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“A father’s communication with his many children… that is one of the most agreeable occupations of my life” 1857
“For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.”
This morning I find myself sitting with Eugene as he speaks to us who are his ‘dear children’, of his desires concerning us. I remember first meeting St. Eugene when I asked an Oblate to tell me about this saint that I did not know. In the course of telling me about Eugene, he handed me a letter to follow along with as he read Eugene’s first letter to Henri Tempier, inviting him to walk with Eugene and a few others. I remember hearing only his opening instruction and my response was to sit there crying as I experienced him speaking to me. It was deeply, deeply personal, touching an unconscious desire of my own; every bit as personal as Elizabeth’s unborn son leaping within her in response to the presence of indescribable love.
I too have been a person of desires, which I know began in response to God’s kiss of life within my being. This Advent has been a time of experiencing the same hope that Elizabeth and Mary carried for their sons, and that Eugene himself still expresses to his sons and daughters today.
I think of our many catechumens who are experiencing this Advent and Christmas in a new and deeper way – for they all carry within themselves the beginnings of their desires and hopes that are beginning to be realized. I am excited for them and ask God to draw upon them and each of us “every heavenly blessing and fill [our] souls with graces and consolations” on our journeys together.