{"id":5707,"date":"2024-02-27T01:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5707"},"modified":"2024-02-26T23:36:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T22:36:02","slug":"all-that-i-fear-is-that-the-lord-has-found-him-ripened-for-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5707","title":{"rendered":"ALL THAT I FEAR IS THAT THE LORD HAS FOUND HIM RIPENED FOR HEAVEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fr. Jean-Pierre Bernard, 26 years old, had been ordained in 1847 and left for Canada. Within months of his arrival he succumbed to an epidemic of typhus. Eugene received the news and wrote in his diary:<\/h3>\n

Our very good, very fervent Fr. Bernard is so ill that he received, that very day, the sacraments. I am truly devastated by this news. Could we not permit ourselves some dedication to God and to the salvation of souls by this fervent missionary, with his good hand, his wonderful voice, his robust health! My God, what a new trial! This dear child, since his ordination to the sub-diaconate,\u00a0 did nothing but grow in virtue. His generosity met every test… He was so happy to sacrifice himself for the salvation of unbelievers!<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene’s pain was evident, as was his faith in submitting to God’s will<\/h3>\n

… All that I fear is that the Lord has found him ripened for heaven and that he is taking this good worker even before he would have been able to carry out everything that his good will was inspiring him to do. This is a major sacrifice which our good God is requiring of me. I am doing everything as though this does not need to be and I am praying with confidence. Who knows if God, in anticipation of these prayers which issue from the bottom of my heart and which my trust in his mercy inspire in me, will not have granted the safeguarding of this precious child? This thought sustains me as I await the first mail from America.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 March 1848, EO XXI<\/em><\/h3>\n

REFLECTION<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Everyone’s prayers were answered and he was restored to health and would spend nearly 40 years as a Missionary Oblate in North America, with a 5 year stint in France.<\/h3>\n

One can imagine the conflicting emotions in Eugene! The missions to the most abandoned in Canada desperately needed good men, and here was the possibility of a talented young man being cut short just when about to begin his ministry. In the midst of his tears Eugene bows to what may be God’s plan while at the same time issuing heart-rending prayers for his healing. I imagine that these were also Mary’s sentiments as she stood at the foot of the Cross.<\/h3>\n

\u201cTo trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark – that is faith.\u201d (Charles H. Spurgeon)<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fr. Jean-Pierre Bernard, 26 years old, had been ordained in 1847 and left for Canada. Within months of his arrival he succumbed to an epidemic of typhus. Eugene received the news and wrote in his diary: Our very good, very … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}