Mission, Vow of Obedience and Evangelii Gaudium

Third Year of the Oblate Triennium: Mission, Vow of Obedience and Evangelii Gaudium

05. AN OBLATE MISSION LIKE MARY , A MOTHER WITH AN OPEN HEART

SETTING: The animator sets the mood of the meeting so that all feel comfortable. As symbols one can use an image of Mary (venerated in the place), set on a small table as an altar decorated according to popular devotion, with one or two candles as well as an Oblate cross.

MOTIV A TIO N:

SONG: A song to Mary.

PRAYER: Let us pray for Maryʼs intercession. We ask you Lord, that we your servants may always rejoice with health of soul and body; and by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, save us from the sorrows of this world and grant us the joys of the Gospel. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE WORD OF GOD: John 2: 1-5 On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” (And) Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

RESPONSE TO GODʼS WORD: If it seems fit, the animator invites the Oblates to share their reflections on the Word of God.

OBLATE TEXTS: Act of Visitation of the house of N.D. de IʼOsier, July 16, 1835. On our arrival at Notre-Dame de IʼOsier to make a visitation of the new establishment that divine Providence has entrusted to our Congregation, our first concern was to thank the Lord for the remarkable favor he was pleased to bestow on us in calling us to this shrine to restore the cult of the Most Holy Virgin, and to draw from the bosom of this good Mother the graces needed by the members of our Institute to accomplish worthily the apostolic ministry they are to do in these regions.

It did not take us much time to realize that only traces remain of the devotion to Mary that existed in this holy place during the past century. How could it be otherwise after forty years of revolution and the consequent abandonment of this Shrine? The Blessed Virgin never ceased to show the effects of her power to those who invoked her with confidence during this time. Through indifference, however, there no longer was any understanding of the obligation resulting from these remarkable favors of Godʼs Mother, who above all want the glory of her divine Son and the conversion of the souls he has redeemed with his precious blood... Texts Selected: # 102.

OMI Rule #10 - We read in our rule #10 that for us Oblates, Mary is the patroness and model of faith by her unconditional “yes”: “Mary Immaculate is patroness of our Congregation. Open to the Spirit, she consecrated herself totally as lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Savior. She received Christ in order to share him with all the world, whose hope he is. In her we recognize the model of the Churchʼs faith and of our own.”

GOING DEEPER INTO THE THEME: Reflection on EG n. 46-49

The Oblate mission: like Mary, a Mother with an open heart

The Church is mother as Mary is Mother, Mother of Jesus and our Mother. Mary is the woman who lived in simplicity, poverty and a transparent heart carried away by the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit.

From these three attitudes of Mary, the Church can learn how to be a Church going forth as Pope Francis tells us in the Apostolic Exhortation and Evangelii Gaudium to live from simplicity, poverty and the heart. The Oblate mission can also identify with these three dimensions:

- The mystery of simplicity. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to live in simplicity of heart. Simplicity is the opposite of fold. One who has a simple heart lives expecting everything from God, he welcomes the good of others, welcomes all, and enjoys what he has and what he is. The Constitutions and Rules say that in proclaiming the Word, Oblates are to use simple and direct language (cf. R 7g), also, Constitution 21 recalls that the Oblate community way of life is distinguished by its simplicity. It is from this nearness to people that the Oblate mission is realized. In Evangelii Gaudium, the Bishop of Rome gives us the same invitation. The church must reach everyone, especially the poor and the sick, those who are often neglected and forgotten (EG 48) and it must be done from this simplicity. The church must be one that is especially close to those who suffer and come down to bring man close to Christ.

- An evangelical poverty. During these years of his pontificate, the Holy Father has invited on different occasions to go out to others so as to reach human peripheries. The Oblate mission isnʼt distant from this wish of Pope Francis. To go out to human peripheries is a call to off-center our own lives so as to live in a state of permanent departure to the disadvantaged. Is it a challenge to our way of living poverty? How can we succeed in making our way of living the vow of poverty become ever more increasingly evangelical? By being poor, living in communion with them, learning from them and letting them evangelize us.

Mary who received Christ so as to give Him to the world teaches us to be poor: open to the action of the Holy Spirit, obeying with docility the mandates of the Lord, receiving in her womb the Son of God, living from the simplicity and poverty of her home in Nazareth, working every day to earn a living, embracing the mission God had entrusted, suffering with Christ on the Cross, serving others, living with maternal love, approaching the poor and needy...in short, always looking for the well being of others before our own.

- Living from the heart. A key task of every Christian is to be observant in the world around us, be able to identify the wants and needs of our brothers and sisters by being among them, look closely at others as Jesus did, discovering Christ in our neighbor which can only be done the way Christ did, from the heart.

St. Eugene lived this way, eyes and heart open to the necessities of others. This is how he could hear the cry of the poor in his heart. The unfortunate situation in which the Church was described in the Preface of the Constitutions and Rules, moved his heart and those of the other priests to the point of being ready to give their lives if necessary for the salvation of souls.

Everyday we have the ability to give life if we remain sensitive and dare to look through the light of love, through the heart, and see the currant needs of our world, everyday situations and respond to them with small acts such as giving of our time, meeting the other, building relationships, create opportunities for communion...

Mary is the best example to whom we can look up to. In the Virgin we have a model of a heart that is off-centered. She lives from a Marian love which is a contemplative love, seen only from the inside. This love comes about from her being mother and virgin, virginal motherhood. The mission of the Church, the Oblate mission, is to be inclined to others with this motherly love. Living so we are able to offer a response to all those who still do not know the Savior who is a sign to others, loving especially the poorest with a maternal love and a paternal spirit, given by way of gestures full of delicacy and tender beauty, which is the Love of God.

If we are led by the Spirit our hearts can be transformed and also our outlook on the world, we can see everyone around us with the eyes of love. We need the Holy Spirit to penetrate the heart of man so that this change in our outlook can take place so we can live this way of charity. A charity that can renew our hearts, a heart that can see. (María del Mar Gómez Mañas, OMI, Superior General)

TIME FOR SILENT REFLECTION:

SHARING OUR FAITH: The animator makes an invitation to share what has been inspiring during reflection or on the following questions: How do I describe Mary as my model of missionary Oblate? Mary opened her heart to the Word of God, to serve the needs of the couple at the wedding at Cana. With great confidence Mary takes the initiative and invites the servants to “do” what her son says. In my life as an Oblate, do I take the time to open my heart to Jesus and listen to what heʼs saying to me in the needs of my brothers? In my pastoral ministry do I take time to reflect and give Mary thanks for the favors sheʼs granted me? Mary received her son Jesus so as to give him to the world. How do I “give” Jesus to others in my missionary service? COMMITMEN T: We are preparing for the General Chapter, searching for ways we can grow, change and be transformed to better celebrate the 200 years of our foundation. Let us learn from Mary how to be transformed (filled with the Spirit) to fulfill the mandate of the Lord and be better followers of Jesus. A suggestion for a gesture of conversion can be to take time to meditate on how God “used” Mary to carry out his mission. Likewise, how St. Eugene let himself be influenced by the example of Mary so as to respond to the call of taking the Gospel to the poor.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND INTENTIONS: The animator invites each Oblate to express a prayer of petition or of thanksgiving.

FINAL PRAYER: Dear God, you who invited Mary to be the mother of your Son, and filled her with your Spirit to accompany her, even in the most difficult and painful moments of her ministry, grant us inspiration from her example to faithfully fulfill your will, living the joy of the Gospel. By your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

BLESSING AND SONG: The animator asks an Oblate present to give the group the blessing. After, all sing the final song.