marie eugenie

One day a samurai who had too much of wine made a commotion on the streets disturbing everybody as he passed by. Seeing a monk who was walking quietly, he immediate jumped on him and blocked his way. The poor monk calmly looked for another route but the drunk samurai followed him suit and again blocked his way. Sensing that he could not get rid of him, the monk quietly asked, “what can I do for you, sir?”


The samurai looked at him angrily and asked shouting, “what is hell, what is heaven, can you hear me old monk what is hell and what is heaven?!” Knowing that the samurai was not in his right mind at that time, the monk quietly said, “Sir with due respect, I think you should rest for a while. Come with me to my cottage and rest for a while.” But the samurai would hear none of his pleading. Instead he felt insulted became even more angry he started insulting the monk shouting, “I ask you to answer my question you lousy, hypocrite monk, what is hell, what is hell?!” The samurai was raging mad and he was shouting all the bad words, all the insults he can possibly think and hurl them at the poor monk. He even took his sword on hand ready to pounce the poor monks head, “what is hell?”. But in the middle of this tirade the monk raised his head to meet the samurai’s eyes and said calmly to him – “now, that is hell.”
On hearing this the samurai came back to his senses at last conscious of all the things he said to the poor monk. There was silence. Then all of a sudden he put back his sword, he knelt down to the monk, crying and pleading, “brother please forgive me, please forgive me.” And the monk once again lowered his eyes to meet his and said calmly and serenely, “now that is heaven.”
What is heaven and what is hell? When we think of heaven most often we think of big things, great works, remarkable talents, moving immense resources, touching vast crowds and doing good things in a grand scale. When we think of hell we think of the exact opposite – measuring everything as to its immensity, enormity, massiveness and extensiveness.
Now that’s what we think. But the monk in our story and Mother Marie Eugenie thought otherwise. Heaven and hell is what we make of our life on a daily basis, in the decisions that we make, in the reactions that follow, in the choices we translate to deeds no matter how small.
When the bishop told Mother Marie Eugenie that the very long prayers of the community might take away so much time from their activities in school she said in reply: “Our special vocation is to join action with prayer. We do not look so much to the extent of the good we hope to accomplish, as to its perfection.”
Now what did she mean when she said “not so much to the extent, but to its perfection?” It means that quantity does not matter that much, but it is quality that matters most. It is not what activities you have accomplished for the day, but how you have accomplished them. It is the how that matters and not the what and this is the secret of holiness for Mother Marie Eugenie. Simply said it runs this way – doing ordinary things extraordinarily.
Sainthood is not about the big things. Holiness is not about the grand activities. Holiness is not even going out of our daily routine to do something great. Rather holiness means I do the ordinary things that I usually do extraordinarily.
Now what do I do ordinarily on a typical day in Assumption? Most of you are brought to school by drivers or by your parents. Now that is something ordinary, that is something we do out of routine. Holiness means that in this ordinary occasion we are invited to do them extraordinarily. On coming down from the car did you say “thank you” to the driver. Have you shown some appreciation for his work? In that long drive did you show that you are somehow concerned with his concerns? Heaven is not about a sight to behold of angels in the thousands and God seated on a dazzling thrown high, high up there? Heaven is when we do things extraordinarily, when an ordinary event is colored and transformed somewhat by an extraordinary thoughtfulness and kindness from us.
What is the typical ordinary day in a classroom in Assumption? Busy teachers up and about and typically noisy classmates jumping from one seat to the next, from one chatter to the next. It is a typical ordinary day in the classroom until one of the classmates noticed the dirty blackboard and chalk dust all over the desk. And then the ordinary is transformed to something extraordinary when without any fanfare the attitude of volunteerism slowly rises up from the chair taking notice of a duty that has to be done.
It’s not the big things that make us holy. It is the small ordinary details that we take notice of and respond to with joy and sacrifice even as a student, even in the daily routine.
Doing ordinary things extraordinarily in the chapel, in the classrooms, in the canteen, in the swimming pool or in the pasillos – this is where holiness becomes a reality. How you write, how you form your lines, how you play, how you study, how you wash dishes, how you pray, how you do things. Again it might not be big, again it might not be something that everybody notices at once, but as we have said it is not quantity but quality, it is not what but how.
Today our gospel speaks of abiding in the love of Jesus. To abide means to cling to Jesus at all times, to be faithful no matter how ordinary and how small, to do even the smallest things extraordinarily for Jesus. This is how we grown in holiness. We must remember that not all of us are called to do great things. But all of us are called to do things greatly, extraordinarily.