Fr. Medaille uses the name, “Little Design” repeatedly in his writings. In the Eucharistic Letter alone, it appears ten times. Tradition has it that Medaille used this name out of deference to his mentor Francis de Sales. de Sales founded the Visitandines and referred to them as the “great design” upon which all apostolic women religious were to model themselves. I can hear Medaille saying to himself, “That is okay for the de Sales women, but for the women I discovered living in Le Puy, they are unique and require no modeling except the model of Jesus.” Medaille said to the women of Le Puy, “your model will be Jesus in the Eucharist, hidden, secret, emptied of self.” The starting point for any image building begins with God, the Divine Love. Genesis 1:26, boldly states, “God created humankind in God’s own image, in the image of God they were created.” I am created in the Imago Dei. You are created in the Imago Dei. Pope Francis, in his encyclical, Laudato Si, invites us to embrace all of creation in the Imago Dei. All of us have people we look up to as models in our lives. I thank the mentors in my life. Great women and men who inspired me to be my best self. Mentors are companions on your journey. A reputable mentor does not ask you to create yourself in their image or become their “doppelganger,” their “double walker”, their “ghost” or “shadow of [them]self.” You and I are created in the image of The Divine Love. Our image is diverse, dynamic and devoted to development of your unique self. Jesus, the human face of the Divine Love, included all people in his circle of relationships; diversity was the earmark of his ministry. Embrace the unique Imago Dei of you and put yourself at the amazing service of a good and loving God.
