Growing in faith, hope and love, we commit ourselves to be a leaven of the Beatitudes at the heart of the world.
(Constitution 11)
“Do this and you will live” are the words of Jesus. “Do this and you will live” are the words with which our Constitutions and Rules are entrusted to us.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us the beatitudes as an evangelical itinerary for our lives and a source of happiness for each of us.
For Eugene, they were contained and expressed in the Rule.
My dear sons … take in hand, once and for all, the Rule that the Church has given us and be imbued with its spirit. I ask you: to what have the members of our Institute devoted themselves, what have they sworn to be for their entire life? Listen: “They must wholly renounce themselves, and strive solely for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the growth and salvation of souls. They must continually renew themselves in the spirit of their vocation
Eugene’s Circular Letter to all Oblates, 2 February 1857, EO XII p. 209 f
Once again I am reminded of the Oblate spirit, the Oblate Charism. It begins (and ends) with God, with Jesus, the Church and how we can be like a leaven in the ordinary of our lives.
As members of the Oblate Charismatic Family we are nourished and sent to each other and then outward – we are human and so we must constantly renew the offering of ourselves. Sometimes we might require a “kick start” to keep going. And while we might want to congratulate ourselves in how we live, we must always stand in the light of Jesus, of Mary’s intercession and the ongoing intercession of the saints and the community of God.
One of the greatest gifts shared and offered to us is the Oblate Rule of Life and just like the Beatitudes this Rule of Life is leaven not only in how we “be” but also how we live.
As God is the center of our being St. Eugene reminds all of us that we,. his sons and daughters, pick up the Rule which is the living expression of Eugene’s charism and become imbued with its spirit. We who have devoted and vowed/committed ourselves to this way of being must renounce ourselves, striving only for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the growth and salvation of all souls. And we must always renew ourselves in the spirit of our vocation. (Ref. Eugene’s Circular Letter to all Oblates, 2 February 1857, EO XII p. 209)