THEY ARE OF SERVICE TO EVERYONE AND DO NOT SOLICIT THEIR PARISHES.
The arrival and work of the Oblates was not met with joy by some of the Canadian clergy. It had been the same in France when Eugene had founded the Oblates. Writing to Bishop Bourget of Montreal, Eugene quoted some of these complaints and continued:
I have lots more I could quote to you. But I prefer rather to pass on and thank you for having called our good Fathers to serve your suburb of Montreal. A friend of M. de Charbonnel has written to him quite happily about the good they have done there since you have put them in charge of these souls and I hope that when they are well settled and a community has been formed, they will do still more good.
Some of the diocesan priests were afraid that the Oblates would take away their parishes. The appointment of Oblate Bishop Guigues to Ottawa had also solicited ugly criticism.
But whence this jealousy against men so inoffensive as these poor Oblates of Mary? They are of service to everyone and do not solicit their parishes. Because one of them has been chosen for a bishopric without wishing it, in reality a bishopric in the missions which could scarcely be undertaken except by a missionary, behold a general hullabaloo as if from each of them the mitre had been snatched to which he aspired.
Letter to Bishop Bourget in Montreal. 10 May 1849, EO I, n 117
REFLECTION
Wherever good is being done in God’s name, the power of evil tries to destroy it. It was clear in the time of Jesus and has continued to be so over the centuries. It is sin that takes over the hearts of people and results in them speaking words that destroy. No one is exempt.
“Man, who was created for freedom, bears within himself the wound of original sin, which constantly draws him towards evil and puts him in need of redemption. Not only is this doctrine an integral part of Christian revelation; it also has great hermeneutical value insofar as it helps one to understand human reality. Man tends towards good, but he is also capable of evil.” (Pope John Paul 2, Centesimus Annus §25)
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This morning as I reflect on Eugene’s words to Bishop Bourget in Montreal the words fief and fiefdom come to mind. One of the Oxford definitions of fief is “a person’s sphere of operation or control”. Eugene himself had to deal with some Bishops who seemed to think of their priests as members of their personal kingdoms rather than the flocks they have been called and sent to serve.
In some ways it is no different today: there will always be those who prefer to believe that they know belter than all others, especially those we decide are below us on the hierarchical ladder of life.
St. Eugene de Mazenod, Founder and father of the OMI Congregation and Family continues to remind each of us to serve as we are called. “By growing in unity of heart and mind, we bear witness before the world that Jesus lives in our midst and unites us in order to send us out to proclaim God’s reign. (C 37).
Once again we are invited to learn who we are in the eyes of God. It is only then that we can truly recognise how “…each act in life is an occasion for personal encounter with the Lord, who through us gives himself/herself to others and through others gives himself to us. (C31)