1 / 29

Oblate Mission Today

Oblate Mission Today. A Vital Question. What characterizes Oblate mission at this present time and at all times?. “We are a missionary congregation. Our principal service in the Church is to proclaim Christ and his Kingdom to the most abandoned”.

nedra
Télécharger la présentation

Oblate Mission Today

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Oblate Mission Today

  2. A Vital Question • What characterizes Oblate mission at this present time and at all times? “We are a missionary congregation. Our principal service in the Church is to proclaim Christ and his Kingdom to the most abandoned”. “The call of Jesus Christ, heard within the Church through people’s need for salvation, draws us together” “We are a missionary congregation.” (C. 5)

  3. Answer In Nature Energy=Mass x Speed of Light2 • Hidden secret • Untold power – For GOOD or BAD • Symbolic of our times

  4. Ever Present Question What is MISSION? Focus of 1998 Chapter Session of new Major Superiors in October 2005. Latin American Regional meeting in Colombia, February 2006 Provinces in Asia & Africa Brothers – Permanent committee Lay Associations

  5. Vocational Fidelity? Theme of two sessions at the Union of Superiors General (USG) Are we, as a group, faithful to our Spirit-given mission? “First concern [of the Superior General and Council] is the Oblates' fidelity as a Congregation, to the missionary thrust which is our Spirit-given heritage from the Founder.”

  6. Are We Doing Our Job? Constitutions 1-10: Identification with Christ and oblation, Apostolic community, The cross and the mission to the poor, The Church, Priests and Brothers, Mary, Help people to discover who Christ is and their own dignity, Bear witness to God’s holiness and justice, Make the clamor of the voiceless heard.

  7. “The Call Is Still Before Us” Chapter 2004… “We discerned that our task was to be practical, to offer some concrete challenges in terms of improving our community and ministry. Somehow, the hope engendered in the legacy of the Congregation at this time needed to be transformed into deeds of action” (WH p. 10)

  8. Pragmatism… Mission means: Being sent, it means to get moving and is not resolved by statements on paper!

  9. Process… The Immense Hope project… Witnessing to Hope… “This General Chapter does not end the Immense Hope Project. It endorses its work and urges every Oblate Unit to continue its efforts to see this as an ongoing process of self-evaluation and strategizing for mission.” (WH, p.8) Have we really understood the meaning of this project?

  10. Joys… AGE is NO Barrier Pilot Community: Birmingham UK Belarus 2001 Romania 2000 Guinea-Bissau 2003 New Place: Bangladesh New Place: India Two Communities: Manaus Brazil New Foundation: North Congo

  11. Joys… • First Laotian Oblate Ordained after 30 years • Increase in vocations – Previously unknown areas • Student Numbers: (30 – 80 people) TOP TEN 6 - Haiti 1 - Poland 7 - Jaffna 2 - Cameroon 8 - Colombo 3 - Lesotho 9 - India 4 - Congo 10 - Philippines 5 - Zambia

  12. Joys… 5% More Formandi between 2004 & 2006 2004 2005 2006 33% since 2004 seek First Obedience Ad-Extra

  13. Joys… • Increasing numbers: - Lay Associates - Associated Religious Orders • Capital Sharing I & II • Tsunami appeal 2004 • Indonesian earthquake 2006 • Generous benefactors

  14. Sorrows… • Lack of VISION or LEADERSHIP • Vow of OBEDIENCE • Talented drift away… • Individualism… • Affective compensation… “Our community life is often weak”; “Our commitment to prayer needs to be strengthened”

  15. Diversity of Mission Fields • Movement in ALL directions… • Multilateral Internationality • Spirit of CARE for most abandoned is similar throughout Oblate world… • Diversity NOT in ‘culture’ but in ‘situations’ “Unity in Diversity”

  16. Mission Fields • Christian countries • Secularized culture • Amidst other ‘Great World Religions’ • Totalitarian systems • Tribal cultures • Amidst violence, war & poverty United in Prayer-’Oraison’ & modern communication-’www.omiworld.org’

  17. The World Today The search for MEANING “Immense Hope” Progress: - Communication - Travel “Globalization” World NEEDS Hope

  18. Three Questions… 3. How does our mission to proclaim Christ to the poor go together with inculturation and interreligious dialogue? 2. How do we situate ourselves in front of poverty and in particular the colonial past of many countries and their poorest people? 1. How do we evangelize the mainstream culture of the secularized world among its most abandoned people?

  19. Missiological Assumptions Grounded in God’s Trinitarian Love “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21) God is the first missionary and we cannot become missionaries without entering into this trinitarian dynamic. God the Father’s love, was communicated in the fullness of time. He sent his living Word, his own Son, thus communicating His Spirit to us.

  20. “The cross we are given at our final oblation reminds us not only of God’s love and care for us but it is also our distinctive sign, which marks us as co-redeemers”.

  21. Missiological Assumptions Mission belongs to the Church Proclamation is the OBJECT Community is the SUBJECT “Community is God's gift to us, and through us, a gift to all people. Among other things, it signifies the communal life to which all of humanity is called. Community is good news for the Church and for the world and it is in this sense that community is itself already a form of mission.” “It is the Church which evangelizes, and sends us forth on mission.” “Evangelization is not the work of lone rangers, but is a community effort, of the Oblates and the entire Christian community.”

  22. Missiological Assumptions SPIRITUS DOMINI

  23. Missiological Assumptions “Our evangelizing, must be integral: that is, that we proclaim explicitly Jesus Christ, that our lives witness to what we preach, that we be really involved in the transformation of the world.”(EPM 15) Mystics & Prophets

  24. A Real Answer Into the midst of people who were among the most abandoned of their time - Christ the Savior’s cross is brought - by an apostolic community. Being at the service of the most abandoned - we bring them the Immense Hope of Christ - by means of a community that dares to cross borders. Hope=Christ’s Cross x Apostolic Witness2

  25. At the service ofthe most abandoned “How vast the field that lies before them! How worthy and holy the undertaking!” ‘Messiah’ complex… “We are missionaries of hope, not of immediate fulfillment”. “Quality means spiritual depth and professionalism at the same time”.

  26. We bring them the Immense Hope of Christ Post-Modernity >>> LOSS of HOPE How do we raise hope in ourselves? We need an intense spiritual life! How do we transmit this hope? Attention to the person…

  27. A community that Daresto Cross Borders Practical answers… COMMUNITY… • ‘Global village’ • International • Sharing: • Temporal goods • Expertise • Facilitated training

  28. Three Imperatives As an individual and as a community, let us find time to “stop and think” more often! In all missionary work, let us keep evaluating the quality of our mission! Let us start one or two pilot communities in each province, or combine efforts among provinces!

  29. Summary & Conclusion “Be faithful in little so that we may also be faithful in much”(WH p. 43)

More Related