THERE IS A FATHER BEYOND THE GREAT LAKE WHOM YOU MUST NOT FORGET; KNOW THAT YOU ARE ALWAYS PRESENT TO HIM
My dear Fr. Faraud, there is a father beyond the great lake whom you must not forget; know that you are always present to him, whatever the distance which separates you from him, not only at the holy altar where each day he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the family and all the members of which it is composed but during the day’s routine and in the frequent conversations wherein the names of his children, their ministry, their strenuous labours and all the good they do never cease to be present to his memory and on his lips.
Twenty-five year old Henri Faraud had begun his theological studies in Marseille, but was then sent as a scholastic to Canada in 1846. He continued his theological studies while learning some of the indigenous languages and was ordained a priest a year later. He was to spend the rest of his life working with the First Nations peoples and to be ordained as Bishop of Athabaska-Mackenzie.
[…] Adieu, my dear son, may the Lord pour his most ample blessings upon you, on your brothers and on your holy ministry. May he render you ever more worthy of your sublime vocation and heap upon you spiritual consolations in recompense for the trials that you endure for His glory and the salvation of the souls He has redeemed with His precious blood. I bless you likewise with all my soul.
Letter to Fr Henri Faraud in Canada, 10 May 1848, EO I n 95
REFLECTION
Eugene’s reminder of his spiritual fatherhood was a constantly expressed throughout his life. Today I believe that those words are still true for each of us, members of his charismatic family: “there is a father in heaven whom you must not forget; know that you are always present to him.” May we never forget that he intercedes for us.
St. Eugene de Mazenod, pray for us.
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I always like to hear Eugene’s own words, the wording of his time which are the poetry of love. Today asking the Lord to pour his most ample blessings upon us and our endeavors; closing his letter with “I bless you likewise with all my soul.”
This morning I find myself thinking of both Henri Faraud and Albert Lacombe OMI who travelled the breadth of our country to raise funds for the missions back here in North America. It took quiet humility, immense daring and courage to keep asking for more money to fund the missions.
But it is in something even greater that I liken Albert Lacombe to Henri Faraud, for it was in the very ordinary of their lives doing the small and often difficult things of their daily life that they excelled and that today we would say their lives became extraordinary.
I ask myself who inspires me notice many images and names coming to me – these are the people who reside in my heart, all part of who I am today. There is at the top of that great staircase St. Eugene de Mazenod who invited me to stand at the foot of my crucifix, Henri Faraud, who suffered poor health, Albert Lacombe who I saw walking in the footsteps of St. Eugene and inviting me to join him. Nor will I ever forget Kay Cronin, HOMI who loved me and saw past my behaviour and recognised my suffering.
It is the many members of the Oblate Family here and around the world, who inspire me to walk with all of you who are my brothers and sisters.
It is in the ordinary of your lives that you show me the extraordinary of walking with each other. You each and all dare to share your lives of oblation, your fidelity to our crucified Saviour and how you “..enlarge the space of your tents” (Is. 54:2) with love.