Eugene’s time in Paris coincided with the moment when the government of King Louis XVIII was involved in repairing the destruction wreaked on the Church by the Revolution and Napoleon. One of their tasks was to re-establish some of the dioceses that had been suppressed, and hence they were looking for suitable candidates to fill the vacancies. Eugene was very eligible, and so had received several offers which he turned down because he was convinced that his destiny was tied with that of the Missionaries. These invitations gave him the opportunity to reflect on what was special about his religious family.
But who are we indeed that the good God should listen to our pleas?
We are, or we ought to be, holy priests who consider themselves happy and very happy to devote their fortune, their health, their life in the service and for the glory of our God.
At that stage the Missionaries were all priests, but later the Brothers became part of the adventure of living “all for God” through their oblation. Again Eugene hammers on the theme of “being” in order to “do”:
We are put on earth, particularly those of our house, to sanctify ourselves while helping each other by our example, our words and our prayers.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 22 August 1817, O.W. VI n. 21
“Being” in order of “Doing” I think the following speak to Being as well as a comment Fr. General made which I can’t find now, but I believe he said, we don’t need to be afraid of becoming monastic.
Page 34 from “State of the Congregation Report” 2010 Chapter
“As religious missionaries we must learn new ways to speak to the people of
today, learning with them a new language. This will only come about if we can speak
out of a personal and communitarian experience. As a consequence of this Chapter,
our conversion must bring about a new quality of our common life. We have a
vocation to live in fraternities where “the call and the presence of the Lord among us
today bind us together in charity and obedience” (C. 3). Praying together, reading the
Scriptures and celebrating the sacraments as local communities will lead us to a new
quality of missionary presence. The spiritual atmosphere we create at home must be
open to the world and respect its autonomy – we have learned that from secularity –
but at the same time grow very intense so that Christ and His Word become again the
center of our lives and the presence of God’s own Spirit can be felt.”
“We are… to be holy priests who consider themselves happy and very happy to devote their fortune, their health, their life in the service and for the glory of God.” This is oblation!
Eugene speaks then and now to all of us, who through our baptism are called to be priests, …sons and daughters of Eugene “…who are convinced that [our] destiny is tied with that of the Missionaries”; recognizing that [we] are called to share in the charism according to [our] state of life, and to live it in ways that vary according to milieu and cultures […] sharing in the charism in a spirit of communion and reciprocity amongst themselves and with the Oblates.” (R 37a)
“We are put on earth, particularly those of our house [family], to sanctify ourselves while helping each other by our example, our words and our prayers.” It is from this way of ‘enlarging the space of our tents” (Isaiah 54:2) that we continue to grow in our “being” and from which our “doing” will flow.
I remember at my first retreat with the Oblates, how I spoke of my need to marry the Oblates and knit them together with my parish community, my parish family. I was very unsure of what that could look like… Now as I look back at those very small and humble beginnings I am filled with a sweetness of ever-deepening joy and gratitude that God should love me so…