Rejoicing with Fathers Mie and Moreau in the successful parish mission among the poor in the mountains, he encourages them and compares their ministry to a battle campaign against the power of evil.
I rejoice over all you and Fr. Moreau tell me about your first campaign; the letter of Fr. Moreau on this subject is truly interesting and in fact will be of historical value for it presents perfectly the plan of campaign and shows how to assess your endeavors. Thanks be to God for this!
The recently-deceased Jacques Marcou appears to have been earmarked for this mission. Eugene recalls his memory and concludes that he continues to participate in the Oblate missions through his prayer in the communion of saints.
If our good Fr. Marcou had recovered his health, what happiness might not have been his to help you in this work. Without doubt, he is still more useful to our work being, as we hope, in heaven, on the steps of the throne of the Eternal, quite close to the most holy Virgin in whom he had utmost confidence until his last breath.
Letter to Pierre Mie, 7 September 1826., EO VII n 253
“You can do something I can’t do. I can do something you can’t do. Together, let us do something beautiful for God.” Mother Teresa
How scary and incomprehensible death must seem to be for those who do not believe in God and any kind of life after death. Over the years I have found myself coming to a new understanding (if I can call it that) of life after death and how we are all connected with each other in God. Since I was a small child I have believed that when someone dies, the body dies but the essence of that person, who they were – that continues on, continues to be. I didn’t know how that would or could work – just that it did. Now I see it more in the understanding of connection and communion; it happens or is because of our connection and communion with God. And even as I write this I begin to experience a deeper glimpse of the “communion of saints”, a thread of understanding yet still too deep to give words to. I think of the phrase ‘with God all things are possible’ and the reality of that this morning. Our communion with God, our being in communion with each other, our connection with and as part of the communion of saints. I think of the child still in the womb of it’s mother, the communion of the unborn child with that mother does not wait until the moment of birth to begin nor will it end with the death of the person. Impossible for me to explain this whole communion of saints, but thankfully not so hard to live with.
I cannot help but be grateful for these gifts of wonder that are presented on the tray of daily living, for these points of connection and communion with all of life.