200 YEARS AGO: NOTA BENE – THE GOLDEN THREAD OF OBLATION

The golden thread of Eugene’s life was to be “all for God” and it is this same concept that is expressed by living for the “glory of God.” It is summed up in the word OBLATION It is the high point of “imitating the virtues” of Jesus Christ, because the glory of God was the major desire of Jesus as Eugene used to point out:

The entire life of the Savior was totally dedicated to the glory of his Father…
Since I have not imitated my model in his innocence, will I be denied the opportunity to imitate him in his devotion to the glory of his Father and the salvation of men?

Spiritual conference, 19 March 1809, EO XIV n.48

The reason for our oblation expressed in community, spirituality and mission, is found in the “litmus-test” that Eugene repeatedly used for discernment and decision making until his death: “Is it for the glory of God, for the good of His Body, the Church, and for the salvation of others?”

“Our ideal is an absolute and enthusiastic commitment, a total availability to God and to souls for God, drawn from contemplation and in interior union with God”  Leo Deschâtelets OMI, former Superior General

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1 Response to 200 YEARS AGO: NOTA BENE – THE GOLDEN THREAD OF OBLATION

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    This morning, as I walk with Eugene, looking at his oblation and model of life – Jesus; I stop and reflect on how I came to be here. “The entire life of the Savior was totally dedicated to the glory of his Father…” It takes no small amount of courage to admit to wanting to live and ‘be’ with Jesus as my model. Do I dare? Do I dare not to? To have had this desire planted within me – to have had the seeds of my heart’s desire nourished and tended to by nothing less than grace!

    I am reminded of the ancient Japanese tradition of taking cracked and broken porcelain vessels and using gold to fill in the cracks and holes, to bring the broken shards together. This is how God mends us when we surrender to immense love – our ‘Oblation’.

    I remember my zeal when I first met Jesus – when my eyes met his. I seemed to focus on my own brokenness. I look now and recognize the golden threads that God used (and still uses) to weave me into his magnificent tapestry of life.

    Whether we call them our ‘tribal colours’ or our family tartan, we are being woven into and become a living part of the greater family. With our lived oblation “…it all becomes about the glory of God, for the good of His Body, the Church, and for the salvation of others.” We no longer focus on our cracks and broken shards but notice instead the healing lines of gold.

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