WHEN WE HAVE EMPLOYED ALL THE HUMAN MEANS IN OUR POWER, WE OUGHT TO REMAIN AT PEACE AND BE WORRIED ABOUT NOTHING

As we have seen above, Eugene was critical of some of the methods of M. Favre’s missionary group, but he remained open to cooperating with the will of God when necessary.

I wished to share these observations with you before coming to the last conversation we had with M. Favre. He has read everything, considered the matter before the good God, and believes our enterprise comes from God. He is therefore resolved to unite his own to it. We would found an establishment at Chambery, where there will be a house ample enough to contain fifty persons. He makes much of the fact that the Archbishop is all for him. It is during the vacation that this affair should be dealt with. He will write me beforehand and we will not lack for members.

Can I say I regard the matter as concluded? I would not be sure of it. We will judge by results.

Eugene then repeats his tried and tested conviction of cooperating with God’s will

In the meantime, I have done all I ought to, God will do the rest. We live only for him; we seek only the glory of his holy name and the salvation of the souls he has redeemed. When we have employed all the human means in our power, we ought to remain at peace and be worried about nothing.

Letter to Henri Tempier, 10 June 1826, EO VII n 248

For various reasons, beyond Eugene’s control, this planned union never came about.   “Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to fault-finding.”    Corrie Ten Boom

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1 Response to WHEN WE HAVE EMPLOYED ALL THE HUMAN MEANS IN OUR POWER, WE OUGHT TO REMAIN AT PEACE AND BE WORRIED ABOUT NOTHING

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Again surprises where God takes me here in the place of shared reflections. This morning as I pondered and even as I began to write I found myself singing from “All Who Hunger” – “All who hunger, sing together; Jesus Christ is living bread. Come from loneliness and longing. Here, in peace, we have been led. Blest are those who from this table live their lives in gratitude. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.”

    This while I pondered a process that we Oblate Associates here in Lacombe Province are working through to become Associates of this Province. It is a process of discernment and sharing, trusting and waiting. I prayed and wrote in response to a paper, then shared that with another. The day of my interview came and I did not really go over it or try to add to it. I had written who and where I am at and who I wish to become, and the how of that. I felt ‘solid’ somehow and so it would have to be enough. Another interview yet to go, with a letter to write and then a wait for approval. I cannot worry about it even though this is most likely the most important commitment I shall ever make, one that I have wanted to make for several years at least. I can only trust in God and there is a certain peace and solidity that comes with that. And from there springs a gratitude for God has given me so very much – how could I be otherwise. No fancy trappings, no extra adornments.

    I do not know how it fits – only that it does and so I continue to sing. “All who hunger, gather gladly; holy manna is our bread. Come from wilderness and wandering. Here, in truth, we will be fed. You that yearn for days of fullness, all around us is our food. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.

    All who hunger, never strangers; seeker, be a welcome guest. Come from restlessness and roaming. Here, in joy, we keep the feast. We that once were lost and scattered
    in communion’s love have stood. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.

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