Eugene\u2019s relationship with God was such a powerful source of life for him that he wanted to bring as many people as possible to share in his same vision and experience. In a letter to someone who was thinking about joining the Missionaries, he explained something of the attitudes that were necessary:<\/p>\n
\nThe missionary, being specifically called to the apostolic ministry, should aim at perfection. The Lord destines him to show forth anew, amongst those of his own time, the marvellous things that were done of old by the first preachers of the Gospel.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to M. Viguier, 6 January 1819, O.W. VI n 38<\/em><\/p>\n
The concept of \u201caiming at perfection\u201d could give the mistaken impression that it all depends on us and our efforts. It was a lesson that we see Eugene learning and developing into as he grew older.<\/p>\n
Aiming for perfection meant aiming at being more cooperative with God\u2019s actions. Awareness of personal imperfection allowed God to work at making him more perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll for God\u201d and \u201coblation\u201d is more about cooperating with God\u2019s actions in us than about our efforts to make ourselves perfect by our own efforts.<\/p>\n
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“Being human means to be imperfect, to be limited, and thus to change and travel on a perpetual journey. Mature spirituality gives us the ability to live joyfully in an imperfect world. This is important because an imperfect world is the only one we have. And if God does not love imperfect humans, God has no one at all to love!”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Richard Rohr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eugene\u2019s relationship with God was such a powerful source of life for him that he wanted to bring as many people as possible to share in his same vision and experience. In a letter to someone who was thinking about … Continue reading