Models of laity sharing the Oblate charism

1. There is a multiplicity of ways in which laity can be associated with the Oblates. Among these various forms of collaboration, an important distinction must be made.

a. Cooperation with the Oblates can take the form of working with them in a specific ministry as is the case for any other cooperator in the Church's pastoral work, for example, in a parish, a school, a mission. In these ministries, the Oblates generally have a special style and the stress the values that express their charism. In this way, they pass something on to their co-workers. But above all, the Oblates are an expression of the Church, and the laity who commit themselves to working with them do so in virtue of their status as members of the local church community.

b. In other respects, the laity can support the work and the life of the Oblates and cooperate with them by being one with the Oblates and sharing in their particular charism. The extent of this sharing can vary considerably and can even take the form of a commitment based on the Oblate spirituality and mission in the world. It is in this context that we situate the two generally accepted forms of association, that is: membership in the Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate and lay associates. The distinction between the two categories has not been clearly defined in the sense that in certain places there exists only one organization with different degrees of belonging. However, the distinction could be expressed as follows: the members of MAMI support Oblate works from the outside; associates, in a manner of speaking, share the Oblate charism from the inside. I would like to treat this latter form of belonging in more in detail.

2. By its nature, a charism is open and capable of developing in harmony with the Church. It can be lived by a group of persons who choose religious consecration, as the case has been from the time of the foundation of the Oblates. The group that makes up the Oblate Congregation constitutes the core group and the main means through which the Oblate charism is transmitted.

Through the course of history, this charism has given rise to other forms of consecrated life in religious institutes and, more recently, in secular institutes. In general, these institutes were founded by Oblates or with their assistance. More recently still, it emerged that the charism can be lived by laity both in groups and individually.

Some of the statements made in the 1992 Chapter document, Witnessing as Apostolic Community, are based on this historic reality. "There are different modes of sharing the Oblate charism" (no. 43). Precisely because "we are not the owners of our charism; it belongs to the Church" (no. 40), the different ways of "incarnating" the charism have been brought into harmony with the development of the life of the Church. In this regard, Eugene de Mazenod was not a precursor like Abbé Pierre-Bienvenu Noailles, Founder of the Holy Family movement.

3. The different groups share in the charism according to their status as religious or as laity. There is a complementary difference between religious life and the lay state. The former expresses in a special way the transcendance of the Kingdom, and the latter the immanence of the Kingdom - even though both of them constitute a seeking of evangelical perfection and bear witness to the same God. However, their mode of existence and action is different. Religious as well as laity can be called to live the same charism in common, while maintaining their independence because of the differences that mark their respective callings. Consequently, one must see diversity in the way of living the charism as being simultaneously dialectic and complementary and therefore mutually enriching without being limited to one point of view. [17]

4. A charism possesses various facets or dimensions. Fully in line with a long tradition, the 1975 Congress listed nine of them. [18] We can classify them in three groups according to how they deal with mission, spirituality or communion.

It is commonly accepted that religious and laity share spiritual values and missionary outlook. The aspect of "community life", however, can be lived as a communion associated with certain exterior manifestations, rather than a sharing in the canonical sense of the term. Here is what Cristo Rey Garcia Paredes had to say on this subject: "We are speaking of associating the laity to our spirit and our mission. This association generally takes place on two levels: on the spiritual level and that of commitment to the apostolate. We do not see how it can be realized at the level of community life unless it happens on the level of everyday community activity. In any case, association would be characterized not by simple 'assistance' or subordination of the laity to the religious, but through a certain analogy. In this context, religious institutes tend to consider themselves as heirs and the main guardians of the charism [...]. In order that it not be reduced to a simple cooperation in apostolic endeavors, an integral part of the association must be a permanent sharing in the spirituality of the charism as inspiration and foundation for everything. However, the spirituality of the charism needs to be reinterpreted in terms of the spirituality of lay persons. Of course, a missionary association requires that the laity maintain an extensive field of initiative and independence in all they do [...]. On the level of community and the institution, the association is more complex. [...] In religious institutions, it seems basic to intensify the possibility of 'spiritual osmosis': to have laity who participate in the spirit of the Institute [...]. The cooperation should not be only on the level of activity but on the level of the spiritual as well." [19]

[17] See GARCIA PAREDES, J. Cristo Rey, Associazione dei laici secolari e religiosi in communione di spirito e di missione, U.S.G., 1990, p. 10-29.
[18] "Actes du Congrès sur le charisme du Fondateur aujourd'hui", Vie Oblate Life, 36 (1977).
[19] See GARCIA PAREDES, J. Cristo Rey, Associazione dei laici secolari e religiosi in communione di spirito e di missione, U.S.G., 1990, p. 27-29.