In the formal letter sending out his Missionary Oblates, Eugene de Mazenod as Superior General mandated their mission.
GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, who has chosen and predestined us for the praise of the glory of his grace, has established us so that we may go and gather fruit and our fruit may remain.
Eugene was emphatic that the existence of the Oblates was brought about by God’s intervention and not by human effort. He recalled the foundation and its fruitful evangelization in Provence:
You know that from the moment the Father sent us, his little flock, at the last hour to work in his vineyard, we returned from our modest labours with abundant fruit; that on beginning to proclaim his Word, God accomplished great things through us though unworthy and that many were the wayward brought back to the right path as we went through the regions about us to seek sheep in peril.
Just as God had blessed their humble beginnings, God would continue to bless the Oblates in the vast new field that was opening up in Canada.
But here is a road that leads afar and an immense field that unfolds. A gateway is wide open to us. We are now sent not only to those who are close and who are brothers in the faith but to others who are far afield and outside the faith, we who, being so few, were unequal to the task of gathering the abundant harvest lying before us.
Letter of Obedience to the first Oblate missionaries to Canada, 29 September 1841, EO I n 8
Today, the same spirit impels the Mazenodian Family to be missionaries in every situation in which we find ourselves. “A gateway is wide open to us” in our daily lives to see those around us and the world through the eyes of our Crucified Savior and to witness to his love in whatever way possible. Mission begins in our immediate environment.
This morning I awoke, almost excited to come to the place, to sit and be and join in with the combined spirit of each of us; all led by one voice, one Rule of Life and yet able to share in the others.
I think for a moment of Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Al-Tayeb and their Zayed Award for Human Fraternity; a new way of life’s music growing… Just like the new Society of missionaries as they began to gather more and more to follow and take up their part, their role. The words ‘missio Dei’ come to mind.
Picture a flash mob: a few coming together with a specific tune. The music slow and steady with just a few instruments and then more are added and the music begins to fill the square, touching all who pass by, urging them to simply stop and be as they listen. More and more instruments are added and some voices join in, capturing the notes and giving expression to them. The music swells and some who are listening and watching sway gently as others, begin also to softly hum as they allow there very depths to join in the flow…
The beautiful music that brings a sense of peace and joy –that is the missio Dei. And if we look closely the conductor is none other than Eugene de Mazenod; his sheets of music the Rule and the instruments and voices are those nursed and fed on his beautiful Rule of Life. The square or the space in which we listen and find a way of being – usually large and very open so as to accommodate not just this new life orchestra, but for others to sit and listen and sip on a new wine. And the music breaks free of all the city sounds and rises above it.
This morning I sit here, joining in; to sing with you, silently, within my heart. And the music swells within me so that I can do nothing less that allow to become free and join with all you as together we make up a new version of the Mazenodian Family Symphony.
And we join together with the Tachés and Guigues, the Gerards and the Lacombes, the Santuccis and along with the Prathers and the Cronins, the Hilliers and the Harts…
We walk together through that gate that has opened for us…
Beautifully said! Thanks for your inspiring words.