As the work of the Missionaries in Provence became increasingly more widespread and successful, so did some of the opposition become stronger and louder. Added to this was the conflict brewing in Marseille over the re-opening of the diocese and the appointment of a new Bishop, where some of the upper class were waging a war against having Fortuné de Mazenod appointed.
We are not of this world, no, we no longer wish to belong to it, any more than our head, our divine and lovable Master, and that is why it persecutes us.
I laugh at its animosity, I despise its conflicts and I pity those who let themselves be taken in by its dishonest suggestions, judge us by its views and according to its false standards.
The only way to cope was to find strength and support in the community united in the love of Jesus Christ. With this principle as the foundation stone, no evil could overcome the Missionaries. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8,31
Dear Courtès, let us be united in the love of Jesus Christ, in our common perfection, let us love each other as we have done up to now, let us, in a word, be at one while they die of frustration and rage.
Letter to Hippolyte Courtès, 3 March 1822, EO VI n 80
“I believe that God both wills and is able to bring good out of everything, even the worst. For this He needs people who are prepared to allow everything to be served for the best. I believe that in every crisis God wants to provide us with as much power of resistance as we need. But God never gives it in advance so that we will entrust ourselves. I believe that even our mistakes and wrongdoing are not fruitless and that it is no more difficult for God to cope with them than with our presumed good deeds. I believe that God is no “timeless fate” but, rather, that he waits upon and responds to our sincere prayer and responsible deeds.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The image that comes to mind immediately is of the wagons circling to defend themselves against attack. We unite ourselves together as family, friends, parish community, religious community, groups of associates and we find tremendous strength and support in and with each other.
“The only way to cope was to find strength and support in the community united in the love of Jesus Christ.” I find that as I have been preparing for my trip I have been pulling many of you together into my heart somehow. Not that I am expecting opposition, just that I want to take you with me, to share you somehow with those I will be meeting. And being an introvert at heart perhaps I am also arming myself in a way as I go to meet the unknown.
I am a little surprised as I realise the truth of what I write for this was not expected, this sense of being so much a part of something and not only not wanting to let it go, but to actually think of taking it/you with me. I am unable to wrap words around this and there is a small niggle of fear at having disclosed something that I am so unsure about. Am not sure what to do with this but I find myself oddly enough grateful for this unexpected gift, this grace that is all of you.
2 things:
I guess I consider myself lucky. I get to take my faith out and practice what I preach in the secular jungle. Then once a month return to my Associate group for reassurance and support, to feel their love – to refuel if you wish.
I guess I almost pity those who live in community, in novitiates, or work amongst other Oblates day in and day out. How do they ever get to test themselves?
Secondly, Eugene is the most narcissistic individual I have ever encountered!
Maybe all saintly people are/were like that. I don’t know.
His stance is always, ‘What you do and how you do it is all good – provided it is MY way.’
And here again today: “let us be united in the love of Jesus Christ, in our common perfection,”
*shakes his head*
John I hope you don’t mind that I respond to you as an Oblate Associate. I lived in a community for awhile and it was incredibly hard (at least for me and I somehow imagine for those having to live with me!) It meant constantly having to make the decision to love one person or another that I did not feel especially drawn to. Now, I am blessed to work for and with the Oblates on a part-time basis, and also live in a small “community” of three while being part of bigger communities, families. I don’t know that I test myself but I have to tell you it is not a stroll through the park all the time. As with any family we often have to confront ourselves, or others, there is give-and-take, differences of opinions, growing and lessing of liking some and others maybe not quite so much depending on the circumstances. We are all called to love each other and sometimes that is not nice and comfortable. For me it means daily and sometimes more often than that, having to “start all over again”, one more effort, once more letting go of my perceptions, ways of doing things, fears, need to be in control, etc etc. To me it is a constant “testing”, to use your word, a constant giving and a constant taking. It might look like roses but I don’t believe that is with out the thorns.
As for the second part of your response, I too am shaking my head but not about Eugene. Eugene, as Frank Santucci mentioned over a year ago, had a dream, a vision. He gave his all for how he saw it unfolding and growing, this gift, this charism that we say is his. I liken Eugene asking them to follow him, his way, much as we do with children – we teach them our way and then when they are ‘formed’ and have a solid base we send them out as adults to live as they will. I can remember my father saying “as long as you live under my roof you’ll things my way” and by gosh I did – until I moved out. I don’t believe it is necessaryily a bad thing. I think Eugene said what he did it out of love and wisdom. When we find what we have been looking for we then want to share it and often we know of only one way and that’s how we do it.
For what it’s worth.
In 1975, afer a very long process of research and reflection, Pope Paul VI beatified Eugene de Mazenod. Twenty years later Pope John Paul canonized him and held him up to the universal Church as a model to be followed. While not denying his personal imperfections, he held Saint Eugene to us as a miracle of God’s grace working in and thru a person. He also indicated that he saw St Eugene as a patron for the new evangelization. Many people throughout the world are seeing him as a patron of dysfunctional families and find help in his example and intercession.
In 746 daily blog entries so far, I have tried to bring out the richness of what it means that Eugene was an instrument in God’s hands and how this inspires many in their daily lives today. To appreciate this, we need to keep the big picture of his whole life in view – and also the context of the outlook and practices of the Church and society 200 years ago. There are many books available to help us by people like Sandy Prather, Al Hubening and Rene Motte, Bernard Dullier – to name just a few. The official Oblate website (http://www.omiworld.org/) also contains a gold mine of information on St Eugene for anyone who wants to go deeper