December 16 1835 Eugene wrote a very short letter to Casimir Aubert at Notre Dame du Laus, obviously in response to a letter from Casimir.

“My dear child, for heaven’s sake, don’t ever reproach me for my letter’s delay and for being behind with my correspondence; it can’t be avoided. My life is a continuous purgatory. I don’t have time to breathe. I recently wrote a letter to l’Osier after six attempts and that was on my desk for a fortnight.” (552:VIII in Oblate Writings)

I wanted to giggle as I started to read this, thinking of the many times that Eugene wrote to others chastising them for not writing more regularly.  But even as that thought begins, so to comes the idea that perhaps Casimir was not fully aware of all that Eugene was involved with at that time.

It is at this point that I stop and ask myself what kind of demands that I might be making on others?  What kind of judgments do I make on others?  Do I make that kind of judgement on others? Of course – I am sure that I make some judgments on others, demands  whether they be to do something or to ‘be’ some particular way.  And the worst of it is – it seems always to be with those I love the most – my family, my parish, my community.

Am I any different from Casimir Aubert?  All this to say that I need to watch what kind of demands and judgments I place on anyone.