Excerpt
from a homily of Fr. Warren Brown, OMI, General Councillor,
given
at the General House on February 17, 2012
Today is a day to remember the past, reflect
on the present and renew ourselves
and our community for the future. The word of God we have just heard proclaimed
leads us to this conclusion.
The last Chapter chose as one of its
themes the story of Emmaus, Luke 24: “Were not our hearts burning within us as
He spoke to us on the road?” The Chapter noted that out of the confusion and
challenge of the difficult moment of their crucified religious world, the
disciples on the road “recognize the risen Jesus and the new reality they are
living, and go back into their religious lives with renewed vision, hope and
energy.” The Spirit of Jesus burns within them. Out of the difficult and
sometimes confusing challenge of today, we are invited to renew ourselves for
the future. We are invited as a Congregation to be renewed through our
communion with Christ and one another and return with renewed vision, hope and
energy.
The Founder said, at the time of the
second edition of the CCRR: “All I hope for is that this second promulgation of
our laws will kindle in the heart of each one of you new fervor that it brings
about a kind of renewal of your
youth…” 8/2/1853 (Circular Letter)
Are we open to the Spirit? Are we able
to renew our spirit of commitment to
our Oblate way of life? Are we willing to renew ourselves and truly immerse
ourselves in the words and spirit of our Constitutions and Rules? Are they a
source of life for us today? Is our oblation in our rule a total commitment in
the spirit of our predecessors, such as the martyrs we have celebrated?
Here is a story that came to mind when
reflecting on these readings:
A woodcutter one day approached a timber
mill owner and he was hired. The salary and the conditions of work were very
good. Thus our woodcutter, thankful, proposed to work hard. The boss gave him
an axe and showed him the area where he had to work. The first day the woodcutter
cut 18 trees. “Congratulations,” the boss said, “continue that way.” Very
motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter worked harder the following
day but could only cut 15 trees. The third day he forced himself even more but
could only cut ten. Day after day, despite his great effort, he could only cut
fewer trees. “I must be losing strength,” thought the woodcutter. The boss came
and the woodcutter asked forgiveness; he said that he did not understand what
was happening. “When was the last time that you sharpened the axe?” asked the
boss. “Sharpen? I didn’t have time to sharpen the axe!”
The axe (not a weapon but a tool!) in
the story is what our Constitutions and Rules are to us in our Oblate life. The
cutting of trees is like the work of evangelization. We must sharpen the axe, the
tool of our life and mission, each day through our remembering, reflection and
renewal of ourselves in our rule. [As one of my Oblate confreres reminded me: A
dull tool can be the most dangerous one!]
On the day of our oblation, we were
told: “Do this and live.” But if we have not sharpened our “tool”, using our
charism and way of life to lead us, will we not find ourselves in the same
position as the woodcutter? If we have not opened our Constitutions since the
novitiate, what good are they for us? As expressed in the Chapter, there is a
great richness there and perhaps we have only scratched the surface. The Spirit
is there, given to us as Oblates and ratified by the Church.
As we remember, reflect and renew ourselves
in our Oblate charism, our way of life and our Oblate Rule, we can more
effectively do the work the Lord has set before us. As St. Eugene said to Fr.
Tempier, our Rule is for us our source of life: “…these are no longer simple
regulations, no ordinary pious directions; they are Rules that have been
approved by the Church after the most minute scrutiny. They have been judged
holy and eminently capable of leading those who embraced them to their
destination.”
Our efforts and hard work on our own can
be in vain, no matter how well intentioned, without the necessary preparation,
without the necessary well prepared tools, without fully being open and
responding to God’s Spirit which is there. Our Rule itself will help to show us
how we can respond in the new evangelization in our day and time.
We celebrate today; we remember, reflect
and renew ourselves in the great gift we have received. We give thanks today
that we have been called to be Oblates and we ask God to continue to bless us,
our collaborators and associates to bring the spirit of St. Eugene and the Good
News of Jesus to the world today.
