OUR FOUNDING VISION TODAY: READY TO LEAVE EVERYTHING TO BE DISCIPLES OF JESUS

We are men “set apart for the Gospel” (Rom 1: 1), men ready to leave everything to be disciples of Jesus.

CC&RR Constitution 2

layDoes the call of Jesus to discipleship in the Gospels refer only to religious and priests? Most certainly not! The Church teaches that there is a universal call to holiness, and that all are called to discipleship. Some “leave everything” to embrace a particular way of life through vows, but that is a tiny percentage of Christians. For the vast majority it is the call to focus on what is essential in our relationship with Jesus the Savior, and to “leave everything” aside that does not contribute to that relationship.

The Savior who calls us to be disciples, who gives us a specific vocation in the Mazenodian Family, lovingly draws us to enter into an ever-deepening relationship with him:

The desire to co-operate with him draws us to know him more deeply, to identify with him, to let him live in us.
We strive to reproduce in ourselves the pattern of his life.

CC&RR Constitution 2

This was the vision and dream of Eugene, and it became the vision and dream of all who follow his way:

I will meditate on Jesus my love in his incarnation, his hidden life, his mission, his passion and death; but especially in his Sacrament and Sacrifice. My chief occupation will be to love him, my chief concern to make him loved. To this I will bend all my efforts, time, strength, and when after much labor I have succeeded in leading only one person to make an act of love towards so good a Master, I will rightly consider myself very well paid.

Retreat notes, December 1812, EO XV n. 109

 omi rule

“How can we give to the Lord? What shall we give to him? Every kind word to others, every help given them, is as a gift to God, whose chief concern is the welfare of his children. Every gentle deed to our neighbor, every kindness to the poor and suffering, is a gift to the Lord, before whom all mankind are equal.”     John Andreas Widtsoe

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2 Responses to OUR FOUNDING VISION TODAY: READY TO LEAVE EVERYTHING TO BE DISCIPLES OF JESUS

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Sometimes I seem to get caught-up, ‘sucked-in’ to the whole male/female thing. If I let myself I will become lost in all of it. It can be a very real struggle and it can grow to encompass much more than gender for it can include status in life. I want that ‘all’ that I can only describe as a oneness, without walls or exclusions, without labels or limits. This seems to be an ongoing struggle for me that rears its head and I wonder if I might be ‘lacking’ in something. I refuse to give into it though and just like with all the ordinary fears of the everyday of life I will continue to walk forward.

    So – I refocus – on the 2nd Rule of Life – not just for the vowed Oblates, for I have adopted it for myself. It touches me and resonates so very deeply causing me to sit back in wonder and gratitude that God should call me to be somehow a disciple of Jesus. Then to hear the invitation from St. Eugene with words that set me on fire, inspired me and even as I was saying yes there was a piece of me saying how can this be? A few years ago I remember that I was talking with an Oblate and I spoke of feeling like a daughter of Eugene. I was quickly corrected; I was told that I was an “adopted” daughter. At the time I railed but looking at my life, I have heard God tell me that he ‘chose’ me – if it was good enough for God then was good enough for my relationship with Eugene de Mazenod.

    I read the 2nd Constitution in full and I unreservedly say yes and then rather quickly follow that with a wonder-filled ‘thank you’ to God. I wonder if I have not set myself down in the midst of some of those in the margins. I give my all in small ways that are not at all stingy in the way of love. There is an ever deepening joy that comes with this oblation. This is perhaps a small taste of what life after death will look like.

  2. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    ‘The desire to co-operate with him draws us to know him more deeply, to identify with him, to let him live in us. We strive to reproduce in ourselves the pattern of his life.” (CC&RR Constitution 2)

    What does this look like in me? How do I try to reproduce within myself the pattern of Jesus’s life – do I? A brief ‘aha’ moment as I think that it is in my being that I am able to do. For years I would ask Jesus to take my heart, empty it so that it could be filled with his – that way I would be able to love and be like him. My prayer now has deepened and it is not only his heart that I ask for but to be able to share, be a part of his being. It is from this ‘being’ a most particular way that I am able to do.

    I read his retreat notes. Am anything like that? My inner being, my inner life is like that and I think of St. Paul as he speaks of his inner spirit being strong and true. It is from my inner being, my heart and soul that I am able to ‘do’- maybe not the noticeable stuff like Eugene did, but here I am measuring and so I stop. Do I consider myself well paid? OMG – that is a huge yes and yes again. I look at what god has given to me, especially the call to follow and walk with St. Eugene and the other members of this magnificent family. It is with them, being a part of them that I come into who I have been created to be and I dare to say it is the most perfect way for me.

    “The Savior who calls us to be disciples, who gives us a specific vocation in the Mazenodian Family, lovingly draws us to enter into an ever-deepening relationship with him.” These words reminded me of a recent experience: last Sunday I had the gift to be at all of the Masses on the weekend and it was during the ‘family’ Mass that I noticed a little boy colouring a piece of paper at the table with other children. His father was not beside him at the table but was close enough that if anything happened he would be beside this little boy. At one point the child turned towards his father holding up the piece of paper – I could not hear the words but both the boy and the father moved in my direction to a meeting point, with the father getting down on his knees and the boy explaining in great detail what the lines that he had drawn signified. And when he was finished he turned to face the front of the church perhaps looking for something different to draw. It was the father though who moved forward drawing the little boy close to him and wrapping both of his arms around him. His face showed an incredible tenderness that touched me deeply. For that is how I feel when I am drawn into the presence of Jesus during some of my contemplation periods. A gift beyond measure.

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