In writing to the superior of the scholasticate about his new Oblates in formation, Eugene makes a statement that equally applies all those entrusted to our care in ministry.
I must not conceal from you that our new students expect to receive from you solid instruction, wise direction and noble example. I hope that they will not be deceived in their expectations
Letter to Jean Baptiste Mille, 24 July 1831, EO VIII n 397
I keep returning to Frank’s words “those entrusted to our care in ministry”. They pack a wallop for me and leave me questioning what that looks like in my own life. I have to say that I have been so incredibly well cared for; I have been and am loved. There it is in a tiny nutshell. And I know that I am not always the easiest person to love, that I can needy and demanding and yet God has seen to it that I am cared for.
What does that look like from the other side? Those whom God has entrusted to my care in ministry. Do I give them what they have been told to expect? Do I give them my all even if it turns out that be doing that I need to let go of something else that I much prefer to fill my life with? Do I do this to make myself feel good or important – or do I do it, so that they too can then step forward to walk as they have been called?
I look at St. Eugene and how those whose care he was entrusted to, specifically at the Sulpician Seminary and how their “all” was what Eugene experienced and so how he then worked – and I am thinking of the time after he was ordained and returned to care for the remaining seminarians.
I think of that short prayer that became a part of me so very many years ago. “Lord, make me little, make me ordinary, make me hidden. Make me a lamp for my neighbour’s feet.” What was I thinking! Oddly enough my talents and gifts are not totally hidden. And I look at some that I have walked with! They are beautiful! They are where God is calling them to be, who God has created them to be. How wondrous is God’s love!