The young Canadian Oblate, Father Pierre Fisette, did not settle into his ministry in Corsica because he discerned a vocation to the contemplative life.
Eugene wrote in his diary:
A day of deep heartache. Father Fisette came to spend the day with me. It will perhaps be the last time that we will see each other. This pitiful and dear priest has taken leave of me to go off to the Carthusian monastery.
Despite experiencing the loving care of the Oblates, he was prepared to make the sacrifice of leaving it in order to follow where he believed his heart called him to.
When it became evident and I was convinced that he needed other means of salvation, I consented to his pressing and repeated entreaties and I wrote a letter of recommendation for Father Prior. It is impossible not to like such a charming fellow. In addition, our separation has been very painful because, for his part, Father Fisette had become extremely attached to the Congregation and to me in particular, as well as to Father Guigues and all of our priests that he got to know.
Eugene de Mazenod’s diary, 26 August 1847, EO XXI
REFLECTION
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Almighty God, author of my life, help me learn to read what you have written on my heart.
Give me discerning eyes and an untiring spirit to look within me in order to understand how to reach outside of me.
And once I have begun to read you aright, give me the generosity to help others to read you, to sound you out one letter, one word of radical giving at a time.
Fr. Frank Santucci OMI currently holds the Kusenberger Chair of Oblate Studies and is assisted by Fr. David Muñoz OMI. They are teachers at OST, and have Oblate and lay students following their online courses in many parts of the world. They are involved in promoting St. Eugene de Mazenod’s charism, spirituality and mission at many levels in the United States and throughout the countries where the Oblates and lay members f the Mazenodian Family are present. Father Frank has been producing these daily guided readings to the writings of Saint Eugene de Mazenod since 2010. They are published in English, French, Spanish and Polish, visit: http://www.eugenedemazenod.net/