IN CALLING YOU TO THE CONGREGATION, GOD WISHED YOU TO USE THESE TALENTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE FAMILY (C11)

Posted on June 5, 2026 by franksantucci

We fulfil this mission in community; and our communities are a sign that, in Jesus, God is everything for us. (Constitution 11)

The whole community is always missionary. The letters which the Founder writes to the missionaries and from the missions are a tangible means of creating one heart and one soul in the community – sharing details of how things were going, and also praying for each other. “I have no need to tell you how much I bless the Lord for all he is doing through your ministry; we are all in transports of joy, as if this were new to us. I have read our fathers’ letter to the community.”  This is a concrete sign of what it means that the community is apostolic and that all are missionaries, because those who stay at home are praying for the workers, and studying to prepare themselves in turn for their own preaching when their turn comes: “If you do not pray for us, we are in a bad fix.”

… The abilities of the individual are there for the good of the community and its mission: “The Good Lord did not give you your talents for your own use only; but in calling you to the Congregation. he wished you to use these talents for the good of the whole family.”

“Community” in the Dictionary of Oblate Values, https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/community/#_Ftnt43

“The call and the presence of the Lord among us today bind us together in charity and obedience to create anew in our own lives the Apostles’ unity with him and their common mission in his Spirit” Constitution 3

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One Response to IN CALLING YOU TO THE CONGREGATION, GOD WISHED YOU TO USE THESE TALENTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE FAMILY (C11)

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    June 6, 2026 at 01:20

    I believe that any one of us who has vowed/committed to sharing in the community believes that the gifts/talents we have been given are not for our own individual selves, but rather the family we share our lives with.

    I think for a moment of one of the latest Oblates to be named by the Pope as the future Bishop of Prince Albert Saskatchewan, He is humble man, one whose life speaks clearly the truth about community. I am reminded of St. Eugene’s call to rebuild the Church following the French Revolution. And I think of Bishop Susai, Bishop Krotki. soon to be Bishop Thorson – all Oblates walking in the footsteps of St. Eugene de Mazenod, along with his sons who have been asked to serve as Eugene did.

    “Everyone knows who you are so be worthy of your vocation and strive to accept its every least demand.” This speaks not just to the Bishops and Priests, but to all and each of us who have been called to be members of the Oblate Charismatic Family. This speaks to me about the “being” of apostolic communities.

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