For the sake of peace, Eugene concludes his letter to the Bishop of Fréjus by accepting the fact of the men who have left the Misisonaries to return to the diocese.
For, when all is said and done, since those who provoked the decision of your Council want to leave, let them go.
He then summarizes the central characteristics of what the Oblate religious life is about: a community of missionaries whose aim is to asist each other in their relationship to God and their ministry. He returns to the three essential and non-negotiable foundations of the Oblate vocation: a personal spirituality and community life for the sake of apostolic ministry. BE in order to DO.
But is it possible that Your Lordship, whose kindness and gentleness are so well known, may further do violence to the will of the small number of our brothers who love the holiness of life that we lead in our houses and are called by the attraction of a special vocation to practice higher virtues in great regularity of conduct and wanting to profit from the inestimable benefit of community life, yet without renouncing the exercise of ministry, and thus considering it their supreme happiness to live among us, that you want, Your Lordship, to uproot them from the refuge that Providence has provided them, in which two out of the three of them have been brought up from their childhood and at our expense? I will never be convinced of that.
Letter to Bishop C.A. de Richery of Fréjus. 12 November 1823, EO XIII n. 44
In stating the essentials of the Oblate vocation, Eugene ends his letter his letter in a tone of peace. From then on, harmony was restored and the Missionaries could continue their good work.
But all this did highlight the necessity of eventually seeking papal approval for the Oblate Congregation, so that it would cease to be bound to the fancies of individual bishops. It would take a further two years of work for this to become a reality.
There are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit… But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes. As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:6-12
I love Eugene – he starts out talking about the kindness and gentleness that the Bishop is known for and then asks if he will again do violence etc etc and finally ends with the idea of I will never believe that to be possible. I wonder if the Bishop recognized how he was being set up? The word masterful comes to mind. It does bring a smile as we begin the day.
Again today, packed solid, there is so much to reflect on. I like what Frank is calling the three essentials [and non-negotiable] foundations of Oblate vocation; ” a personal spirituality and community life for the sake of apostolic ministry. BE in order to DO.” All within a specific charism. I find I have to work a little harder sometimes to grasp Eugene’s intent. What has God called me to, how will I live that out? This is definitely one of those times where less is more. This is basic and simple and I believe it speaks to all of us, no matter who we are, not only to Oblates but also to Oblate Associates.
When I read it the first time around I wondered why this particular quote from St. Paul? I could relate to the scripture quotation but wasn’t sure about the rest. I needed time to sit with it because it was only as I wrote the sentence above that I realised how they come together. A lot deeper than at first glance. The same God, the same Spirit. I am not sure why but this morning in a new way I find myself aware of this but unable to grasp onto it, like a light is being turned off and on, or more truthfully like a candle flickering, coming and going. It is there but to find words to express the depth that it is seeking is beyond me at this moment. Again today I am not in a place of feelings and perhaps that is why I fail to find adequate words. These small moments of awareness seem to go into a deepness – a place that I am unable to consciously ‘touch’ but it is where my being resides and I think that I can only live out from that place somehow. Words fail me. Frustrating. I need to stop trying.