I COULD CONFIDE THIS NEW MISSION ONLY TO MEN OF GOOD WILL AND DEDICATION AND THUS I HAD TO BE SURE OF THEIR AGREEMENT

Before agreeing to send missionaries across the Atlantic to Canada, Eugene had to consult all the Oblates.

Well! I dared not respond positively to the bishop, but I promised him that I would consider his request and that upon his return I would explain thesteps that I was going to take to satisfy him.

My desire was to consult all the members of the Congregation and to reply to the Bishop of Montreal only after having their consent. It was a faraway mission. It would take dedication to undertake it.

I could confide it only to men of good will and dedication. I had to be sure of their agreement. This is what I have done.

He then describes their reaction to the consultation .

I first called some of my local superiors to meet with me. They immediately echoed this view. Some other members of the Congregation who wereinformed…  offered to be among the first to go.

All have assured me that there would be one voice for accepting such a beautiful proposal.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 15 and 16 July 1841, EO XX

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1 Response to I COULD CONFIDE THIS NEW MISSION ONLY TO MEN OF GOOD WILL AND DEDICATION AND THUS I HAD TO BE SURE OF THEIR AGREEMENT

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    We know the results and are living them now, yet still my heart sings little Alleluias as I sit here looking at our beginnings.

    Eugene did not just run off on his own and do what he wanted to do, but rather consulted the entire community in order to ensure that they were also in agreement. He seemed to know that once he opened this door it might well be like opening the flood gates; it gave the word missionary a deeper meaning, a deeper sense. Daunting and exciting in the same breath. For some reason I think of their models – Jesus and the apostles, Jesus and all of his disciples and how they were sent out almost 2000 years earlier.

    “…there would be one voice” and that is still how the Mazenodian Family tries to be. I am struck with the thought of how difficult that can be even in times such as ours with all the advantages that technology offers us: it is more than being able to communicate immediately with others around the world – it takes commitment and perseverance – it takes oblation and surrender – to God and through God to each other.

    Only God could be the author of such a way of life. We are all the body of Christ; so it is with one voice that we acclaim Amen

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