Fr Jeancard had been preaching a parish mission, during which he had experienced health problems.<\/p>\n
\nI was delighted to learn, my dear Fr. Jeancard, that your short apostolic journey was not detrimental to your health. I hope that it will have also been of great benefit to your soul. This should be the case regarding all we do dutifully if we know what is best for us.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Jeancard seemed to have been unhappy about having been changed to the community in Aix. For Eugene, doing the will of God was of paramount importance, despite personal likes and dislikes, and so he invited him to look at the bigger picture:<\/p>\n
\nOur greatest dislikes would have no more effect on us than a dream, if we were quite determined not to hang on to them despite a thousand excuses likely to fill us with illusions which weigh nothing on the scale of religion – the same scale that will be held by an archangel on the Day of Judgement.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
So let us perform well, and even willingly, all that the Rule or obedience prescribe to us. We are servants here below of God and of the Church.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Eugene, as his religious superior, had an idea of the bigger picture of all the Oblate ministry and where each missionary fitted into it. He saw himself as doing this on behalf of God the Father, whose steward he was for the Oblates.<\/p>\n
\nThe steward of the Father of the family cannot always employ us according to our tastes, he has a more pressing duty to fulfil which is that of service itself. What does it matter after all that we do this or that, provided that we act on behalf of God in the sphere which is indicated to us by our superiors.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Jacques Jeancard, 4 June 1830, EO VII n 346<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cFaith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fr Jeancard had been preaching a parish mission, during which he had experienced health problems. I was delighted to learn, my dear Fr. Jeancard, that your short apostolic journey was not detrimental to your health. I hope that it will … Continue reading