Two months after Bishop Eugene’s appeal to his diocese for aid for Ireland, he was able to send the equivalent in today’s currency of £13,300 British Pounds (USD 17 000) to Ireland. He wrote to one of the Irish bishops:
Moved as I ought to be by the evils afflicting Ireland, I felt that the faithful of my diocese could not remain indifferent to them, and that they owed at least a gesture of charity to their unfortunate brethren. I appealed to their good will in a published letter to this effect. Although we are in a city where a multitude of important charities and charitable establishments have no other resources than the voluntary donations of a charity that is constantly being called upon for this, nevertheless, a sympathy inspired by the Catholic spirit has manifested itself quite generally for the object of my request. The collection made in churches where the poor man’s penny was mixed with the rich man’s offering produced a sum of around twenty thousand francs of our currency.
… It is a privilege to be able to associate myself with your charity, which soothes so many pains and wipes away so many tears. The great trials to which your unfortunate homeland is subjected make me regret, however, that I cannot contribute a greater share to its relief.
Letter to the Bishop of Tuam, Ireland, 14 April 1847, EO III n 15
REFLECTION
“People lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give.
For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.” (St Francis of Assisi)
What stands out to me most this morning is Eugene’s humility and way of loving: “It is a privilege to be able to associate myself with your charity, which soothes so many pains and wipes away so many tears.”
There is no sense of “there, I’ve done my duty”… but rather his heart speaks out of a humbling truth: the real gift is that he is able to share who his way of being with some of the poorest of the poor.
It seems that once our heart experiences the freedom of loving there is no desire to turn exclude anyone. “By obedience we become the servants of all. Challenging the spirit of domination, we stand as a sign of that new world wherein persons recognize their close interdependence. […] Our life is governed by the demands of our apostolic mission and by the calls of the Spirit already dwelling in those who whom we are sent.” (C 25) My thoughts once again turn to the section on Obedience in our small Rule of Life which is shared with us as members of the Mazenodian Family.
“They will make them (the Constitutions and Rules of the Congregation) the object of their reflection in prayer and fraternal sharing.” (C 28) “Called to follow Jesus, we too listen attentively for the Father’s voice so that we may spend ourselves without reserve to accomplish his plan of salvation.” (C 24)