July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 News & Views Assumption Province Assumption Province Feast Day and th the 50 Anniversary of Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre Page 11 A Message from the Provincial Contents A few months ago during our Inter-chapter meeting, we had a Page 3 World Youth Day chance to watch a video which Page 6 Vacation with God captures very well the time we Page 8 Walking Pilgrimage to take away from our daily work. Midland The title of the video was Page 9 Queen of Apostles “Change your words and the Open House world will change”. th Page 10 Provincial Feast & 50 Jubilee of Queen of Apostles There was a blind man sitting in front of a church begging for money. Page 13 Marriage Encounter As people were passing by, some of Page 14 Anniversary of Coronation in Ludźmierz them stopped and put change into the steel container in front of him. Beside. the man was a sign saying “I am Page 15 Canonical Visitation & blind please help me”. At one point, a young girl who was passing by Blessing of Fr. Sylla Statue stopped and looked at the blind man. She picked up his sign, started Page 20 Annual Pilgrimage to Rama writing some words on it and then placed the sign back next to him and Page 21 Fr. Pawel Ratajczak OMI left. Within minutes, almost every person who walked past, donated money Page 22 Birthdays & Good byes to the man. About an hour later, the same girl came back, stopped by the Page 23 Oblate Cottage blind man and looked at him. He recognized her and asked, “What did you do to my sign?”. She replied, “I wrote the same message but in different words.” "Your destiny is to be apostles, and so tend within your hearts the sacred fire that the Holy Spirit lights there..." - St. Eugene de Mazenod - July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 Every summer is an opportunity to get some rest, visit family and friends, discover new places and learn new things. During this time of vacation, I had the privilege to celebrate my Silver Jubilee of ordination with my classmates in Obra, in my hometown parish and also in many holy places like the Shrine of Devine Mercy in Lagiewniki, by the tomb of Bl. John Paul II and the great apostle St. Peter in Rome. I also visi ted 4 major basilicas in Rome and prayed there as my pilgrimage on the occasion of my 25th anniversary of priesthood. All these events and places influence our lives inspiring us to live our vocation more fully. This season is very special in our life journey because it gives us an opportunity to distance ourselves from our regular duties and come back to our daily life with a new approach and new energy. As we begin a new school year, and in a couple of months we will begin our three year preparation for the 200th anniversary of the establishment of our congregation, we are invited to undergo conversion: by changing our words, attitude and message so that the world around us will change as well. Fr. Marian Gil OMI 2 July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 Superior General’s Letter following the Oblate Youth Gathering in Aparecida Praised be Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate! July 22, 2013 Dear Young Oblate Friends and Missionaries, These days in Aparecida have been filled with sharing, celebration and faith. We have drawn closer as an Oblate family and have deepened the charity and zeal of Saint Eugene de Mazenod. We are filled with gratitude for God for this wonderful experience! This letter and the sandals that go with it remind us that our missionary journey of life and faith is a journey deeper and deeper into the mystery of Jesus Christ. As we go on this journey, please pray for workers in the vineyard of the Lord. Please remember that for the mission of the Church, Jesus needs committed young people, adults, married people, single people, missionaries, Sisters, Brothers and priests to carry on his work. Part of Jesus’ ministry was calling others by name to follow him full time for a whole lifetime! I ask you to consider this for your own life. Is Jesus calling you to become a missionary priest, Brother or Sister as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate? Do you know a young man or woman who is generous, happy with a strong faith that could be a dedicated Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate? Invite him or her to think about it. Tell them you see in them the qualities of a priest, Brother or Sister. Encourage them to discern this vocation. Think and pray about this for your own life. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be hesitant! The Church needs you. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate need you. The Poor need you. Be courageous and ask yourself if God is calling you! Saint Eugene called us to leave nothing undared, so dare to consider a missionary vocation as a Brother, a priest or a Sister. Invite others, call them by name, as Jesus did, and encourage them in thinking about a vocation. I ask you also to please pray for vocations to the Lord of the harvest, that he will send good labourers into the work of the Kingdom. Thank you for these wonderful days together growing together in faith, and in our missionary vocation. With my love and prayer, Father Louis Lougen, OMI Superior General 3 July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 World Youth Day in Brazil 2013 Does 7 million people sound amazing? Oh yes! At a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Archbishop Orani Tempesta, provided several interesting statistics. There were about 427,000 pilgrims from 175 countries participating in the catechesis during the week. The opening mass for WYD on Tuesday July 23 was attended by 600,000 faithful. 1.2 million pilgrims gathered on the Copacabana beach on Thursday July 25 to welcome the Pope. The Copacabana beach was swarmed by 3.7 million people for mass on Sunday. The way the of the cross with the Pope was attended by 2 million people. The Archbishop summed up these statistics with the words “We have seen the works of God. God was at work among us, God surprised us. This was well above our expectations and plans.” What can I add to that? Our group of youth, along with Fr. Wojciech Stangel and me, took part in the Oblate gathering in Aparecida at the feet of the Mother of God in the local sanctuary. Five days filled with Oblate charism with Father Superior General Louis Lougen OMI and a thousand other youth from parishes that are ministered to by Oblates and others. Around 400 youth spoke Portuguese, 300 Spanish and 300 English, which included a great group from Canada. The program consisted of lots of prayers and time dedicated to St. Eugene de Mazenod and the Oblate charism. 4 July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 Another five days in Rio de Janeiro. God blessed us with rain in order to dedicate three days to the catechesis of various Bishops in multiple languages, but also with good weather from Friday to Sunday. Not a single drop fell in the couple of days when a combined 7 million people gathered on the Copacabana beach for the Papal welcome, way of the cross, Saturday’s vigil with the Pope and the final Mass on Sunday. “Go and make disciples of all nations in the community, together without fear, and serve” said Pope Francis. Cherish your hope and allow God to surprise us by living in joy and drawing strength from the love of Christ which is manifested on the cross with Mary as the model for a life of faith. And just like we left joyous to Brazil, we returned full of joy to our homes, but the spirit of WYD spoken through the words of Pope Francis, animates us to implement the teachings of Christ. And off to Krakow we go in 2016! Fr. Mieczyslaw Burdzy OMI 5 July - August 2013 Volume 12 No. 4 A Vacation with God in Kaszuby As we all know, the most important job of any altar server is to serve at the altar, and so year- round formation is dedicated to this. But not only that - following in the footsteps of St. Eugene, we want to help them firstly become good people, then good Christians, and only then saints. This task is not as easy as it might seem! The year- round formation of altar servers includes meetings, catechesis, and the “technical” preparation for service, but this is not all. It also includes soccer, picnics, joint celebrations and summer break – a trip to Kaszuby – a vacation with God which is both team building and formational. This year was our second trip with 53 children and 11 adults. Quite a large group, but the presence of so many children is joyous and gives an opportunity to form altar servers and bring them closer to God and love for their neighbour. Such a trip is an excellent opportunity for altar servers to get to know each other, relax and see the beauty of the world God has created for us. The program includes firstly, of course, formation - so daily Eucharist which is the center of every day, catechesis conducted in a very interesting way and based on well-known children’s films (this year we based them on the famous movie "The Lion King"), prayer, Stations of the Cross..