Having reflected on the damage caused to the Church by bad priests, Eugene dipped his quill into the inkwell and launched into an impassioned reflection of the vocation of the Missionary. NOTA BENE, he writes: take note!
The text that follows is known to us as “The Preface” in the form in which we have received it.
Eugene aimed to counteract the ravage caused by bad priests by holding up the ideal of what the Oblate Missionary priest is
What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute!
Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God;
their first fathers are the Apostles.
They are called to be the Saviour’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind
1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter One. The ends of the Institute, §3. Nota Bene.
Missions, 78 (1951) p. 15
Here in a succinct manner is the kernel of the Missionary vocation for all who are inspired to live by Eugene’s dream.
What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute!
He restates, in different words, the three foundation pillars of our vocation that he had written in our defining Article one.
NOTA BENE – TAKE NOTE! Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God
The Congregation has its origin in the call of Jesus – he is the Founder. Each Missionary forms part of this body because of an awareness of a personal invitation from Jesus Christ.
NOTA BENE – TAKE NOTE! their first fathers are the Apostles.
We are called into community. But not just as any community, but as a community that follows the example of the apostles. More than following , it is an insertion into the Gospel community of Jesus and the apostles and first disciples. It is a continuation of that community.
NOTA BENE – TAKE NOTE! They are called to be the Savior’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind
The third pillar is the mission: that of leading people to the same experience of salvation that the Missionaries were living. Thus the short definition of the Missionary is: “co-operator of the Savior” – nothing less than a co-redeemer!
NOTA BENE. What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute!
I feel quite breathless every time that I meditate on these words. If we live this reality in a convincing way, what a missionary light our vocation calls us to! If we really live these words in their fullness, what a difference we would make to the world… NOTA BENE – TAKE NOTE!
“Priest organizations around the country, both local and national, should realize that their membership has a serious image problem and undertake programs to improve it.” Andrew Greeley
WOW!
This “Nota Bene” calls Oblate priests to live their lives in a manner that is positively frightening – sons of the apostles / inheritors of the business, a business you absolutely cannot let fail – lives depend on it.
Yet even the apostles were not perfect. They understood very little about what Jesus was telling them, teaching them. They were even greedy. They initially thought there was going to be some kind of reward, a concrete reward, in following this new King of The Jews. As for courage, they ran, ran into hiding when He was crucified. They couldn’t even come out of hiding and say, “See, told you so!” after His resurrection.
It took some time.
Finally they understood what Jesus is all about, what their job was in spreading His message, and what their previously unimaginable reward was to be.
To me the Bible is not a story that ends with the word “Amen.” Like Harry Potter, it is only the first instalment. I know personally 4 people (all Oblate priests) who are writing the sequel and I know there are others too. This sequel, by the way, has very little to do with being “Catholic” and everything to do with “they understood what Jesus is all about.”
NOTA BENE – YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!
I just finished watching the video “A Heart as Big as the World”. I echo Johns “Wow” and Frank’s breathlessness. For I believe that this is what we are all called to, all those who find themselves members of the Mazenodian Family. We are each of us called to be missionaries in our lives, with our families, our communities and all those around us. Eugene’s words – they seem to grab at the heart much as did the words that he wrote in his first letter to Henri Tempier. Almost 200 years later and they still fill us with fire and life! Impossible to not answer “here I am Lord, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of this great family. Let me follow in the foot steps with all of the gifts you have given me to share”.