num. 514 - September 2011

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EUROPE

Coming from 28 countries, 1,236 youth came together in Malaga to celebrate the Oblate charism and prepare themselves for the World Youth Days celebrated in Madrid, Spain. With them were more than 80 Oblates, as well as Fr. General, along with two of his Assistants and three General Councilors, besides a good number of the Missionary Oblate Sisters and one OMMI. They were days filled with intense joy and emotion at being part of a missionary family that lives a charism of the Holy Spirit in which many youth find inspiration for their lives.

The Oblate program had three focal points: first, to celebrate St. Eugene de Mazenod during the 150^th anniversary of his passage from this earth to heaven; second, to remember the Oblates who gave their lives and shed their blood in witness to Jesus; third, as a preparation for meeting with the Pope, while celebrating our international family and deepening the charism that unites us. For most of the participants, the most exciting moments for renewal and missionary commitment were the catechesis of Fr. General, followed by linguistic group meetings and sharing together in an international Mass. Furthermore, participants in this adventure had the opportunity to express their faith and culture with much originality and enthusiasm at various times. All the participants hold dear those moments that inspired them so much.

The Oblate community in Malaga carries on its mission by serving in a very well-known parish. They have opened their doors to the whole familial and missionary reality of this area. Many lay men and women opened their homes and their hearts to welcome and serve the youth who filled the plazas with light, color and Christian joy. We also had the occasion to share the experience with the Diocese of Malaga, praying with its bishop. We could never forget our folklore immersion when we took part in the “Malaga Fair.” Actually, our time there coincided with the big celebration of the city and that offered us a unique opportunity to demonstrate our Christian joy, a fact that was well noted by the city and neighborhood newspapers.

These days would not have been possible without the service of many anonymous volunteers, both from Malaga and from each of the communities from which the pilgrims came. A new experience was the creation of a group of international volunteers from the Oblate Region of Europe: they organized themselves to render service that made possible the smooth operation of the program. Fr. Ismael GARCIA and his team were exemplary models of how to give one’s life in the service of an encounter of youth with Christ. We owe all of them many thanks.

The catechesis and the homily of Fr. General still echo in our hearts, challenging us to give our lives for the mission and to live in a radical way our Christian commitments. Another exciting moment was the meeting of Fr. General with the vowed members of the Oblate family who partook in the event. Some of them proposed new activities for the future. A new challenge was proposed: what is the next step that we need to make in order to commit ourselves even more in our ministry with youth, following the inspiration of St. Eugene? The young people push us and urge us to renew our efforts and to find new ways for them to participate in Oblate life and mission.

Finally, once we had arrived in Madrid, we ended our pilgrimage by visiting the house in Pozuelo which is sacred to the memory of the Spanish Oblate Martyrs who will be beatified next December. We were moved at hearing the stories of young martyrs of our own age who died forgiving their executioners and being faithful in giving witness to their faith. And now we join all the pilgrims in Madrid for World Youth Days with the Pope in order to be better witnesses and missionaries in the style of Saint Eugene and the other Oblate witnesses. (Chicho ROIS ALONSO)

There is always joy, sharing and challenges when people from different countries come together for a holy purpose. On July 11-30, young Oblates from the scholasticates in Europe, the International Roman Scholasticate and from the United States gathered at Aix-en-Provence, the city of our Founder St. Eugene de Mazenod, to prepare for their perpetual oblation. They were from 10 different countries: Poland, United States, Zambia, Mexico, Haiti, Spain, Germany, Italy, India and Bangladesh.

The session started with a short introduction about Aix at the time of our Founder, and then there was a brief journey through the life of the Founder, the charism, oblatology and the present status of the Congregation.

We are really grateful to Fr. Franck SANTUCCI who inspired us with his insights into the life and charism of the Founder and the beginning of the Congregation; Bros. Dominique DESSOLIN and Benoit DOSQUET who inspired us with their explanation of the ministries of the present community and helped us to have a fruitful stay in Aix; Fr. Fabio CIARDI who made to know the importance and deep sense of oblation and vows; Fr. Cornelius NGOKA, Assistant General, who updated us on the status of the Congregation today; and the animators, Frs. Adriano TITONE, Antoni BOCHM, Pawel ZAJAC and Richard WOLAK, for their selfless expression of their experience and enthusiasm to mold and motivate us to understand and live the Oblate way of life.

It was a great blessing to live and walk in the streets of Aix, in which our Founder walked many times and which helped decide his future. It was also a gift to live in a house where our Founder, with his first companions, began and nurtured the small community in order “to live together as brothers” and “to imitate the virtues and examples of our Savior Jesus Christ, above all through the preaching of the Word of God to the poor”. Those words continue to speak to us of our call to preach and evangelize the poor in all walks of life.

Our short trips to Grans where the original missionaries of Provence did their first mission preaching, Barjols where they did their mission preaching after their first vows, and Saint Laurent du Verdon where our founder wrote the Constitutions for his budding Congregation, made us to sense the spirit of the first missionaries and their zeal for the mission.

The trip to Marseilles also taught us how to be zealous missionary Oblates. On the whole, these three weeks of living together as one community, irrespective of different languages, cultures and countries, have made us deepen our love for the Founder and our charism, and to have a broader outlook on the Congregation. Finally, it helped us confide ourselves to the intercession of our Virgin Mother. (Scholastic Bro. Carlos HUETE)

The “Tour de Mazenod” cycling rally began on July 25. It was another of a series of holiday cycling tours led by Fr. Tomek MANIURA and the NINIWA Youth Group. Previous rallies led their participants to such places as Vilnius, Kiev, Rome, and Jerusalem (last year’s “Rally – Destination Jerusalem”).

This time the cycling group is going to cover a distance of 5,500 km (150 km on average daily!) within 6 weeks, with each participant carrying his own 30 kg luggage and without a supporting van!

The route extends from Kokotko, Poland, to Morocco in Northern Africa, crossing 13 countries, the Alps and the Pyrenees. There will be two important “spiritual” stops: at Marseille, France, (the home of St. Eugene de Mazenod, the founder of the Oblates and the patron of the rally) and Madrid (World Youth Days). The pilgrimage is being made as a spiritual experience for the lost, young generations throughout the world. For daily communiqués from the twenty-person strong rally, see the official site at www.tourdemazenod.pl. (Blazej MIELCAREK)

On August 23, at the St. Francis Center in Lyon, Fr. Pierre BABIN received the Media and Light award in the form of a crystal pyramid.

This award is given to a person, group or organization that has made a significant contribution to religious communication inspired by observations and notions put forward by Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan was a Canadian educator known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and "the global village" and for predicting the potential of a worldwide web almost thirty years before it was invented.

The award was presented by Madame Dominique Scheffel-Dunand, Director of the McLuhan and Culture Program in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, where McLuhan taught during most of his career and where Babin met and worked with him in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This award is given by TheMarshallMcLuhanInitiative,StPaul's College,University of Manitoba, Canada.

Many Oblates who were engaged in youth ministry in the 1960’s, 70’s and beyond know of Fr. Babin’s work. He is considered a pioneer of group media (photo-language), an expert in psychology-pedagogy, explorer of social networking, author and researcher. He has taught at universities in Lyon, Paris and Strasbourg (France); St. Paul's University, Ottawa (Canada); the University of Dayton (Ohio) and St. Thomas University (Florida) in the United States. Internationally, he is renowned for his innovative vision in defining a new approach to catechesis in a media age. He founded an international research and training center in religious communications -- CREC AVEX, Ecully (Lyon), France, and has been a member of SIGNIS, the International Catholic Communications Association. In 2008, the Babin Centre of Communications was opened in Bangkok, Thailand, to continue his work. His books have been translated into many languages.