CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE BY EVERY POSSIBLE MEANS  (Constitution 8)

Posted on October 3, 2025 by franksantucci

We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their values and aspirations.

Constitution 8

The closeness of the Missionaries to the people made them favour the lowly at all times, but not to the exclusion of anyone else’s right to the benefits of salvation.

For many of the early Oblates, this was not an issue since they were incapable of preaching competently in French, not having had the broad education which Eugene himself had had or the intellectual capabilities of someone like Guibert. But in no way was this seen as being a negative quality.

The Jesuits preached a mission in Gap in 1823 with some of the Oblates, and Eugene referred to a letter he received from the Jesuit superior:

…he only says that having been forewarned that Father Mie and Father Touche would not be popular, being accustomed only to preach in Provençal, he had not made them preach; that they had the goodness to give catechetical instructions, which are much more useful to the ignorant than beautiful discourses.

Letter to Marius Suzanne, 29 November 1823, EO VI n. 121

That which some considered weakness was in fact their strength by being close to and in instructing the poor as to who God the Saviour was for them.

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One Response to CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE BY EVERY POSSIBLE MEANS  (Constitution 8)

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    October 3, 2025 at 14:15

    This is all music to my ears this morning. How is it that I have never thought of this before?

    I think of the fisherwoman on the docks of Marseilles who would often turn up at Eugene’s office to speak with him, or call out his name if she saw him walking near the docks.

    Last night in talking with my Co-Animator of the local Oblate Associates I raised the question to her of how I/we might respond if we were asked what our values and aspirations were? And would we be able to not only make a list, but write about those values and aspirations? In so doing we might learn how to take into account not only our values, but the values of those with whom we work.

    “The charism of Saint Eugene de Mazenod is a gift of the Spirit to the Church, and it radiates throughout the world. Lay people recognize that they are called to share in the charism according to their state of life, and to live it in ways that vary according to milieu and cultures. They share in the charism in a spirit of communion and reciprocity amongst themselves and with the Oblates.” (OMI CC&RR Rule 37a)

    Much as the Jesuits and Oblates did in their shared mission in Gap in 1823.

    Reply

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