Eugene had been visiting the Oblate communities in the center of France and while in the area had also taken the opportunity to do the baptism of the child of his niece, who was about to give birth. News reached him of the outbreak of a cholera epidemic in Marseilles.
My concern is so great that I fear I will fall sick from it. The thought of what is going on in Marseilles fills my soul with bitterness. I find no happiness in finding myself among my family, my duty calls me elsewhere.
Eugene reminds Tempier that his absence is not from fear, which is something he never showed
You know me well enough to be convinced that the least thought of fear did not even enter my mind. I have all my life desired to die a victim of charity.
Letter to Fr. Henri Tempier, 12 September 1849, EO X n 1018
REFLECTION
Eugene’s love for God was so great that he wanted his whole life to be an oblation to God. This not in theory, but in loving and self-sacrificial service.
“I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 40)
The bitterness that Eugene wrote of was ignited because of the distance between him and his family and flock. One of his deepest desires was to lovingly serve others.
A martyr of love.
This morning’s reflections reminds me of St. Paul. He too never knew Jesus until Jesus called him by name. The rest of Paul’s life was a journey of surrender and oblation. The first time I met St. Eugene I was reminded of St. Paul just as has happened today.
At the end of the day all that matters is how we have loved one another. To be able to thank God for all that we have been given is to proclaim the glory of God.
This morning’s invitation has been to reflect on how deeply God – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, loves us. “…when his eyes met mine” and our own experiences of hearing God say our name and claim us as his own.