We are members of the prophetic Church. While recognizing our own need for conversion, we bear witness to God’s holiness and justice. We announce the liberating presence of Jesus Christ and the new world born in his resurrection.
(Constitution 9)
As members of the Oblate Charismatic Family, we share in the prophetic function of the Church: to search for, point out and promote the presence of God in the midst of evil, and to journey with people on that journey of transformation.
BUT there is one condition! We need to be constantly on a journey of personal conversion that gives witness to the presence of God that we seek to embrace daily. Unless we do this, and are energized by the Savior, we risk becoming like so many politicians and of using their same methods. It is this danger that Eugene warned against in his vision statement that we now know as the Preface. Initially aimed at Oblate priests, its scope and vocabulary can be adjusted to accommodate the whole Charismatic Family today.
They are convinced that if priests could be formed, afire with zeal for men’s salvation, priests not given to their own interests, solidly grounded in virtue – in a word, apostolic men deeply conscious of the need to reform themselves, who would labour with all the resources at their command to convert others – then there would be ample reason to believe that in a short while people who had gone astray might be brought back to their long-unrecognized responsibilities. “Take great care about what you do and what you teach,” was Paul’s charge to Timothy, “Always do this, and thus you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Tim 4: 16).
Eugene de Mazenod, Preface
Unless we constantly seek conversion, we will not be able to withstand the criticism that any prophetic ministry invites.
This morning I got up as the dawn was beginning: the darkness was slowly giving way to the light of day. As is my custom I looked out the window to greet God amidst our world. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement and I turned to see a plane rising into the sky from the airport and it’s headlight spilling light ahead of it. It was a moment filled with wonder and awe that God created us to be able to figure out aerodynamics and create machines to imitate the birds that carry us around the world. I was both humbled and filled with joy in the same moment and my eyes filled with tears that God should love us so…
A moment in the now… and while we can look at the past, we live in the now. Our experience of life is found in:
the presence of God…
the prophetic Church…
our need for conversion…
bearing witness to God…
constantly seeking conversion…
Constitution 9 (along with all of the other articles and rules) is a living expression of the Spirit’s gift, the Charism given to St. Eugene. In this sense he is our Founder. And while this statement might create a reaction of denial by a few, our ongoing conversion will continue, even in the midst of criticism.
“There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord, for you to reveal yourself to us. There is a longing in our hearts for love we only find in you, our God.” (ref. Hymn – There Is A Longing)All of these words connote the idea of being in the “now”, seeing “what is” and asking for more. This expression of love and ongoing conversion is shared not just with and by the members of the Oblate Charismatic Family, but with the world.