The community of the Apostles with Jesus is the model of our life.
Our Lord grouped the Twelve around him to be his companions and to be sent out as his messengers (cf. Mk 3:14). (Constitution 3)
Eugene’s understanding of the Oblate vocation was to a lifestyle and mission that was as close as possible to that of Jesus and his apostles, and in our first Rule he defined us as being:
“called to be the Saviour’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind.”
Eugene was convinced of the need to go deeper than just actions – they had to imitate the virtues, the deepest bonds that existed between Jesus and his apostles. It was a call to be penetrated through and through by the profoundest aspects of this relationship:
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. (John 15:15)
For our Oblate Charismatic Family this is the meaning of oblation: a commitment to being friends of Jesus and living the fullness of communion and intimacy with him as apostolic missionaries.
