naming the moment and embracing the future second step: seeking inspiration and hope
TRANSCRIPT
Naming the Moment and
Embracing the Future
Second step: Seeking inspiration and hope.
“Disciples of Jesus, with the heart of Mary Immaculate, sons and daughters of Eugene de Mazenod, we are called to be Oblate missionaries in this time and place.”
The missionary situation of recent years.
?As Oblates and as a Province:
can we look beyond our own perspectives and gain a broader understanding of our identity?
What can inspire us and give us hope?
What does it suggest, to help us find inspiration and hope?
for the first step in your process,
helpful
essential
they become in the second one.
passing from the reality to the situation.
“objective” subjective
Holy Saturday
emptiness
the drama of Sri Lanka
a public murder
descent to hell
a glorious past
There are different ways of reacting to Holy Saturday situations:
walking away “Let us be realistic,
it is over”
The Jesus of Nazareth of the days before will
never come back!
Are there things in our Oblate history
that are over?
There are different ways of reacting to Holy Saturday situations:
establishing scepticism as our
philosophy
voices coming from certain women –
“fantasies”, “wishful thinking”
Have we heard any voices and dismissed
them?
Have we already made scepticism our
ideology?
Moving on to another
page in history
We do need to close
houses and works...
resist the forces of nostalgia
“Oh, how foolish you
are!”
They are still clinging to their past concept...
- the idea of a Messiah-
King
“Was it not necessary?”
an injunction -
“Was it not necessary” in Canada20 million Catholics -
2,300 Oblates
“How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!”
their concept of Messiah did not correspond to
God’s plans.
Scripture can reveal to them God’s true plans
“Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.”
Can we see the events of the
past in the light of faith?
another injunction -
How do we take authority?
Have we really listened to the
Gospel?
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and
opened the scriptures to us?”
metanoia
“Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.”
They make the passage
from Holy Saturday to Easter
They experience new life.
The source of hope...
With burning hearts “that same hour” they undertook their journey again, this time to a different destination...
“If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work. Rather teach people the yearning for the wide boundless ocean.”
Antoine Saint-Exupery
“Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer, will know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3:
10).” (Constitution 4)
Notre Dame du Cap and Lacombe rank 3 and 4 in terms of numbers in the Congregation.
Average age is the 4th highest
70.9 years Average age of the Congregation
55.3 years
There are small numbers of young people joining.
Need to prepare for a rather reduced missionary presence and new structures early enough…
chance: a pool of about 70 people under 65 - tackle the opportunities.
“Disciples of Jesus, with the heart of Mary Immaculate, sons and daughters of Eugene de Mazenod, we are called to be Oblate missionaries in this time and place.”
“While we recognize our diminishment, we are also seeing the tremendous gifts we have for ministry. …we have been left in awe of the incredible ministry that is being provided by our Province.”
tread new ways of mission:
the indigenous the poor the secularized person
Essential for the Oblates!
Constitution 1. The call of Jesus Christ, heard within the Church through people's need for salvation, draws us together.
Constitution 37. We fulfil our mission in and through the community to which we belong.
Constitution 41. Our communities seek to radiate the warmth of the Gospel to those around us.
Constitution 37a. In order to live more intensely the mission of evangelization according to the Oblate charism, some lay people gather in associations.
“Do we earnestly consider community life as constitutive of our Oblate charism?”
Vowed Oblates, Lay Associates and
vocations
Oblate religious and Lay Associates:
Both called to live the charism through different lifestyles
Inculturate the Gospel - be countercultural
Keep your mission to the poor
Be broad minded – overcome any splitting up
the Word of God, the local churches, our Constitutions and Rules, the ministry of Peter = the common ground
Mary, mother of Jesus and mother of John
Avoid being scattered - build (house) communities
Continue to take leadership in strengthening Lay Association
Present your life and mission to young people – it is the greatest thing in the world
Play the internationality / interculturality card: invite non-Canadians
Show world-wide solidarity with the poor and with all
persecuted
I cannot make you look at your reality through the eyes of Jesus crucified…
I cannot give you hope…