We share in the joy of the father of the family at the safe and unharmed arrival of the fourteen young scholastics in Billens.
I had gone to Billens the day before yesterday to prepare the beds of our students. Despite any precautions we might have taken, it was necessary for them yesterday on arrival to sleep on the floor on mattresses I had had made to be placed on beds which had not yet been fabricated, for workmen in this country take things easily. Yet this did not prevent them from having a good sleep.
The young men had come to the safety of Switzerland to continue their studies and formation to become Missionary Oblates. Their first formal act in their new home was to place Jesus, their Good Master at the center of everything. They confidently surrendered their lives to their Savior.
This morning I blessed the house and chapel where I enshrined the Blessed Sacrament. Devotion seemed to me at its best and we gave Our Lord a welcome from the depths of our hearts. I have reason to believe that this good Master has well accepted our humble homage and has been pleased with our surrender and our confidence. For my part, I have been filled with consolation, and as I acknowledged myself to be the most unworthy of all, I conclude that they must have fully shared in the happiness of this memorable day.
We placed ourselves under the special protection of our good Mother, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Cannat and Saint Theresa. After a short instruction fitting the occasion, I said Holy Mass; all took communion with great piety. We then had the benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 15 October 1830, EO VII n 366
“They confidently surrendered their lives to their Saviour.” – that says it all! Fourteen young scholastics who had travelled there to Billens on a trip that was not without danger to themselves. This to pursue their dreams, to respond to God’s call to them to become priests and Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
I think of the young Oblates who very early on came to my homeland, going north and west and south – down one side and up the other. Immense trust in God was a prerequisite. And I think too of the young men who travel half way around the world from one country to another, to join the Novitiate in Illinois, the scholastic in San Antonio or in South Africa; not without dangers or doubts even they be only within their hearts. I think of my friend who left her own country to travel to Spain and see if it is with the Oblatas that Gods her to be. And it is not just with those wondering if they are called to be a part of the Mazenodian family, but those who are looking at many others ways of being and finding life.
I remember when I left my home and family, and those in AA who loved, supported and taught me what life could be like. I travelled to Madonna House in the east – not with the thought of joining Madonna House, but to open myself up to something new and possible that God would reveal to me in due time. There were many times when I feared that I would not be able to do it, that I would fail, or that I was not ‘good enough’ for that place or even for God. It took me more than 25 years to find where God was calling me to be – each day and each step that I took along the way a part of the over-all journey which now seems not so much a searching, but rather one of ‘going deeper and deeper’. It has it’s moments of distractions and struggles, but at the end of the day there is a strength and peace that carries me as my heart has found it’s home. My life seems to be like a spiral that as it turns and grows it goes outwards, and yet at the same time going deeper and deeper inwards.
I look this morning with joy at being a part of the Mazenodian Family which in its own ways is ever changing and growing, with new boundaries. I dare to say that I have reason to believe that our Good Master has well accepted our humble homage and is pleased with our surrender and confidence.