200 YEARS AGO: NOTA BENE – THE LITMUS TEST OF OBLATION

Why have a demanding program of personal and spiritual growth? The answer is provided in a threefold goal, which occurs hundreds of times in Eugene’s writings because he insists that it must be kept in mind constantly: “the glory of God, the building of the Church, the salvation of souls.”

What must we, in turn, do to succeed in winning back for Jesus Christ so many souls who have cast off his yoke? We must…
maintain in view exclusively the glory of God, the building of the Church, the salvation of souls

Then he gave the list of virtues necessary in order to achieve this (see the previous entry), after which he hammers again:

be ready to sacrifice our goods, our talents, our rest, our persons and our lives for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of our neighbor.

1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter One, §3. Nota Bene. Missions, 78 (1951) p. 16

He started the list with the triad, and he repeats it again at the end to stress its importance. It is like the cover of a book that contains the means to oblation in every one of its pages: “for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of our neighbor.” We find this expression repeatedly in all Eugene’s writings either with three goals: “the glory of God, the good of the Church and the salvation of souls” or as a pair: “for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”

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1 Response to 200 YEARS AGO: NOTA BENE – THE LITMUS TEST OF OBLATION

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I think for a moment of Peter when he along with James and John accompanied Jesus up the mountain to pray and how he saw Jesus – for a moment – in glory. And I think of how each of us see Jesus through the eyes of our hearts and how from that moment on we seek to see and find Jesus, our Beloved in all those we meet.

    We begin to share with others what we have been given, the charism, the gift of the Spirit that has been breathed upon and within us. It becomes our beginning and our end and we find that all that we desire will be found within that view of God. We pursue it – within the Church and in the faces of all who we meet. One would think that such a way of being would cut us off from life around us. But the reality is the exact opposite and we find ourselves living increasingly fuller lives, being a part of everything and everybody – in God, in Jesus crucified and resurrected. The Trinity.

    Mary’s oblation; Jesus’s most perfect and full oblation; Eugene’s oblation. I think of the many who have made their oblation before me and those I come to know and love so dearly. I am reminded of the words spoken to each Oblate as the make their Oblation and as they receive their Constitutions and Rules: “Do this and you shall live…”

    “…be ready to sacrifice our goods, our talents, our rest, our persons and our lives for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of our neighbor.” Do this and we will most certainly live in the fullest sense of the word. Hearing Eugene stress this over and over again has only helped me. Receiving these words of life, chewing and swallowing them over and over again – I am nourished, filled and refilled.

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