WHY OBEDIENCE?

Posted on September 6, 2024 by franksantucci

The Oblates in Canada lived far away from the Founder, in Marseilles. The Canadian Oblate superior was Bishop Guigues who was very occupied in the process of establishing a new diocese. The missionaries were scattered in many distant places with poor means of communication, and were making decisions to suit their ministry.

Our Fathers have fallen into the habit of arguing over obedience and of permitting themselves to weigh human worth according to a standard other than what is just. Hence these senseless apathies and bad feelings in a group wherein should reign only peace, simplicity, religious respect, mutual support, in a word, all the virtues they have vowed to practise.

Now that, my dear Father, you are at the head of a little community, insist severely on the correction of this detestable habit. I recommend also that you see that the Rule is observed in all respects. From the moment you are superior, the responsibility rests on you.

Letter to Fr. Leonard Bavette in Montreal, 11 January 1849, EO I n 107

REFLECTION

Eugene received the charism of founding a religious Congregation that had a particular spirit of lifestyle and mission. The Rule contained the main elements of how to maintain and live by this God-given spirit. The aim of the Oblate vow of obedience is to enable us to live according to this evangelical spirit.

All of us in the Oblate Charismatic Family are called to listen to the voice of God as it is heard in many different ways each day.

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1 Response to WHY OBEDIENCE?

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate says:
    September 6, 2024 at 14:00

    It was when I was taking the Oblate Studies Program that I picked up a copy of the OMI Rule of Life and started to read it and take in the words; chewing, savouring and then swallowing them to become a part of me. Within it’s covers I still find the ongoing way to be a daughter of St. Eugene; it is the way I have chosen to live this incarnate and living expression of St. Eugene de Mazenod’s Charism.

    Obedience is one of the vows which continues to draw me back into a way of freedom that is found in giving all of myself to God.

    Many of the trees in this part of the world have begun to change colour and will probably begin to lose their leaves early. The winter months will show them in a different light as from deep within they prepare new growth for the coming spring. They remind me of the new freedom that continues to deepen within us as we remain obedient to God and others. “Religious obedience is our way of making real the freedom of the Gospel, in common submission to God’s will (cf. Gal 5: 13) […] Our work makes us dependent on others in many ways; it requires real detachment from our own will and a deep sense of the Church. (C 25).

    Reply

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