In a week’s time Oblates from all over the world will gather in Rome for our General Chapter. May I invite all the members of the Mazenodian Family, and all our friends, to pray this prayer with us for the success of this important event?
Prayer for the 36th General Chapter
God our Father,
we thank you for the gift of religious life
which you have given us through Saint Eugene de Mazenod.You have called us to a missionary life
in order to preach the Gospel to the most abandoned:
“Evangelizare pauperibus misit me. Pauperes evangelizantur.”At this time of preparation for the General Chapter
in the year of the 200 anniversary of our Congregation,
we ask you for the grace of finding in your Son, Jesus Christ,
the center of our life and of our mission.We hear the call to a profound personal and communal conversion.
Help us to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world,
so as to proclaim to today’s world the values of your Kingdom
through words and deeds.We beg you, Lord, to send upon us your Spirit
to help us to be your Oblates, inflamed with your love,
sparing no effort to extend your Kingdom
and totally committed to the good of today’s poor.We ask you this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate,
our Mother, and of Saint Eugene de Mazenod.
Amen
You may follow the event at http://www.omiworld.org/en/36-general-chapter/news/
Something hit me as I read this prayer this morning. It is not new to me but for some reason I seemed to focus in on one particular part of it. ‘Help us to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world…’ Not so that I would be saved; not so that I will get to heaven or become a great saint. I then move from looking at myself to look at the other(s), those outside of myself. ‘…so as to proclaim today’s world the values of your kingdom through words and deeds.’ The small little kernel of life is really what makes us! This is what our newest saint, Mother Theresa, was all about.
I am blessed with a very special friend. Always she is looking out towards others, seeing their needs, how she can help them. She loves and it [love] is a integral part of herself for she does not look to what she can get out of it, You can’t help but be drawn towards the person who she is.
‘We beg you, Lord, to send upon us your Spirit to help us to be your Oblates, inflamed with your love, sparing no effort to extend your Kingdom and totally committed to the good of today’s poor.’ And we do this through ‘the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our Mother, and of Saint Eugene de Mazenod.’
Loved this reading today. Thank you for such inspiration.