FULL OF ZEAL

The more new missions were opening up, the more Eugene had to look for missionaries to send. Among the many recruits that Fr Leonard had brought in, were some who were already ordained diocesan priests. In order to become Oblates they had to do a full year of canonical novitiate. Eugene wrote to the Cardinal Prefect in Rome to try to get two of these to the missions sooner.

It is a matter of granting to two priest novices of the Congregation, of which our immortal protector, benefactor and father Leo XII made me the Superior, a dispensation of several months of novitiate in order to canonically make religious profession before the year required by the decrees. There is an urgent and legitimate reason for this dispensation.

The “urgent and legitimate reason” shows how quickly the missions were spreading:

The Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate is evangelizing the indigenous people along the banks of the Saint Lawrence, Saint Maurice, Ottawa and Saguenay Rivers; they are also preaching the gospel to those of Abitibi and Temiscaming. They have just penetrated into Oregon, are already on the Red River, and are planning to head toward the Hudson Bay on the Moose River. Your Eminence is quite aware that we need men for all these missions. It is indispensable that I send at least four of them without delay, but two who are most apt for this difficult ministry have not completed their novitiate year; they are however sufficiently tested and full of holy zeal for their sublime vocation. I therefore beg Your Eminence to obtain from the Sovereign Pontiff the dispensation that I am requesting in the enclosed form.

Letter to Cardinal Orioli, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars in Rome, 30 July 1847, EO XIII n 114

REFLECTION

It is moving to read about the enthusiasm of these pioneer missionaries who left their countries of origin knowing that they would probably never see their families and country again. Like Eugene they were set on fire by the awareness of the transforming power of God’s love and mercy – and they wanted to share this with those who had never known the salvation offered by knowing Jesus Christ.

Today, circumstances have changed, but the fire of Eugene still burns and impels us to be missionaries wherever we find ourselves according to our state of life, lay or religious.

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1 Response to FULL OF ZEAL

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I remember that when Eugene went to Rome to receive the Pope’s approval of a new congregation and their Constitutions and Rules: at that time the Vatican was not accepting any new congregations. Yet Eugene dared and trusted in God who had called him to start this new Oblate family and meet with Pope Leo XII – and then some months later, he again appealed his case to change the rules and have less than the normal numbers required to advance and approve his cause.

    While most of us today are not called to discover new lands, I believe that we are called to find new ways to serve and care for those who are not always accepted by the norms of today. Taking the Word of God to those who have not yet recognized it in their lives takes immense “daring , humility and trust” as well as fidelity to our vows and commitments; regardless of our state of life, lay or religious.

    “Disciples of Jesus, with the heart of Mary Immaculate, sons and daughters of Eugene de Mazenod, we are call to be Oblate missionaries in this time and place. […] In so doing, we risk finding ourselves among the marginalized of our community, our society and our church, taking our place among the poor and the powerless, walking with those who, like us, hold within themselves tremendous beauty, strength and gifts as well as weaknesses, brokenness and limitations, that together we may help one another experience the love of God, so we may be heal and give of ourselves in the service of the continuous unfolding of the reign of God within creation.” (OMI Lacombe Canada Mission Statement – 2003 Convocation).

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