L.J.C.
et M.I.
Dear Oblate Associates gathering in Ottawa,
Blessings!
I am honored to be asked by my brother Oblate, Jack Lau, to write a
message to you on this February 17, 2011, a special day for us as Missionary
Oblates of Mary Immaculate. I would like
to bless you as women and men gathered in the spirit of the Oblate charism and
thank you for your witness to the life-filled gift Saint Eugene de Mazenod has
given to the Church.
The charism, the Oblate gift we seek to
express through our lives is a way of knowing and following Jesus whose life
appeared to be a total failure if we look at him hanging on the cross abandoned
by almost all his companions. It seems
as Oblates, both Associates and vowed Brothers and Priests, we have a source of
life within us that originates in this experience of utter desolation and
abandonment. Into this total darkness
comes the strongest expression of unconditional love. It’s the love of a Son for a Father and the
love of God for all his people. This was
young Eugene de Mazenod’s experience as he entered a church on a Good Friday in
1807. St. Eugene saw Jesus on the cross
on Good Friday in a way that he had never noticed the Lord before. His life went upside down as he perceived
that Jesus’ blood, his entire life, was given away to bring us life in
abundance.
Part of Oblate spirituality is somehow
coming in touch with Jesus as my Savior and being overwhelmed by his
unconditional love for me, for us, for the poor and abandoned, for the Church
and for our earth. That experience of
love is not just once for all, but our growth in the spiritual life is to allow
that experience to deepen, to transform and to change us. Ultimately, this experience of God’s love for
us, unconditional, unmerited, unearned, makes us free persons.
As we allow that experience of the Savior’s
love to make us free people, we are pulled into mission. We must wash people’s feet. We must serve. We must announce the Good News of God’s love
for everyone. As we announce Good News,
we also receive it from unexpected places: we receive grace from those to whom
we minister! We evangelize the poor
(Oblate motto) and the poor evangelize us.
It is the dynamic of the Reign of God.
You might contemplate the Oblate
Cross. There are questions we can ask
ourselves:
- Remember and share times that
you have felt God’s love.
- Share what it means for you to
follow Jesus and what his cross means in your life.
- How has prayer become a part of
your life? How do you like to pray? What struggles do you find with prayer?
- Share with others how you reach
out to the poor, the abandoned, those forgotten by others? What does that mean in your life?
- As followers of Jesus, we
hopefully grow in simplicity of life, needing less “stuff” and noise. How does this happen in my life? Do I care for my body and for the earth?
- Are my relationships marked by
openness, loyalty and integrity? How do
I love God… others… myself?
I wish all of you a very spirit-filled
February 17th! As you meet
on the eve of this Oblate feast day, I hope you can share your experience of
the Oblate charism and how you are trying to live it out in your life. In a special way I will be united with you as
you gather together. May you have a good
sharing, enjoy each other’s company, laugh a lot, and feel loved by one another
and by God.
May Mary Immaculate bless you with a lot of
joy and strong hope!
Your brother in the Oblate charism,
Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI
