Give me plenty of details about your missions, the places and the persons. I do not know your situation at Saint Boniface. Take time to trace the history of this mission in the moments that you are free.
Letter to Fr. Pierre Aubert in St Boniface, Canada, 4 March 1849, EO I n 111
REFLECTION
Thousands of miles away, Eugene longed to hear from his Oblate sons who were participating in the mission of his God-given charism. He knew that they lived in extremely difficult circumstances and wanted to know about their sorrows and their joys. It was these that he carried to prayer in his daily oraison communion with his Oblate family before the Blessed Sacrament.
This is what prayer is: chatting to God about the details of our day and inviting God to make us conscious of the divine presence in all our activities.
Eugene, with his heart as big as the world was not a man who walked with his sons and then after sending them out to the new world promptly forgot about them. When we love anyone as our own, it is with a love that continues to grow. And so Eugene wanted to know how well each of his sons were doing and how they were sharing in Eugene’s charism with each other and with all those they served.
Oraison, that way of chatting with God, entering into God’s presence so that we become one with all those we love. I often refer to it as entering into the heart of Jesus and allowing the Spirit to enliven and walk with us. It is here that we are nourished and then sent out to nourish others. It happens when we enter into the heart of the crucified Saviour. Picking up my copy of the OMI Rule of Life I find myself focusing on the actual words of St. Eugene which he proposed in his 1818 for his sons (found on page 24 with the heading of “Co-workers with the Saviour”)
“…called to b the Saviour’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind… our ambition should, in hits holy aspirations, embrace the vast expanse of the whole earth.” 1818