Our mission puts us on constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of witness and ministry, but especially through proclaiming the Word of God which finds its fulfilment in the celebration of the sacraments and in service to others.
CC&RR, Constitution 7
The “most urgent needs of the Church” was for the first responders themselves to be firmly focused on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the Savior, so as to be his effective witnesses and ministers.
The Church’s urgent need 200 years ago was for its members, ravaged by the French Revolution, to be reminded (or taught for the first time) that they were members of the Body of Christ – that they belonged to Him as His people because He had opened His arms on the Cross for them. 200 hundred years later, a comparable situation exists around the world today. The Church is still ravaged either through direct persecution, or through indifference, relativism or ignorance. The urgent needs continue to exist.
Of the “various forms” of Oblate response to this situation, proclaiming the Word of God was, and continues to be, the most important. Preaching, teaching, accompanying the people in their daily lives with the light and guidance of the Word, and accompanying them in immersion into the Word of God. “Your Word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path” Psalm 118
“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” Hudson Taylor
“…proclaiming the Word of God was, and continues to be, the most important. Preaching, teaching, accompanying the people in their daily lives with the light and guidance of the Word, and accompanying them in immersion into the Word of God.” One might think that to ‘proclaim the Word of God’ means to specifically get up and read from Scriptures and if we are extra inclusive we can add the giving of a homily. It is much more than being able to simply read aloud the scriptures, or being able to guote them word for word.
A wonderful thing happened to me this past week when I went to sit and talk with my pastor for the sacrament of Reconciliation. My penance if I can call it that (the word brings forth memories of being in a black box, hearing a disembodied voice tell me that I must go and say three Hail Mary’s and then everything would be fine). No – what happened was that we talked – back and forth – a conversation more than a litany and then the gift I received was after talking about real and ways of changing my behaviour, of looking at my behaviour and changing it as needed – the gift I received was my pastor reading a couple of verses from scripture to me. He shared that he liked that particular passage and that he used it often for reflection in his life. He suggested/advised that I might want to do the same thing. And so I came home, got out my bible and read the passage, marked it and rather than putting away the bible left it sitting on the side of my desk where I see it every morning and am reminded to open it.
It does not always take a pastor or a confessional for us to be able to do this. I learn from what I experience, what becomes a part of me and then I am able to share that with others.
Constitution 7 – ‘…proclaiming the word of God which finds it’s fulfilment in the celebration of the sacraments and in service to others. We come together as the Body of Christ to celebrate our liturgies, as we serve each other. It is alive and relevant 200 years after first being written.