THERE IS NOTHING MORE REASSURING THAN TO BE WHERE THE GOOD LORD PLACES YOU

God’s protection for the ministers of mercy was evident:

 The priests are doing their duty well, none of our priests has had the slightest sickness to date. I hope the good Lord will preserve them as he has done at other times.

Letter to Jean Baptiste Mille, 26 August 1837, EO IX n 637

Meanwhile, Father Courtès, in Aix en Provence, was frightened at the prospects of the epidemic reaching them in Aix.

Courage, my good Courtès, there is nothing more reassuring than to be where the good Lord places you. You and I, and all of us, are assured of doing the Master’s will, to whom eternity as well as time belong.
 Let us fear nothing; my only concern or rather my greatest concern for you is that I am far from you. The confidence the good Lord gives me will reassure you; those who surround me share it very simply.
This condition is necessary for morale; consider that there is not one priest in Marseilles, whatever his constitution may be, who has experienced the least attack, even though several among them are, so to speak. breathing only the air of the cholera patients day and night.

Letter to Hippolyte Courtès, 1 September 1837, EO IX n 640

An encouragement to us when we are frightened by seemingly-hopeless situations.

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1 Response to THERE IS NOTHING MORE REASSURING THAN TO BE WHERE THE GOOD LORD PLACES YOU

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I cannot but help think of all the times I receive reassurance from St. Eugene. It is something that is real and lived.

    I experience fear in my own life – sometimes the fear comes from within and at other times it comes with the circumstances and events around me. Over time I have learned and continue to learn how not to give into the fear and the panic that could so easily overtake me. This growth is due only to the grace that has been offered to me. I learn from Eugene and his sons and daughters how to stand where I am planted.

    It is reassuring to know that others have gone through these troubles before us; that others walk with us as we journey through the troubles of today. In a world where COVID19 virus continues to grow and spread panic seems to run rampant yet there are many who refuse to give into their fears.

    Eugene’s confidence in the Lord reassures us that we are loved and cared-for. It inspires us to share fears and how we try to walk through. It is in this way that we will share and inspire each other; that we will minister to and with each all those who will need our care.

    To stand and continue on the path that God has set me on may well be the only thing that makes sense given what is happening in our world today. Perhaps this is how we are called to reassure and encourage those around us just as Eugene does with us.

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