At this time of Christmas and the New Year, l often think of the remarkable words of St John Eudes, a 17th-century French priest, ordained an Oratorian and renowned for the missions he preached across France. The words which lodge in my mind are these:
“The mysteries of Jesus are not yet completely perfected and fulfilled. They are complete, indeed, in the person of Jesus, but not in us, who are his members, nor in the Church, which is his mystical body.”
He explains:
“The Son of God… desires us to perfect the mystery of his Incarnation and birth by forming himself in us… He intends to perfect the mysteries of his passion, death and resurrection, by causing us to suffer, die and rise again with him and in him… and he will cause us to live a glorious, eternal life with him and in him in heaven.” (From A Treatise on the Kingdom of Jesus.)
