Jean Baptiste Mille was 22 years old when he was made superior of the young Oblates in formation in the scholasticate of Billens. Eugene had had no choice but to appoint him because of the crisis in France that had caused them to move to Switzerland. Because of his youth and inexperience, Eugene kept in regular contact with him to guide him.<\/p>\n
He had just recently been ordained a priest, and was bursting to express his pastoral zeal in preaching and celebrating the sacraments whenever he could in the surrounding parishes. The problem was that he also had the responsibility of caring for the students and needed to be at home more.<\/p>\n
\nI see that you are being rather generous to the town of Romont. But you must learn to pace yourself, not too much, not too little.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
On the question of receiving stipends for his preaching:<\/p>\n
\n… I understand you have always refused any payment for sermons you have been able to preach to them. That is how it should always be when you have the happiness of proclaiming the Word of God to them.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Jean Baptiste Mille, 15 April 1831, EO VIII n 389<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cFreely you received, freely give\u201d (Matthew 10:8)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jean Baptiste Mille was 22 years old when he was made superior of the young Oblates in formation in the scholasticate of Billens. Eugene had had no choice but to appoint him because of the crisis in France that had … Continue reading