OUR LOVE FOR THE CHURCH INSPIRES US TO CONSIDER THE BISHOPS AS OUR FATHERS FROM THE MOMENT THEY ADOPT US (C6)
Our love for the Church inspires us to fulfil our mission in communion with the pastors whom the Lord has given to his people. (Constitution 6)
“We are the Bishop’s men” is a slogan that has been much used and abused throughout the history of our Congregation. Taken out of context, it has been interpreted as a reason for an Oblate to be a “jack-of-all-trades-minister” in a diocese according to the bishop’s fancies. The context in which these words were written is the key to understanding this concept.
The Vicar General of Grenoble had approached Eugene about the possibility of the Oblates coming to work in the diocese. Eugene responded by spelling out Oblate ministry clearly. Our main ministry at that moment was evangelization through parish missions, and when not doing this, it was to minister to the poor whom the Church was touching least, and whom society regarded as “dregs.”
In a town, during the interval between missions, our Missionaries, dedicated as they are to the service of abandoned souls, carry on a very useful ministry among the lowest classes of people. For example, in Marseilles, they care for the dregs of society, people who are at the age of 25 to 30, and have not yet made their first Holy Communion, and who do not know their God or about their souls; they instruct them carefully, and their labors have been crowned with the greatest success.
He then stresses that this ministry is done in closest communion with the local bishop, always ready to serve him – but within the parameters of our charism. On several occasions in the future, Eugene was to remove Oblates from a diocese or a particular ministry that he did not judge as being in accordance with his understanding of our charismatic vocation.
We consider the bishops as our fathers from the moment they adopt us; their diocese becomes our family, and I can state that these children of adoption witness to it before anyone by their affection and attachment. Besides, we have the consolation of seeing the Bishops give us constant unmistakable moving signs of preference.
We are the Bishop’s men; we are at his disposition at every moment of the day or night. We must live habitually under his influence.
Eugene’s letter to M. Testou, Vicar General of Grenoble, 17 June 1828, EO XIII n. 68
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My experience with bishops has been very limited so not do not feel capable of sharing the experience that Frank has shared with us today. I respect them and the many gifts that bishops share – another of those gender-based stories.
But I do believe that as a lay person I am given all the gifts that I need to love God’s people.
I am more likely to relate to those with whom I am invited to share and walk with, especially those I love and who are members of our Oblate Charismatic Family, the Church and yes the “dregs” of society. We all seem to gravitate without borders and locked gates.
Last night during a zoom gathering in preparation for the renewal of some of the Oblate Associate Recommitments one of the ladies reminded me of my own growing experiences of love. I asked her if she knew of Mirabai Starr and her eyes lit up with joy as she said a big Yes. We shared the depths of joy when I told her of how her sharing raised up the translations of “Julian of Norwich – The Showings” and of “St. John of the Cross”. She has read and treasures within herself Mirabai’s translations of “Julian of Norwich, A shared joy was evident in how we spoke and I thought of how I wanted to get to know her on a deeper level.
Today has started out with love thriving in the midst of reciprocity and then how that love is shown and shared with all of us sons and daughters of St. Eugene de Mazenod and more. How greatly God loves each of us and shows us ways we can respond to him.