YOU BELONG TOO MUCH TO GOD, MY DEAR CHILDREN, NOT TO OFFER HIM THIS SORROW
Eugene encourages his Oblates in Oregon in their disappointment at being so coldly received by the bishop. He invites them to focus on what is the unchanging ideal of their vocation: oblation for the salvation of souls as is expressed in their Rule of Life.
Establish from the beginning the invariable ideal of your Institute and a rule of wise conduct, exact and uniform, to which each must conform. In your missions more than everywhere else obedience to the superior and fidelity to the Rules must be observed.
Your letter speaks of a trial, that is to say, of the behaviour of your Bishop, so ungrateful for the alacrity with which we have sent him personnel… For the rest, I see in this mission the finger of Providence and am not disturbed by this annoyance.
You belong too much to God, my dear children, not to offer Him this sorrow, with so many other sacrifices. You fulfil your great mission independently of the satisfaction which could have been afforded to you by greater cordiality on the part of the one who should alleviate your solitude. I have seen on the map the area you have to evangelize, with what interest I follow you in your apostolic journeys.
Letter to Fr. Pascal Ricard in Oregon, August 1848, EO I n 100
REFLECTION
To see situations through the eyes of the Crucified Savior is the Mazenodian way of reading situations. In this way we recognize the finger of Providence in all that we experience – and the strength to be able to persevere.
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Such an incredibly loving letter to his sons in in Oregon: “You belong too much to God, my dear children, not to offer Him this sorrow, with so many other sacrifices.” It is not hard to imagine these first Oblates arriving in the far west, nestled in primal forests of Walla Walla which today is part of Washington State. Everything that they met since their arrival in the New World would have been new and exciting as well as overwhelming and fearful. Sadly their new Bishop was not of the same temperament as those they had known in France, especially their relationship with Eugene de Mazenod who did not hide his love or his temperament.
I do not know how long it took Eugene’s letter to reach them, but I can imagine their joy that they found together, with Fr. Pascal reading aloud Eugene’s words to them. For some reason I think for a moment of Mary arriving at her cousin Elizabeth’s house and how they rejoiced together in the gifts that God had given to each of them. Not so different from arriving at our 2024 Convocation and being unable to stop smiling, so deep was the joy at coming together that I love so deeply.
I remember how Eugene’s first letter to Henri Tempier touched the depths of my heart, as if he was speaking to me personally. Again I am filled with that awe and wonder of experiencing Eugene’s love as once again he speaks to us.
“You fulfil your great mission independently of the satisfaction which could have been afforded to you…”