We have seen how God’s providential invitation to send missionaries to Canada had been welcomed by the Oblates. Eugene gave Fr Courtès the latest news:
The response to the question I put has been unanimous. Moreover I have received a great number of letters which express to me the special attraction that they feel for this mission. I will therefore not have any difficulty except about the choice that will have to be made. It is agreed that I send four priests and two brothers to staff our establishment in Montreal…
Such, my friend, are all the details I can give you about this important mission. I hope that God will bless it and I think as you do that it will be advantageous for the Congregation.
Eugene then addressed the question of who should be chosen to be sent.
Now the difficulty will be to form this new community. The ones chosen must prove to be men capable of proclaiming the Word of God and good enough to be presentable to the clergy of Montreal which is not without merit. It will be necessary therefore to impose sacrifices on other communities. Readiness to accept a great mission is not enough. We must know how to face the consequences of such a decision.
Letter to Hippolyte Courtès, 11 August 1841, EO I n 3
A reminder of Jesus’s words:
“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him.” (Luke 14:27-29)
Zeal and enthusiasm is not sufficient to see any of our good projects carried through.
In looking at Eugene and that first community of Oblates and the considerations
that they needed to be aware of – for there would be consequences both to those left in France and those beings sent to Canada for instance. There would be new challenges for all that would need to be met by all.
If find myself skipping back and forth from thoughts of missionaries over the last 200 years who gave their all, quite literally; and then to Jesus and his first disciples who also gave themselves totally to following Him.
I looked at the meaning of “commitment” this morning: a quality of dedication, devotion faithfulness, fidelity as well living out responsibility, obligation, duty, burden…
Jesus speaks so clearly about what is entailed in becoming a disciple, about “oblation expressed in discipleship”. It does not look the same for everyone but if we look without measure or comparison we will all find ourselves at some point in our lives drawn not only to meet Jesus, but also to pick up our cross and follow him; which we do by giving our all, our oblation over and over again throughout our lives. It is never a blind response but rather it is done with deep awareness of what could follow.
The word “obedience” has been at the edges of my consciousness this morning. Not there in dread but rather with joy and gratitude for with the freedom obedience brings also comes strength, courage and fidelity, faithfulness…
I remember watching a video of what happened when Fr. Louis Lougen was chosen as the next (and still current) Superior General of the congregation. How each of the men in turn got up and congratulated, thanked their new Superior General, promising their love, their support, their obedience.
My own quiet offer of obedience to God and the Church; to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to our own Provincial and Superior. This obedience came from deep within me – from within my own sense and living my oblation. Not a burden, but a new freedom. Not empty happiness but rather fullness of life.