A CALL TO A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE
The young Canadian Oblate, Father Pierre Fisette, did not settle into his ministry in Corsica because he discerned a vocation to the contemplative life.
Eugene wrote in his diary:
A day of deep heartache. Father Fisette came to spend the day with me. It will perhaps be the last time that we will see each other. This pitiful and dear priest has taken leave of me to go off to the Carthusian monastery.
Despite experiencing the loving care of the Oblates, he was prepared to make the sacrifice of leaving it in order to follow where he believed his heart called him to.
When it became evident and I was convinced that he needed other means of salvation, I consented to his pressing and repeated entreaties and I wrote a letter of recommendation for Father Prior. It is impossible not to like such a charming fellow. In addition, our separation has been very painful because, for his part, Father Fisette had become extremely attached to the Congregation and to me in particular, as well as to Father Guigues and all of our priests that he got to know.
Eugene de Mazenod’s diary, 26 August 1847, EO XXI
REFLECTION
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Almighty God, author of my life, help me learn to read what you have written on my heart.
Give me discerning eyes and an untiring spirit to look within me in order to understand how to reach outside of me.
And once I have begun to read you aright, give me the generosity to help others to read you, to sound you out one letter, one word of radical giving at a time.
Author Unknown (https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/discernment)
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For some reason I think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus when they met and recognized Jesus.
I find myself reading this beautiful pray of discernment over and over, savoring each word and allowing them to become a part of me. …walking boundaries or measured steps, but rather an endless way of being and entering into the “both and” of love.
Such is the power of love, of oblation and for a moment I am sure that Mary, our Mother herself knew this way of being from the moment she said yes to the angel. Last night during our RCIA gathering I responded to a question of what is a “patron” (as in patron saint) – spoke of my experience of Mary who we meet in Constitution 10 of our cherished Rule of Life. A moment of wonder and joy as I recognize she is truly a part of who I am becoming…
I will put this prayer before me so that I see it as I begin each day – not because I fear that I am on the wrong path of my life, but rather the opposite: I am on the right path of my life – the life engraved by God into my heart, and I wish to continue to go deeper a Fr. Fisette and Eugene did throughout their lives. I want only to become more and more one with the Beloved, with ever breath that I breathe and every step that I take.
There it is again, that small sense of wonder and joy of those disciples as they slowly recognized Jesus with them on their journey to Emmaus…
Eleanor you’ve become my inspiration too. As a lay Oblate I never knew how to express myself ,my faith ,my spiritual growth ever since I became part of this beautiful family. Your comments however gives me courage to love what Iam doing ,to love whom I’ve become and to share openly with others. May Fr Fiesette and St Eugene continue to pray for us on our journey.
Blessings Filippa! Isn’t it wonderful how God gives us each other to pray and be with, to live and to grow. Know that I am praying for you in a most special way after this small introduction – we journey together and meet in prayer.