THEY WILL BE PERSUADED THAT WE ACT ONLY BY THE INSPIRATION OF GOD FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF HIS HOLY NAME
I begin by congratulating you for being the first of our Congregation to announce the Word of God to those frozen people of the north.
The Oblate establishment in the city of Nancy was the first foundation in the north-east of France (350 kilometers from Paris and 200 to the German border). Apart from the colder temperatures, the people were not as expansive and extrovert as the southern warm and sunny Provence.
In Provence the Missionaries had developed a particular style of conducting and preaching the 3-6 week missions, with many opportunities for people to express their warm emotions.
Since these people, according to what you write me, do not wish to take advantage of our ministry, we must believe that we will finally conquer their aversion for these holy missions which accomplish such marvels elsewhere.
Eugene then gives Fr Dassy and his community some good advice on how to be patient and how to behave to win the hearts of the locals.
Do not lose courage: we will fashion them to our style. We must not precipitate anything; it will come.
Let us first establish our reputation as men of God who are not seeking the applause of the world, but only want the salvation of souls.
Let people see us as regular, fervent. charitable, devoted to all kinds of good things, kind also, polite, considerate, respectful, etc., and they will find everything we do excellent; and be persuaded that we act only by the inspiration of God, for the greater glory of His Holy Name.
Letter to Father Louis Dassy, at Nancy, 7 December 1847, EO X n 956
REFLECTION
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.” (Francis of Assisi)
“We must make it evident that we are penetrated with what we teach and that we have begun to practice it before attempting to instruct others.” (1818 Rule).
May our Mazenodian Family “walking be preaching” wherever we are in our daily lives.
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We cannot just stop at ‘talking the talk: rather we must also walk the walk’… Something that many alcoholics are taught when they first step through the doors of their AA meetings.
This morning is an invitation to once again look at how we conduct ourselves. I think for a moment of the widow before the judge and how he could no longer bear to ignore her requests for justice. She did not give up her complaints until he heard her.
We might also be reminded of Blessed Joseph Gérard, who said that we must love them and then love them some more.
We are invited to look inward and ask how we react or respond when we meet challenges and struggles in our lives. Do we stop walking on the path we are trying to navigate and turn back? Do we give up on what might be seen as an insurmountable problem? Or do we keep on looking for a way to accept and work around the challenges and struggles of life, remembering that God is always with us and will give what we need?
Sometimes in life we are met with certain prejudices of others (we are all human and bound to carry our own) and so we find ourselves once again invited to love them as Blessed Joseph Gérard OMI did; continuing to love until the other(s) finally give in and accept the love we offer?