AN INVITATION TO LISTEN FOR THE CALL OF JESUS CHRIST IN OUR DAILY LIVES (C 1)

Posted on March 5, 2025 by franksantucci

The first article of the constitution of any group of people is generally the one that defines the group and its purpose. This is what our Constitution 1 is for us. It begins by expressing WHY we are part of the Oblate charism:

The call of Jesus Christ, heard within the Church through people’s need for salvation, draws us together as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. (Constitution 1)

It is Jesus who takes the first step by calling each of us. He invites us to discover his call in his presence in many ways:

we seek his presence in the hearts of the people and in the events of daily life as well as in the Word of God, in the sacraments and in prayer (Constitution 31)

Linked with our personal experience of being called, is the call we hear through the members of the Body of Christ, the Church. We recall how Eugene became aware of his vocation when he saw the suffering of the Church after the French Revolution and how in need of salvation the people were. Recognizing Jesus calling him in this situation, he responded generously with his life.

Today we are invited to listen for his call in all that we do and experience, and particularly through our Church suffering with her children in so many tragic and horrific situations throughout the world

REFLECTION

Eleanor Rabnett, a Canadian Lay Oblate, captured this beautifully in her daily reflection on “St Eugene Speaks” :

“The call of Jesus Christ…” leads us to become a part of that which continues outward allowing the Beloved to show us the way through others, who are sons and daughters of Eugene. Like the Master Potter, we allow ourselves to be reshaped and formed, and instead of being sent to the kiln where we might dry out and become brittle, we find ourselves becoming a part of the clay of life, becoming one with others who like us have offered themselves to be shaped, reshaped and renewed. It is the Beloved, the Master Potter who is constantly shaping and reshaping us, and then picking up new clay and adding a little water to slake our thirst all in order to mold those we will accompany in the same manner that we ourselves receive(d) from other members of our Oblate Charismatic Family.
“The call of Jesus Christ…” How greatly we are loved and blessed…
https://www.eugenedemazenod.net/?p=5992#comments

(Eleanor has been reflecting every day, since 2010, on the daily “St. Eugene Speaks.” These are all available on the website. I always smile when people tell me that they prefer her reflection to mine – most often I agree with them!)

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One Response to AN INVITATION TO LISTEN FOR THE CALL OF JESUS CHRIST IN OUR DAILY LIVES (C 1)

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:
    March 5, 2025 at 13:44

    This invitation to listen to the call of Jesus Christ is by it’s very nature fully and deeply intimate within us while at the same time calling us to be communal. It is never just for ourselves alone, but rather who we walk with. We must always remember how Jesus took a few of his followers into the Garden asking them to stay with him before he was able to agree to the Father’s invitation to give his all, his very life out of love for God.

    I think of Mary and her response, her fiat expressed to the angel Gabriel: “let it be done unto me according to your word.” Her beginning steps of her oblation. It is always about God rather than just our small selves.

    “We come together in apostolic communities… we commit ourselves principally to evangelizing the poor.” (C 1) I cannot but help think of the words “…enlarge the space of our tent” (Isaiah 54.2) which I have always thought of as “enlarge the space of your heart”. An invitation like no other, and Eugene most certainly lived that out.

    How do we do this? I think of St. Eugene de Mazenod’s first invitation to Fr. Tempier OMI, requesting that he stand beneath his crucifix before reading the letter. That was so personal to me only because my first experience of the cross was as I sat below it and looking at it and through his eyes to see the world.

    Our invitations seem to be most often in the light and the shadow of the cross. In that way we are always looking up and through the eyes of Jesus, our crucified Saviour so as to recognize each other and all those we have been sent to.

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