IF WE HAD THE MONEY NECESSARY TO PAY FOR THE JOURNEY, THE MISSIONARIES WOULD HAVE ARRIVED IN CEYLON LONG AGO
The beginnings of the Oblate mission in Ceylon, in the area of Jaffna, were not as smooth as Eugene had hoped. There were many factions in the church as we will see in the future. More urgent was the sending of new Oblate missionaries to the territory, but the Bishop of Jaffna had taken the grant from Rome for his own use and not to pay the voyage of the new Oblate missionaries. Eugene wrote to Fr. Semeria, the Oblate superior:
My dear Fr. Semeria, your letters always give me the greatest pleasure, but they upset me when you persist in asking me so urgently to send you missionaries. You know, my dear son, that the Vicar Apostolic has reserved to himself all the allowance that the Propagation of the Faith was to make for Ceylon. This is the most annoying thing a man could possibly do. By refusing the help that we had a right to expect from the Propagation of the Faith, he has made it absolutely impossible for us to send the missionaries. If the Propagation of the Faith had given us the money necessary to pay for the journey, the missionaries would have arrived in Ceylon long ago.
Letter to Fr. Etienne Semeria, 20 January 1849, EO IV n. 9
REFLECTION
A sobering thought about mission: it cannot happen unless we have the financial means to support the missionaries and their work. A moment to give thanks to the countless benefactors of our missions from 1816 until now. Without our Missionary Associates and Lay Associates, our missionaries could not have been as successful as they have been. The beauty of this support is that the Lay members of our Oblate Charismatic Family have understood that they are not just supporters of the Oblate mission, but co-workers, “co-missionaries” – each one according to their situation and state of life. What a gift!
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Some sobering thoughts this morning as we recognize the humanness of many of the players in this morning’s post. When we think that we know more than others, hear God’s message more clearly than many or even that our way is better than any others’ we all suffer in some manner.
Throughout his life St. Eugene recognized this within the Church hierarchy as well as with his own congregation and all those he served.
This morning’s invitation is to ponder and reflect the ways that we too try to make ourselves bigger and better than others. Eugene never forgot his Good Friday experience “when His eyes met mine”; the remainder of his life was to ponder and reflect on how necessary it was for him (and so for our own selves) to strive for perfection.
I think this morning of the three Wise Men in the Gospel standing along side of the shepherd and the animals who surrounded the “new king”, the baby Jesus and his parents. They may well have been kings in their own right but they recognized the babe in the manger as being much more deserving of the title King of Kings. They listened to the angel and so returned home by another route rather that raising their swords to Herod and his soldiers. They too were ‘sent out’ to return home and share the great news of a new king.
We all are called to love and share the many gifts from God with humility and immense gratitude. It is the loving goodness of others to share what we ourselves have been given. As members of this Oblate Charismatic Family we too can then become co-workers, co-missionaries in the state of life that God has given to each of us.
What a gift as we too continue to be sent out at the beginning of this New Year!