Eugene, like St. Paul, was the father of the Oblate missionary family, and expressed his affection for the community leaving for Canada.
As for me, I give thanks to God each time I think of you, in all my prayers, supplicating him with joy for you all because of your communion in the Gospel; confident also in that He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus, as is rightful for me to believe as well as for you whom I bear in my heart.
God indeed is my witness how I follow you all with my affection in the tenderness of Christ; and I ask that your charity may abound more and more in knowledge and in every sentiment through Jesus Christ, to the glory and the praise of God.
Bishop Berteaud of Tulle is reported to have come out of a talk with Eugene and exclaimed, “Gentlemen, I have met Paul!” Whether these words were factual or not, they do illustrate the spirit with which Eugene understood the foreign missions of his Oblates.
Go then forth upon your journey with a light and willing heart. May God our Father himself and Our Lord Jesus Christ guide your steps. The benevolent protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, conceived without stain, be with you and the attentive care of the holy Angel of God.
Letter of obedience to the first Oblate missionaries to Canada, 29 September 1841, EO I n 8
There is so much embedded within Eugene’s letter before us that I could spend days reflecting on this.
My own experience in getting to know St. Paul and quietly reflecting on how my life before meeting Jesus was similar to his (not outright persecution of Jesus and his followers but pretty close). Then meeting Jesus, hearing him say my name; even going (being sent perhaps?) to a community who taught me how to accept God’s love and then more – how to share that with all who I met. This morning is the first time that I have connected the dots and there is a feeling of kinship with him.
So it was when I first met Eugene: as the Oblate who introduced us was speaking I kept thinking that Eugene was very much like Paul. A bold thought and an even bolder stance when I shared my thoughts out loud. This morning as I read of Bishop Berteaud’s exclamation I was not surprised but rather I made a quick inner side glance towards Jesus as if to see “see!”
Looking at and recognizing the immense love that Eugene expresses as being based on and in Jesus Christ; it is this love that he shares with the young missionaries that he is sending out to Canada – on behalf of that same Jesus the Christ.
This is what obedience born out of loving oblation looks like. It is what I have l learned from Eugene and more immediately those who teach and form me. Because as I sat here breathing in Eugene’s words I recognized and understood the love that I share with my brothers and sisters in this Mazenodian Family. I began to understand what the words “oblation expressed in missionary discipleship” mean and what that looks like in the ordinary of my days.
Another light to guide our way as together we try to walk in the footsteps of Eugene de Mazenod who continues to share his spirit with all of us.