Cardinal Castiglioni, having received the letters of complaint from the three French bishops, had in fact put Eugene to a test. In the two-hour interview he had provoked Eugene, pretending to be against his cause – in order to gauge his true feelings. Eugene tells us:
I quickly made my way towards the Quirinal where Arch. Marchetti is lodged. I was close to Saint Peter’s, at least in the vicinity of the Castel San Angelo, that is to say at the other extremity of the city. When I arrived at Arch. Marchetti’s a new surprise.
“Guess”, he said to me, “what Cardinal Castiglioni came here to do yesterday. He came to recommend your affair very warmly, at the same time proffering to me the greatest praise for you personally”.
At this I rubbed my eyes. “But all he told me was the objections that he would make to you, etc.” Would it not be, I said to myself interiorly, that he saw the Pope persist in his resolution? That is the idea which came to my mind. What I must tell you is that the Pope was so delighted with the account I gave him that he said to the pro-Secretary of the Congregation: “I am enchanted with this institution, we lack such in Italy and I would well wish it established in my States”. Whatever the case may be, Arch. Marchetti assured me that he knew Cardinal Castiglioni and that he had certainly spoken to him sincerely. That is all to the good.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 5 January 1826, EO VII n 216
“A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader.” Daisaku Ikeda
My whole being wants to cry out at what was done – this testing of Eugene by Cardinal Castiglioni. I have to admit that I do not understand it at all and I find myself asking ‘is this what it is all about?’ Eugene survived the testing, I think he surpassed it. He continued on in spite of the seeming opposition of Casiglioni and as much as possible prayed and worked to nullify any possible damage to their cause.
The words from the Lord’s Prayer come to mind “do not put us to the test”, “lead us not into temptation”. For myself, on my own, most assuredly I would fail. Even the amount of struggle I have been going through with regard to being an Oblate Associate has caused me to question, trust, hope and to persevere. There have been times in my life when I have wanted to say to heck with it, time to walk away, to move on – this in respect to the Church, to my job(s), to my community, to some of the Oblates, to some of the Associates. Perhaps this is something that we are all called to face in our lives. It’s strange – for I trust in God in all of it – it is God that I do not walk away from, God that I do not quit.
Dear God, I ask that you give us the strength to be true and to overcome any tests put before us, be they seemingly personal or shared amongst many others. Give us the courage to continue to believe that you would use each of us to walk with and lead each other in a call that is both personal but also to be shared with others. Fill us with the gift of trust that it will be as we walk together we will live out your call to to live in you.