A moment of great joy for Eugene: presenting one of his Oblates for priestly ordination. Hippolyte Guibert had finished his studies and was ready to be a missionary. He was 22 years old, and this needed a pontifical dispensation to be ordained early.
I come now to what is most pressing, which is to let you know that our Holy Father the Pope having granted the dispensation of age that I had requested for you and the Archbishop of Aix having sent the dimissorials so that you can be ordained priest by the Bishop of Marseilles, there remains nothing more than to prepare yourself for the Order of priesthood which you will receive, with the fullness of the gifts of God, on Sunday, August 14, in the chapel of the bishop’s house. I leave to you the choice of place for the retreat.
As the father of the Oblate religious family, we touch something of Eugene’s paternal pride as he prepares to present Guibert for ordination with the words: “I know him and I testify to his worthiness.”
Adieu, my dear. Ah! how impatient I am to present you to the Church to become a priest. With what delight shall I respond with the “scio et testificor”! I am moved with joy.
Letter to Hippolyte Guibert, 3 August 1825, EO VI n 192
Guibert was one of the major figures in our Oblate history. You can read more about him in: “Guibert, Cardinal Joseph Hippolyte” in http://www.omiworld.org/dictionary.asp?v=5&vol=1&let=G&ID=749
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” Jim Valvano
Again today I see the picture of Eugene and of his love for his sons, for his ability to see what God might have in store for Hippolyte. I would imagine that over the years he took great pride in knowing him, in having him as a member of his family, his community.
That last thought though – telling! I spent much time reflecting on the quote from Jim Valvano “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” and from the title of given to this piece “I know him and testify to his worthiness”. What it would be like to know that you are ‘believed in’ by another person, particularly a parent. If that is missing, or when it is missing, one can spend their entire life looking for that approval and so missing it when it comes from others, even if and when that other is God. I am of course speaking of myself and my experiences, I am that “one”. A new level this morning of understanding why I “do” as I do. I have been trying to earn approval. It has not been a deliberate slap in God’s face, an ignoring of his love and tender approval but that is in a way what I have been doing, and also why I have been ‘doing’. My parents long since dead and yet still I have been acting out of this almost primal need. I am feeling curiously empty at this moment, like I am saying goodbye to a big part of me, other hole within to be filled perhaps. I think others have probably tried to tell me this but I needed to arrive here, to realise and experience it on my own. Perhaps now I can start to move on, a little freely. Dear God in heaven let us hope so.