This short paragraph from Eugene’s self-description provides a key for understanding why he was not sidetracked from living his ideals by the negative reactions of others. The harsh events of his 26 years of life had taught him to observe people with a deeper vision, and thus he was able to understand and respond to their needs and be an effective builder of community, a persuasive preacher and an irrepressible missionary.
I have never been able to content myself with explaining the actions of others on the basis of their apparent intention. Experience has convinced me that a sure way to make mistakes is to presume good intentions in the case of someone whose actions are bad; I prefer to suspend judgment, i.e., not to act on conclusions my mind wishes to draw from appearances. It has been noted from the time I was a child that I easily picked up various nuances that are usually overlooked by people without powers of observation, and it is with the help of these almost unconscious observations that I manage to avoid deception about character, tastes, dispositions, sincerity of the people I live with.
Self-evaluation written for his spiritual director in 1808, O.W. XIV n. 30
He used his power of observation to enter deeply into his daily meditation on the “life and virtues of Jesus Christ,” his daily Scripture study and converting this into a mission to lead others to his same experience of the Saviour.