A PROFOUND PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL CONVERSION: OUR OBLATE MISSION
Father Louis LOUGEN, Superior General, wrote the
following meditation for a recent encounter of ongoing formation for young
European Oblates in their first 15 years of ministry.
There is a
question in our Chapter document, “Conversion”, from the Report of the Superior
General to the 35th General Chapter: “Today, do we discern God’s will as to our
congregational mission to evangelize the poor or just keep doing by inertia
what we are used to?”
This question
could be forgotten and passed over quickly. It calls for attention in light of
the profound conversion to Jesus Christ to which we have been called. Here I
look at the five phrases, but not in order:
- Do we discern
God’s will?
- As to our
congregational mission?
- To evangelize
the poor?
- Or just keep
doing by inertia?
- What we are used
to?
1 – Are we
operating out of inertia? Here is the definition of inertia: “A tendency to do
nothing or to remain unchanged: ‘bureaucratic inertia’.”
What a terrible
word! This is the exact opposite of our Founder’s zeal and goes against the
very Gospel. This means we are no longer on fire with the life of God, with the
Gospel, with forming the community of Church. Inertia is death. Is this our
reality today? What are some examples of inertia? What causes inertia? What is
the antidote for inertia? Joel 3: 1 -
Do we no longer dream dreams or have visions? Luke 4:16 – Do we not drink from the well of the Spirit who has
anointed us? 2 Tim 1:6 –”I remind you
to stir the flame of the gift you have received…” The Mission is God’s. As
missionaries, we are simply called and sent in life-giving interaction with a passionate
God. We may have retreated into inertia by a sense of being overwhelmed with
the reality of the poor today, the power of mass media over society, the seduction
of technological globalization and the indifference or antagonism toward religion/Church/God
in our society. We must rekindle our faith in small things done with God’s
power which topple Goliath or the walls of Jericho. Our faith sees the effect
of the small mustard seed, the yeast in the dough and the power of the cross. Do
we believe?
2 – Are we
simply doing what we are used to doing? This is not mission at all. There is no
vision, passion, energy or imagination. A missionary is in dialogue with God,
with those around him and with the reality. He responds to needs, but not
impulsively, without reflection or discernment. Saint Eugene’s heart embraced
the poor and whenever he saw needs, he began to act and organize a response. His
heart belonged to God and so it belonged to the poor, the suffering and the
needy. His heart kept on giving of itself to his Oblates, his diocese and his
people. We are called to a profound conversion, breaking out of old patterns
and envisioning new responses to new situations of the poor. Being in touch
with God through a living relationship with him will empower us as missionaries,
called and sent, moved to embrace deeper, more committed missionary actions, to
greater love and courage. It will be anything but the same old routine. Think
of the calls of Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Mary. How have we left the
known and familiar, to cross borders, as recent Chapters have called us?
3 – Do we
discern God’s will? If we believe in a living God, and if we are in
relationship to God, then we need to listen to him, to take direction and allow
ourselves to be called by him both communally and personally. The Spirit’s Gift
of Courage enables us to stand back and question what we are doing, why we are
doing it, to evaluate our action and spend time in prayer to ask God, “Lord,
what do you want of me, of us?” The call to a profound conversion made to us by
the Chapter of 2010 is the Spirit’s call to become men of discernment, in
dialogue with God, listening together as a community and as individuals to discover
God’s mission, how we can cooperate with God and be missioned by him. A danger
is to take it for granted that we know God’s will without the hard work of prayer,
discussion, study and reflection. This is hard work and it is also a source of
life and joy to be in dialogue with God and to be lead on a journey. A
temptation is to presume that we are doing God’s will because we are doing good
work and religious actions. We have lost the sense of mission when we do the
same thing we have done for years because we like it, the people like us, it’s
going well, etc.
4 – The
congregational mission: our Constitutions and Rules give us the great
missionary vision of Saint Eugene in contemporary words. We have general
directions which give us an orientation and a framework for evangelizing the
poor. Each Province, Delegation and Mission must be a discerning community
which takes time together to listen to God’s voice speaking in the Scriptures,
in our Constitutions and Rules, through the local Church and in the reality of
the poor. As we listen to these voices in a prayerful attitude, we are allowing
God to lead us so that we are participants in his mission. Together, with the
Spirit’s light, a Province of Oblates makes a project with priorities through
the listening, prayer and discussion of all the members. Everyone commits
himself to be available for the common project and enters into a dialogue with
the leadership to discern how each Oblate might best serve. The vow of
obedience lived in generous availability makes one a missionary. The
congregational mission is extremely challenging, absolutely necessary and its “success”
(in Gospel terms) depends upon its being planned and lived, in and through the
community.
5 – To evangelize the
poor: The whole objective of our lives is to evangelize the poor and to grow in
holiness. Who are the poor today that are abandoned? Whom are we called to
serve in this context? The courage to enter into a discerning dialogue with God
and then the freedom and courage to leave what is known and familiar will lead
us to those whom God wants us to serve today. We see new forms of poverty and
the many faces of the poor question us. We must discern priorities and we will
evangelize through small Gospel actions in favor of the poor. I am convinced
that such evangelization is in and through the witness of a discerning community.
Evangelizing the poor requires a community of Oblates who cultivate a living
relationship with God, a life shared in common marked by simplicity and a
commitment to pray, listen and discern. This apostolic community is the light
of Christ shining in the darkness, a bright proclamation of the Gospel that
evangelizes and draws people to follow Jesus. To participate in God’s mission
to evangelize the poor, we ourselves must journey in a continual process of
profound conversion. A community of missionaries that witnesses by its life
that God is All holds (in earthen vessels) and radiates the power of God’s life/love.
It irresistibly evangelizes and draws the poor by God’s grace.
