives us His Word and His Body so that we can continue walking. What we are doing—walking together with Jesus, following in the footsteps of Saint Eugene—seems to me to be what we are always called to do as a missionary family.

Our pilgrimage has led us to this Church where the Founder was praying while the cardinals examined the Constitutions and Rules in the palace across the street. A few days later, our Congregation was approved by Pope Leo XII. It was the year 1826. Here, every year, the charismatic family, as pilgrims to Rome, gathers to pray and renew ourselves in our common charism. We can imagine that the Founder is still here, in this Church, and that we can ask him how to live the charism today with his same passion. I propose that we ask Saint Eugene to enlighten us to live with him his four passions: passion for Christ, for the Church, for the poor and for Mary.

Passion for Christ

Saint Eugene was passionate for Christ because he was touched and transformed by God’s love as he contemplated Christ crucified. Throughout his life, he grew in that love and wanted to share it with the poorest. Eugene strove to reach out to them and speak their language so that everyone could know the love of Jesus. To this end, he wanted to be as much like Jesus Christ as possible so that the poor could read the Gospel in his life. He wanted to be holy like Jesus, that is, to live like Jesus so that everyone could know and love him. That’s why he allowed himself to be transformed in prayer and by frequently celebrating the sacraments. Walking with Saint Eugene today challenges us to allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, to strive ever more to be like Him, to live His Gospel. A young person, an Oblate, or a lay person who wants to live the charism today must commit to loving Jesus, allowing themselves to be loved by Him, and becoming ever more like Him in order to be holy. Do we dare to walk with Saint Eugene in this adventure?

Passion for the Church

From Jesus’ pierced side on the cross, His Church was born. Eugene felt that the Church was persecuted and abandoned. Many had abandoned the Church, and others were leading lives unworthy of Christianity. We can also see something similar today. In this situation, the Church, our mother, wounded and abandoned, is calling us to action. Saint Eugene responded by giving his life in oblation to help the Church and became a missionary priest, creating a community of missionaries to live and preach the Gospel like the first Christians, like the Apostles with Jesus. Saint Eugene challenges us today and invites us to walk like Him, in community–a community that lives the Gospel and is missionary, that proclaims Jesus Christ to the most abandoned and goes where the Church needs us, where others do not go because they cannot or because they do not want to.

Soon we will meet Pope Leo. Saint Eugene always saw in the pope, in all the popes, the representative of Christ on earth, the one who helped him understand God’s will. Pope Leo XII approved the Congregation 200 years ago. In a few days, Pope Leo XIV will speak to us and will surely challenge us to live the Gospel today. Let us be very attentive to his words and to what the Spirit sows in our hearts. Let us dare to respond by giving our lives for the Church, as Saint Eugene did, and by living the Gospel in community. Do we dare?

Passion for the mission with the poor

Saint Eugene wanted to be like Jesus, and that’s why he began to proclaim the Gospel to the poorest, just as Jesus did. Eugene befriended the poor; he spoke like them, felt like them, was with them, and suffered with them. Our charismatic family has this characteristic of always being very close to the poor, to do them some good and to proclaim the Gospel together. We are called to proclaim the Gospel to the poor and with the poor. The poor often teach us to listen to the Gospel with a new heart. We must do everything to be close to the poorest and bring them to Jesus, and with them proclaim that Jesus is the only hope for the world, that the Gospel is the way for all humanity to experience the Kingdom of God. What paths should we follow to proclaim with the poor the Gospel of Jesus, hope for the world?

Walking with Mary and like Mary

Saint Eugene teaches us to live our joys and sufferings as missionaries with Mary. In our family, there is a Marian style for living the Gospel and being missionaries. Walking with Saint Eugene today means embodying that Marian style that welcomes God unconditionally and places oneself at His service; that becomes the servant of all; that receives and gives Jesus to the world; that knows how to praise the Lord prophetically and always sings the triumph of His mercy; that becomes a faithful follower of Jesus even if at times we do not understand everything; that is capable of standing before the cross of Jesus and of the crucified of our time; that is a prayerful and faithful mother and builds community with the Apostles. She is the mother of hope because in her Immaculate Conception we already see the sign of God’s definitive victory over evil. We can imagine how much the Founder prayed before the small image of Mary in this Church two hundred years ago.

I now want to pray to Mary today with you and for you:
“Mary, you are our Mother. Help us to be friends of your Son Jesus, to be like Him, to be saints. Help us bring hope and peace to our world. Help us, like you, to embrace humility and service, to praise God, to be prophets of His justice, caring for the poor and all creation. Help us to be holy missionaries to the most abandoned, the poorest. Help us to build communities that live the Gospel and to be faithful children of the Church. In our charismatic family, may we offer our lives in oblation to console the Church and assist her in her needs. Mary, help us to persevere in moments of the cross and to remain at the side of all the crucified of our world. Help us to love you as Saint Eugene loved you and to be worthy children of yours who, embracing the Oblate charism, journey with hope on this earth, hoping to meet one day in heaven.”

Immaculate Mother, pray for us. Saint Eugene de Mazenod, pray for us. Blessed Oblates, pray for us. Praise be Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate.

Luis Ignacio ROIS ALONSO, OMI
Superior General

Published on the OMI World website