We announce the liberating presence of Jesus Christ and the new world born in his resurrection. We will hear and make heard the clamour of the voiceless, which is a cry to God who brings down the mighty from their thrones and exalts the lowly (cf. Lk 1: 52).
(Constitution 9)
In our many parishes around the world, we need to ask ourselves the question: “What is the difference between an Oblate parish and the diocesan parishes around us?” Do people see and experience a difference?
This call is addressed in a special way to our parish ministry, in which we have a strong presence. Oblate parishes, which should have a particular missionary character, are appropriate places, for example, to offer an adequate response to the widespread indifference to the tragedy of migration and the degradation of creation. The joint work of Oblates and laity in such Christian communities can be the basis for recovering the “sense of responsibility for our fellow human be- ings on which every civil society is founded” (LS 25). (Acts of 2022 General Chapter n. 13)
On the subject of being at the service of the Catholics of Bytown, we know it is quite repugnant to our Fathers to serve in a manner too similar to the parish ministry. They have been known to say on other occasions that they were made to be missionaries, not parish priests. ne should be able to organize their service as a kind of mission…
Letter to Bp Bruno Guigues, 26 September 1848, EO I n 103
There is within me, and hopefully within many of us who gather here, a desire to go deeper within ourselves so as sit in the presence of God… This is one of the ways that we members of the Oblate Charismatic Family are nourished.
Like the first apostles, we have all been sent out – be we religious or lay – our hearts are bound to each other and those to whom we are sent. The bonds are created of pure love and apply to all of us. Those bonds of are not just limited to our personal selves but all those who make up our Church and further, to those with whom we share our faith.
How do we fulfill our “sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings…”? Whether our call is to a specific state and/or role of life within the Church our response will be born within our hearts, shaped by the Master Potter (sometimes over and over again) as our journey takes us into the fullness of God.
This morning is very personal to me only in that I live in what Eugene called Bytown and which was renamed Ottawa 6 years after his death. Look dear Eugene at your sons and daughters here and in every village and city in the world We are called to touch the poorest of the poor, those with out nourishment, shelter, health care and recognition be they sleeping over a hot air vent on the street, or unable to be true to who God has created them to be outside of their homes…
All of us our sent and it only remains as to how we respond. This is all social (and human) justice. It is within the very poor that we recognize the glory of God.