The founding generation looked to the future in its vision-document:
Those who present themselves for admission into the Society will be tested in a novitiate until they finish their studies or are judged fit for the work of the missions.
The Missionaries will be accepted into the Society definitively only after two years of probation.
Request to the Capitular Vicars of Aix, 25 January 1816, O.W. XIII n.2
The future Missionaries needed a period of training and formation in order to enter fully into the spirit of the group. They had to BECOME in order to DO, as preachers of the Gospel. “Becoming” involved human growth, spiritual formation, and intellectual training in order to evangelize.
This is the model used in many parts of the world for our lay associates too. Before making a commitment, there has to be a period of immersion into the charism. Being an Oblate or an Oblate associate entails being transformed by the charism.
The model is that of Jesus forming his apostles: “So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to proclaim the message” (Gospel of Mark 3,13).
Eugene wrote about this model in the Preface:
What did Our Lord Jesus Christ do? He chose a certain number of apostles and disciples whom He formed in piety and filled with His spirit; and after having trained them in his school and the practice of all virtues, He sent them forth to conquer the world which they soon brought under the rule of his holy laws.
This was to remain his model of formation and community life for always, and we continue to live the model.
“Spiritual formation for the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself.” Dallas Willard
I marvel at how God has worked in my life, how God has so gently turned me around and shown me where God would have me be and go and do and be some more. Introducing me more properly to his Oblates and then through them to Eugene. It was a ‘flowing’ thing even when the surface looked choppy or scary, the depth continued to call to me, just as it does today. Frank once offered all of us who come here the opportunity to ‘go deeper’ by reading and sitting with, reflecting and praying with the writings of Eugene. The formation continued and it became at the same time an ongoing part of my life, a way of ‘being’ – not just so that I might be able to ‘become’ an Oblate Associate, but truly so that I could continue to ‘become’. It is to this that I am drawn, it is with this that I continue to grow and become, to find life.
And so today, even though it is not the first time that I have heard or seen or sat with the words of Eugene as he wrote to the Capitulars, today I have seen and heard them in a deeper way, in a way that has invited me to look even deeper, to see where I am now and how it is that I have arrived at this point. My view and understanding of his vision and how it continues to live on with all who share in his charism, the gift of his spirit deepens and the joy that is within me deepens and widens. Part of my life and who I am will I hope always entail ongoing formation, ongoing discernment and questioning, reflection and renewal, ongoing deepening and oblation, of saying yes to the cross, to death of myself and new life. My life which began as a small brook of water and that grew as a mighty river is now within an endless ocean. It seems that I have just begun.
The immersion and formation in the charism continues to grow, I depend on it. I pray that my formation will never cease, just as I trust my transformation will never cease. Here is the wonder and joy, the gratitude and deepening of life.
Hello! Frank & Eleanor,
A brief response… just to say thank you for sharing such an important focus on being immersed in the Oblate charism… yes, the “going deeper” and your favourite phrase “Breathing in” the charism has impacted my own spiritual life. Thank you for reminding me about the importance of “Being” in order to “Do”… I do use that a lot with our Friends of St. Eugene groups. God bless. Kind wishes. Kirk
Thanks, Kirk! It is good to receive your appreciation. Thank you for the feedback – it adds fuel to my enthusiasm for the daily reflection. Hopefully the newly established “Kusenberger Chair of Oblate Studies,” here at Oblate School of Theology, will make an even deeper contribution to the understanding and appreciation of the Mazenodian charism in a wider context..
Thanks Kirk for including me with Frank in your thanks and thoughts. Frank’s blog has been such a gift to me. I am sure that I do not always go where Frank invites us each day but the gift of what I get is beyond any measure. Where God leads us! Where through Eugene and Frank God leads us. I always have this insane urge to share all of it with the rest of my world, not only Oblate Associates but with my parish, etc. Think of you often and keep you in my prayers.