Experiences of a Oblate Novitiate

bradley.web Experiences of a Oblate NovitiateGod has done it again. He turned water into wine by turning my disappointment that there would be no novitiate this past year into a beautiful experience in Vancouver.

I lived and worked in the downtown Eastside parishes of Sacred Heart, St. Paul’s, and Kateri Centre. Everyday was a new adventure that are too numerous to say here. Some examples are helping out at a men’s shelter, giving reflections at the jr. Legion of Mary, celebrating a Native burning ceremony to bring closure after the residential schools, being held hostage at a soup kitchen, and giving a workshop on how to live out Catholic social teaching.

All of them challenged me to go deeper in my relationship with God; to experience God not as a far-off abstract concept, but as a person who loves me and all those I meet. I also learned the importance of community and how the community of the church can be a living witness of the desire that God has to be in relationship with us.

One of the most spiritually challenging ministries I was involved in was the Agape ministry. Every night there is a group of usually 2-4 volunteers, who walk 10 blocks down East Hastings, to give prayer cards in a little bag of candy to the prostitutes and women on the street. On average, they meet about one hundred women. One evening, while I was walking with them, a woman found out that I was a seminarian. She wanted me to pray that she would find a place to live since the shelter was closing. I immediately thought to myself, “Who am I that I can pray for her to find a place? Homelessness is such a huge problem in Vancouver that what difference could my prayer make?”

As I wrestled with this idea, it forced me to re-examine my relationship with God. If we cannot ask God for the basic things we need in life, like a place to live, then what is the point of praying at all? And if we are left without prayer, then where will we find hope in our life? Her courage to put her trust in God has helped me to place my worries, fears, and even anger on Jesus because if Jesus is truly our friend and truly loves us, then especially during the times of greatest need, he will be at our side.

I will begin the novitiate in Godfrey, Illinois on August 17th. We will be eight novices from United States, Mexico, Zambia, and Australia. I look forward to growing deeper in my relationship with God and my identity as an Oblate. Thank you to all those who pray for me; your prayers seem to be working!

Join the Oblate Community

The Novitiate is the third stage in the formation program for one who is called by God to total discipleship as a Missionary Oblate Priest or Brother.

The purpose of the novitiate experience is to initiate the novice into the essential requirements of religious life. It is a time to grow in and respond more deeply to the vocation that one has received from God, to come to realize its demands, and to understand the meaning and value of the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and perseverance.

If you are thinking of becoming a Missionary Oblate Brother or Priest you are in for a journey wherein you share the responsibility for the time and the method of your formation.  Click here for more information on becoming an Oblate Missionary Brother or Priest.

Serving Catholic Ministry at the Hospital

This article was written by Nester Gregoire in the Feb 2011 issue of INFO Lacombe. It communicates the fact that oblates can serve their ministry in any form or place.

Fulfilling Missionary Work

desjardain.web Serving Catholic Ministry at the Hospital

Omer Desjardin, Omi

The Oblate Community boasts of many unique characters. Our Omer must hold the recent record for the longest apostolate in one location in our recent times. He has been the Catholic chaplain at the St. Boniface Hospital for the past twenty four years. Thoughtfully he responds to the question about his ministry. “This is the ministry I felt most comfortable with. There is a sense of being needed and of responding to real needs.” There is a moment of silent reflection. “This is ministering to the poor. I find that people in the hospital are poor people.” He continues to fill out his response. “This is life giving ministry.”

When asked how long he will continue as hospital chaplain he chuckles. “I am not thinking of retiring. I plan on continuing as long as my health allows me.” At this point in time he is working only half time but sees a future in continuing. “It is important for me to continue in this ministry.”

Another part of his ministry is his volunteer work with refugees and new immigrants. He became involved through Brother Duchene. “Through him I got to know a few families and from there it snowballed. I help the refugees in very simple ways. I drive them to and help them to get registered at the food bank. Mostly the refugees are from Burma. They are Karen which is a distinct culture and language group. They are opposed to the military regime in Burma. These refugees have spent many years in refugee camps. They are faith filled Christians, most of a Evangelical persuarsion.

This is very much Oblate work. “I am responding to their need. They are just learning the language. They are very grateful people and they are very positive in their thinking. Their children laugh a lot. There is a wholeness about these people.”

When I asked Omer to give a summary of his Oblate life he rubbed his chin and slowly responded. “Everything comes down to love. It may be an overstatement but God is love. Where there is love, there is care and the results of love are in service.”

Join the Oblate Community

Being a missionary today is an exciting, challenging and difficult “career”. Exciting because it demands ALL you’ve got … above all, faith, courage and creativity. Click here for more information on becoming an Oblate Missionary Brother or Priest.

Keyna Family Unity Found Practicing the Word of God

03 10 06 04 Keyna Family Unity Found Practicing the Word of GodKionyo Parish is in Meru Diocese located near the slopes of Mt. Kenya.  The landscape is very beautiful; the hills are always clad in green.  People around here are small-scale farmers and they are kind and welcoming people.   Tea and coffee are cash crops around this place.  People here are Christians and there are many denominations.

I am here for pastoral experience and it is very interesting.  We have home visits, young Christian students visits, small Christian communities visits and youth group meeting.  On Fridays, we have pastoral work with primary schools.  During this task we usually walk by foot up and down the steep hills.  We go out two by two like “the disciples of Jesus”.  I enjoy these journeys and learn a lot of new things everyday and meet different faces in need of different help.

Without labour, one cannot rest.  People around here are very hardworking; during home visits, we often find them picking tea, digging or irrigating their crops.  They are always ready to listen and promise to rectify where they have gone astray.  The way they listen makes me conclude that they know that faith comes by hearing and implementing the Word of God.

Young Christian students are always cheerful and open to share what they have and fill their eyes with what they do not have.  The same case applies to the youth.

Pastoral classes with the future leaders and good Christians are also a very joyful time.  These children are always attentive and thirsty to know more about Jesus Christ and his apostles.  Everybody in this class knows that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  They are innocent faces.

Experience is the best teacher and what am experiencing now is what I was expecting before I joined the Oblates – serving the poor and the most abandoned.

03 10 06 05 Keyna Family Unity Found Practicing the Word of God The work of the Oblates in this parish is very interesting, life giving and encouraging.  Many families are experiencing unity after hearing and practicing the Word of God.  I am very happy with serving these people and grateful to God for bringing me to the Oblates.  I pray that His will be done and may He continue blessing my expectations. 

When walking up and down, going for the apostolate, I learn new things daily, pray for strength and smile while walking. By offering labour to God, one becomes associated with redemptive work.  People are ready to change as long as somebody is walking along with them and encouraging them.  Through the grace of God, I believe that the seed which was planted by the founder, St. Eugene de Mazenod, will continue to produce more and more.  It is through the apostolate that some disappointments have been changed, by God’s grace, to great opportunities.  I am very happy working here and God bless the Oblates and their ministry. (Submitted by Joseph W. Mubia)

Keynan Oblate : Dionisius Mwandiki Ananua

Dionisius Mwandiki Ananua

03 04 06 01 Keynan Oblate : Dionisius Mwandiki AnanuaI was born in a Catholic family of six, including my father and mother, on December 20th, 1978. I hail from the Eastern part of Kenya under the foot of Mt. Kenya. In school I liked to do the things children like doing most, playing games and singing in groups, but above all, I liked my books. Then I joined high school for grades 9 to 12; as a boarder this meant a stay away from home. It was not long before I finished my grade 12 and it was in this setting that I first came into contact with the Oblates working in Kenya – in particular, Fr. Bill Stang OMI. Little then did I know that I would be one of them sharing in their works, spirituality and charism of Saint Eugene de Mazenod.

At home, after graduation from high school, I had engaged myself in coffee production; however, the wind blows where it will and it was while working in my coffee fields that the desire to respond to my vocation came back to me. I couldn’t resist!
To give you a bit of my vocation story… as I grew up, the seeds of participating in the mission of Christ grew in me and when I was old enough I looked for guidance in order to respond fully to this call. Christ says, “The harvest is rich but the workers are few”. In Isaiah we find the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send?” and the reply comes, “I said, ‘Send me Lord. I will go’”. In my heart I felt the strong desire to respond to the Lord’s invitation to participate in his ministry.

And why did I choose to join Oblates?

03 04 06 02 Keynan Oblate : Dionisius Mwandiki AnanuaIn my searching I found in the Oblates something I could identify with: their generosity, hospitality and love for the poor, “…the poor with their many faces;” as it is expressed in our Constitutions and Rules. Above all, I was drawn by our founder’s courage, and daring – his courage and daring to love and to be generous; “Leave nothing undared!” he emphasized to those whom he had gathered. This courage is remarkable and I find it an imperative, especially to us Oblates so popularly referred to as “The specialists in difficult missions”. To be one of those who participate in this Oblate mission is my desire.

03 04 06 03 Keynan Oblate : Dionisius Mwandiki AnanuaCurrently, I am doing my philosophical studies just outside of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon and living in a Scholasticate with an international community of fifty-nine Oblates. Members are from eleven different countries, across and outside the continent. The Oblates have evangelised in Cameroon for sixty years and the province covers Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad. They are found in a number of parishes and in institutions of education.

Despite the difficulties, Oblates are committed and faithful to their mission of bringing Christians to a full awareness of their dignity in society and calling them to participate fully. They draw joy and happiness from those with whom they work and let themselves be enriched and touched by the warmth of the poor. In the words of Rule 8A, “…for they can make us hear in new ways the Gospel we proclaim.” I see Oblates reaching out to those who need them most.

What would I like to do in the future as an Oblate? I would like to work where there is the greatest need in the mission of the congregation … be it in the slums of Kenya or anywhere in the Oblate world.  

To end, I quote the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread”. May we, as Oblates, always be attentive to the world’s hunger for love and appreciation!
(Submitted by Bro. Dionisius  Ananua, OMI)

Desire to Serve Among the Poor

legare.photo.web Desire to Serve Among the PoorLouis has come to the Oblates out of a desire to serve among the poor.  He was born in Quebec City, the youngest of six children and received almost all of his early education in Quebec City with the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. He had studied for the diocesan priesthood but experienced a call to religious life and entered the Oblate Novitiate, in 1980, in Quebec City.  

He had already completed his theological studies and was routed in a path that prepared him for ministry within the Oblate community by working two years at the Retreat House in the Gaspe, PQ, followed by one year of ministry at Pelly Bay with Fr Meeuse, OMI. He finished his studies by obtaining a MA in Mission Studies from St. Paul’s University. He was ordained a priest in 1984.

Throughout his missionary career he has worked for sixteen years in the different missions of the Hudson Bay Diocese. This was followed by seven years of work and ministry in the countries of Bolivia, Guatemala and China. The two years in China were first spent teaching English in China as he could not function as a Christian missionary in China. During the second year he studied Mandarin Chinese.

When asked how well he has mastered Mandarin Chinese, Louis smiles: “I’m still a beginner.”  He acknowledges that he is limited in his vocabulary. He concedes that he can understand the TV news in Chinese from Toronto. There are some things that he misses  while watching the evening news.  He chuckled when reminded that ‘he was the only Oblate in Canada that understands Mandarin Chinese.’

His interest to become involved with peoples from different cultures first lead him to the Inuit in Northern Canada. Languages were always an interest and challenge for Louis. “I like working with the poor. I like being with the people.”  There was a pause as he outlined what drew him to the Northern peoples. “I would not like a job in administration.”

His experiences in the various cultures developed an appreciation of how enriching these experiences have been for his life. “The Chinese people were very open to foreigners and were very friendly. These people want to learn English. In fact, if they see a white face they want English. They are very polite and the children well behaved, especially when I worked in the schools.”

The Mayan  peoples in Guatamala are a very religious people. They are very poor but they live with a strong sense of the sacred and their faith is strong. After the Sunday Mass it was not uncommon “for people to fall on their knees and thank God for the Mass they have just had.”

Now two years in Beauval, Saskatchewan, with four surrounding missions, Louis is among a Cree and Metis culture. “I find many similarities with the Inuit. These peoples are dealing with the same problems: their youth, there are a lot of addictions and there is the pain of suicide.

“These people have strong community values. I am always amazed how they help each other when someone in a family dies. They all collect money to help pay for the expenses.

“I like the peoples’ thirst for spirituality. There are quite a few people who attend daily mass and take part in the devotions. “

Ministry in North Western Saskatchewan entails a lot of driving, at times, on some very difficult roads. There is some degree of danger driving on some of these roads to the outlying communities. Louis reports that he has had two accidents. The serious accident entailed “a roll over when I hit a patch of ice and gravel.” The second accident was a minor one. Both accidents happened while he was driving to the funerals of people who had died of violence.

“I find death in violence  always very difficult to deal with.” It is all the more difficult to handle when young peole have been tragically killed. Suicide, whether a young person or an older adult,  is always painful for Louis. His face stiffened when he related about the tragic death of a man he knew well. The man had been killed in a robbery that netted only a pittance of money.

Although not directly involved in the Twelve Step programs he encourages people to join the AA groups, to seek help through the mutual support of the self-help groups.

Throughout his life there has been the attraction towards the contemplative life. Today, part of that same need is fulfilled through taking part in retreats. But that is part of the Oblate charism. “We are rooted in spirituality and prayer and we are out on the road with the people.”

There is a note of sadness brought on by the isolation from Oblate Community. “I miss community life.” He honestly admits that within himself there is a tension between the “attraction to the mission and the pull towards community.”

Lead by the Spirituality of the Oblates

joseph%20kyuli1.web Lead by the Spirituality of the OblatesJoseph Nzioka  Kyuli was born on the 5th June, 1986, in the eastern part of Kenya at Machakos Diocese,Misyani parish,Ituusya village.

I come from a Roman catholic family of six sisters and two brothers. My parents introduced me into the Catholic faith and I was baptised at Misyani Catholic church when i was an infant.

Later, I joined the catechism class and received the sacrament of the first holy communion.LaterI was confirmed in the same Church.

The sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation opened a new way for me to participate in different church groups which I admired. Legion of Mary and mass serving were the groups which i joined.

I also realized that being born of such a big family , though we resemble each other , i had a different call that God had planned for me different from my sisters and my brother.

Many people who were dying without knowing God in their lives motivated me to offer my entire life as an offering in order to preach to them the Good News. This was  a time in my life that the idea of becoming a priest came about.

In order to update myself on the issue of priesthood I read the Catholic  magazine known as The Seed published by Consolata missionaries. Every month various religious groups all over the country would advertise their congregations for the young people who where freely  willing to join them.

From the magazine I came across the Congregation of Missionary Oblates of Mary immaculate.
 After reading the spirituality of the founder, St Eugene de Mazenod, I felt that this was the congregation the Lord was calling me to serve him.

St Eugene had the idea of preaching the Good News to the poor with the many faces. I have known that to be poor is not a matter of not having material things but the people without knowing God are spiritually poor.

I was admitted at Blessed Joseph Gerard postulant house, Meru in 2009. Here I  had the opportunity of learning much about Oblate community. I am now in my second year of philosophy at the Consolata institute of philosophy and living at Blessed Joseph Cebula house,Nairobi.

I am happy to be in another Oblate community for this is a precious moment for me to know more deeply from the experienced Oblates who have lived for many years what Oblate life entails.
During this time I have stayed in various Oblate communities and  have realized that Mother Mary is acknowledged as the the foundress of the Oblates special devotions are attributed to her in the Congregation especially praying the rosary and celebrating her feasts.

I pray to God that he may enable me  to respond positively to my call and also imitate the footsteps of St Eugene de Mazenod.

join community1 Lead by the Spirituality of the Oblates

 

Oblation and Martyrdom

Six days with the Oblate Martyrs accompanied by the writings of Saint Eugene

A selection of brief texts for reading and praying with St. Eugene and the Oblate Martyrs

Joaquín Martínez Vega and Frank Santucci

WILLING TO GIVE THEIR LIVES

“The Church, that glorious inheritance purchased by Christ the Saviour at the cost of his own blood, has in our days been cruelly ravaged. The beloved spouse of God’s only begotten Son is torn with anguish as she mourns the shameful defection of the children she herself bore.

“The sight of these evils has so touched the hearts of certain priests, zealous for the glory of God, men with an ardent love for the Church, that they are willing to give their lives, if need be, for the salvation of souls.

“And how should men who want to follow in the footsteps of Christ?

  • They must strive to be saints.
  • They must wholly renounce themselves.
  • They must be ready to sacrifice goods, talents, ease, self, even their life, for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church, and the sanctification of their brethren.”

This is the ideal which St. Eugene de Mazenod proposes for his Oblates.

“Belonging to the bright and glorious army of martyrs are not a few Spanish Christians killed out of hatred for the faith in the years 1936-1939 by a wicked persecution of the Church, its members and its institutions. With special hatred and cruelty, bishops, priests and religious were persecuted; their only “crime” was believing in Christ, preaching the Gospel and bringing people along the way of salvation.” (John Paul II)

crossworld.web Oblation and Martyrdom

INTRODUCTION

On May 21, 1861, the Bishop of Marseille, St. Eugene de Mazenod, died a holy death. So this year, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of his dies natalis, his birth into heaven.
We wanted to use this anniversary to highlight, through the glorification of some Oblates, that the spiritual path taken by this Holy Founder is a sure way to holiness.

For this reason, the Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate filed a “petition” with the Holy See, joined by Cardinals, Bishops and many faithful, requesting and acceleration of the process of the Cause of the Oblate Martyrs of Spain, in order to celebrate their Beatification in this jubilee year.

This petition was kindly received and therefore, we have the immense joy of assisting at this event on December 17, 2011, in the Cathedral of Madrid.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in a friendly chat with Fr. General and the Postulator, told us that we had to get moving so that this celebration would be a kairos, that is, a moment of grace and source of spiritual animation for the entire Oblate family, and not only for it…

This booklet has no other purpose than to quite simply provide some ideas for such animation, combining the charism of St. Eugene during his 150th anniversary year, with the heroic witness of some of his sons upon the 75th anniversary of their martyrdom.

We thank Fr. Frank Santucci, animator of the Oblate charism, for his considerable contribution to this booklet with his article, Oblation, a dynamo which generates energy, published in Missioni OMI (6 / 2011). In it, I found most of what inspired me in reference to St. Eugene.
Joaquín Martínez Vega, o.m.i.

DAY 1
Oblation and Martyrdom

From the earliest days of the Missionary Oblates, they used the term “oblation” in speaking about religious consecration: temporal oblation, perpetual oblation.

It seems that, in the beginning, St. Eugene de Mazenod did not plan to found a new community of missionaries nor a new religious congregation. He wanted neither more nor less than this: to continue “the apostolic life” in its most authentic and original meaning, that is to say, to relive here and now the life of the Apostles with Jesus. To do that, more than giving missions or doing ministry, he wanted above all to collaborate with Jesus Christ the Savior in the work of redemption. To do this “mission” well, it was necessary to follow in the “footsteps of the Apostles,” to whom Jesus had said: “You will be my witnesses to the very ends of the world.”
WITNESS, in Greek, the language of the New Testament, means MARTYR.

St. Eugene required of “anyone who wishes to be one of us, a burning zeal,” “a self-giving love,” a preferential love for the most abandoned: to love without measure, to love with the same measure as the love of Christ: to the very giving of one’s life. For this, he required that each Oblate be ready to give his life. And if this happens with the shedding of one’s blood, we have martyrdom or a bloody oblation, the supreme oblation.

Therefore, St. Eugene wished for himself the grace of martyrdom. It was one of the intentions of his First Mass. He asked for: “final perseverance and also martyrdom, or at least death while assisting victims of the plague.” For “martyrdom out of charity will not have a lesser reward than martyrdom for the faith.” (26.01.1854: letter to a gravely ill missionary)

Testimony of the Martyrs

“I’ve always been deeply moved by stories of martyrdom. When I read them, I am overpowered by a secret desire to suffer the same fate. That would be the greatest priesthood to which all of us Christians could aspire: to give each one’s own body and blood as a holocaust for the faith. What an honor, to die as a martyr!”

These are the very words of one of the Martyrs, Gregorio Escobar, in a letter written to his family as he was preparing for his ordination.

Twenty-Two Oblates to be Beatified in Madrid

This issue is dedicated to the twenty-two Oblates who will be beatified on December 17, 2011, in Madrid, Spain.

de%20mazenod5.web Twenty Two Oblates to be Beatified in MadridSt. Eugene Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War By Nieves San Martin
(First appeared in Zenit.org, Nov. 8, 2011)

Twenty-two Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate will be beatified in Madrid this December. They lost their lives in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.
The Oblates carried out their ministry as chaplains to three communities of nuns and collaborated in the neighborhood parishes.
The young students taught catechism in neighborhood parishes and the Oblate Choir solemnized the liturgical celebrations. This religious activity began to annoy the revolutionary committees of the neighborhood. The Oblates community was not intimidated, however.

They took prudent measures and committed themselves not to respond to insults, continuing with their program of spiritual and intellectual formation, as well as the various pastoral activities with students.
On July 20, 1936, churches and convents were again set on fire, especially in Madrid. The militiamen of Pozuelo assaulted a chapel of the Estacion neighborhood, flung images and vestments onto the street and burnt them. Then they set the chapel and parish on fire.

On July 22, armed militiamen assaulted the monastery and detained 38 religious, putting them under guard. After searching the house for weapons, they only found religious paintings, images, crucifixes, rosaries and sacred vestments. They threw everything from the upper floors to the ground floor through the stairwell and burnt it all on the street.

On the 24th, the first executions took place. There were no interrogations, trials or defense. Seven religious were the first to be called and sentenced: Juan Antonio Pérez Mayo, 29, priest and professor; and students Manuel Gutiérrez Martín, 23, sub-deacon; Cecilio Vega Domínguez, 23, sub-deacon; Juan Pedro Cotillo Fernández, 22; Pascual Aláez Medina, 19; Francisco Polvorinos Gómez, 26; Justo González Lorente, 21. They were put into two cars and taken to their martyrdom. The rest of the religious remained imprisoned in the monastery and spent the time in prayer, preparing to die well.

marystatue.web Twenty Two Oblates to be Beatified in MadridSomeone, probably the mayor of Pozuelo, communicated to Madrid the risk the others were in and that same day, July 24, a guard truck arrived with orders to take the religious to the general security office. The following day, after completing certain transactions, they were unexpectedly set free.
They sought refuge in private homes. The Provincial did his utmost to encourage them and to take Communion to them.

However, in the month of October, by a search and capture order, they were detained and taken to prison. There they endured a slow martyrdom of hunger, cold, terror and threats. There are testimonies from survivors of the way they accepted that difficult situation with heroic patience, foreseeing the possibility of martyrdom. Charity and a climate of silent prayer reigned among them. For the majority of them, the end of their Calvary came in November.

On the 7th, Father José Vega Riaño, 32, priest and formator, and student Serviliano Riaño Herrero were shot. On being called by the executioners, the latter went to the cell of Father M. Martín and asked for sacramental absolution through the spyhole.
Chaos of hatred


Twenty days later, it was the turn of the 13 others. The procedure was the same for all. There were no accusations, trials or defense.

Only the proclamation of their names over loudspeakers: Francisco Esteban Lacal, 48, provincial superior; Vicente Blanco Guadilla, local superior, 54; Gregorio Escobar García, 24, newly ordained priest; and the student brothers: Juan José Caballero Rodríguez, 24, sub-deacon; Publio Rodríguez Moslares, 24; Justo Gil Pardo, 26; José Guerra Andrés, 22; Daniel Gómez Lucas, 20; Justo Fernández González, 18; Clemente Rodríguez Tejerina, 18; coadjutor brothers Ángel Francisco Bocos Hernández, 53; Marcelino Sánchez Fernández, 26 and Eleuterio Pardo Villarroel, 21.

It is known that on Nov. 29, 1936, they were taken from prison to Paracuellos de Jarama where they were executed. A student who was traveling in another truck, tied elbow to elbow with Father Delfin Monje, both of whom were mysteriously reprieved near the place of execution, said to his companion: Father, give me general absolution and pray the Act of Contrition, as our end is coming. Eighteen years later, the priest lamented: ‘What a pity I didn’t die then. I will never be so well prepared!’
The newly ordained priest Gregorio Escobar had written his family: I have always been extremely moved by the accounts of martyrdom that have always existed in the Church, and on reading them I have always been overtaken by a secret desire to run to the same fate as theirs. That would be the best priesthood to which all of us Christians could aspire: each one to offer his own body and blood in holocaust for the faith. What happiness it would be to die a martyr!

All died professing the faith and forgiving their executioners and, despite the psychological tortures during their cruel captivity, no one apostatized, or failed in the faith, or lamented having embraced the religious vocation.
Last July, Benedict XVI confirmed the date of the beatification.
Gregorio Escobar Barbarin, a nephew of the young newly ordained priest killed at 24, who bears his name, and is the only relative of the martyr who is still in Estella, Navarre, said on Tuesday to Diario de Navarre: Moments like this are the occasion we all have to walk toward reconciliation.
Escobar Barbarin, who was town councilor in the Municipality of Estella between 1999 and 2003, said he believes it is necessary to learn from history. Gregorio and his companions gave their lives generously in correspondence to their faith.

Their young hearts longed only to give help and consolation to those who needed it. However, they were taken as sheep to the slaughter amid a chaos of hatred and confusion.


Profound Desire to Live a “Missionary Experience“

Celebrating the Oblate Associates
By Armelle and Louis Molin

1. To become associates

molin.web Profound Desire to Live a “Missionary Experience“We have been in contact with the Oblates since 1973. In 1986, we participated in a workshop on “Personality and Human Relations” directed by Father Lomer Laplante O.M.I. Through personal reflection and sharing with the other members of the group, we discovered a profound and nearly urgent desire to live a “missionary experience“ which led us to our first trip to Bolivia in 1987. We remained in Bolivia during 10 out of 15 years, because we also wanted to spend time with our family in Canada.

 

In 1989, when we were in Bolivia, we received a letter from F. Alain Piché O.M.I. who was at the time Provincial in Manitoba, inviting us to become associates of the congregation. This was a surprise and an honor which we took seriously. F. Louis Jolicoeur guided us during a time of preparation and on October 9, 1989 we made our first commitment in the Oblate chapel in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Armelle remembers that she felt as on her wedding day; she was entering a new phase of her life, a phase filled with promises and challenges. She felt privileged to belong to a missionary congregation and her wish was to always be worthy of such an honor.  On the other hand, Louis felt more of an affiliation with the Oblates, a partnership where he would seek example and orientation.

We worked with abandoned children who entered the Amanecer institution. As associate, Armelle became responsible for the preparation of the boys who wished to receive the sacraments; she was able to listen to their suffering and to accompany them on their young life’s path. Louis’ responsibility was the maintenance of the 10 homes of Amanecer, inviting the boys to give him a hand, teaching them a few tricks of the trade but most of all, the importance of a job well done.  We also learned that very little is required to make a child smile, few words or actions are needed to make him feel protected and valued.

2. Shared Life

In the fall of 1990, we were in the rain forest in the tropical region of Bolivia where the heat and humidity are tremendous.  Louis was in a state of extreme fatigue and arthritic pain when he went to Santa Cruz to buy a tractor for the farm we were managing. He stayed with the Oblates. When the tractor was purchased and he was ready to leave, F. Henri Bujold said:”Stay one more day, you can rest a while before returning to your workplace.”

Every year, the Oblates would invite us to their annual retreat. That year, at the time of the offerings at the closing mass, F. Bujold presented a pair of sandals, symbolizing the hard labor we were doing in the hot and humid climate of the tropics.

A few months later, we all met in Manitoba where we were for a time of rest. At the close of a meeting at the MAMI Centre in Winnipeg, F.Bujold announced most simply that he was coming to our place for the night. He did not know how special that was for us. We keep an indelible memory of this great Oblate.

3.  The mission

During our time in Bolivia, we had been invited to accompany F. Roberto Lacasse O.M.I. as well two other associates and a few Oblate scholastics who regularly went to the distant rural communities. There, we discovered a totally unknown universe, roads that were barely passable even by jeep, the stinging cold on the high plateaus of the Andes, the meager vegetation, the poorly nourished sheep, the people who were so destitute, but we also saw their smiles and visible friendship the next morning as we shared the breakfast we had brought especially for them. We then appreciated the courage of the Oblates to maintain this mission, bringing to these far away people some comfort and hope.

It is also with F. Lacasse that we organized a series of encounters for married couples, encounters which proved to be beneficial for the Bolivian participants as well as for ourselves. The same F. Lacasse was the first pastor of the Saint Eugene de Mazenod parish inaugurated in 2001 on the outskirts of Cochabamba. It is with enthusiasm that we gave him a helping hand in the areas of electricity, confection of window curtains, refurnishing etc. Back in Canada, with the contributions of our benefactors, we were able to financially help in setting up a Pastoral Centre for the formation of catechists who would be called to teach in the remote sectors of the parish.

In July of 2009, F. Lacasse was visiting family in the state of Maine, USA. Since it was our 50th wedding anniversary that year, we invited him to come and celebrate with us. The presence of a missionary Oblate at our anniversary was a special gift from Heaven.

Back in Canada, it has become easier for us to approach those who are lonely, hurt, handicapped, to listen to them, to accompany them on their sometimes difficult path. That is surely one of the benefits of our time in Bolivia.

4. The Future

One way of becoming more visible as Associates and Oblates working together would be to create projects in common, but that seems to be somewhat difficult because of different lifestyles, age, health conditions, travelling distances etc.  Possibly it would not be necessary to accomplish “great things” but to function as associates where we are, to be present to the most fragile, to participate in the life of the Church according to our talents and capabilities etc. Regular encounters with other associates are also very important.

In our experience as Associates, we have lived wonderful moments of complicity, friendship, personal and spiritual growth. On the other hand, we have also known tensions, apprehensions, including total rejection on the part of one Belgian member of the Congregation in Bolivia. Those are hardships but also opportunities to forgive and grow as persons and as Christians.

We thank you for this opportunity to share some of our souvenirs and observations. We wish you many blessings.

“It was what God told me to do”

By Patria C. Rivera.
Translated by Léonce Paquet, OMI

labat.web It was what God told me to doThis first appeared in Catholic Missions in Canada, November, 2004 (Vol.8,no 2). Reprinted with permission.

As a young man in the 1950’s the just-ordained Father Felicien Labat, OMI, could have chosen to stay and serve in the farming town of Sizun in Brittany, a region on the West coast of France, where he grew up. But he had other dreams. The beauty of ancient churches and imposing cathedrals and fortresses – all the art, history ad architecture of old France, even the rolling hills of his ancient village – could not hold him back.

His dream was many kilometers and an ocean away, on the ice-swept tundra in the northwest corner of Canada: vast, unexplored, rugged.

I think it was what God told me to do,” he admits in a phone conversation from Eber House, a home for transient staff in Yellowknife, that he runs for the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith.

In 1904, an uncle, Brother Oblate Derrien Kerautret, had gone to the Northwest Territories to serve in Fort Simpson, Fort Good Hope, Aklavik and Fort Resolution.

“I was six years old when my mother’s brother came home in 1934,” recalls Fr. Labat. “He wrote letters home. I also read stories about the North during my seminary days in Solignac. All these stories could have fuelled my dreams.”

After his ordination in February 1953, the young Felicien left the oat and barley fields, the greem meadows, the cattle and pigs of his family farm in Sizun to take on the cold and desolate country across the Atlantic. First stop was Fort Resolution for five to six months of learning English. Then to Deline (which was renamed Fort Franklin and again renamed Deline) for a couple of winters.

Those harsh winters were nothing like what he had expected, he says. “I learned everything about fishing, hunting and trapping from the Dene during those years. I was completely ignorant about their way of life but they were patient with me. They taught me how to travel on the ice, how to survive.”

From 1956 to 1961, he took over the missions in Fort Norman now known as Tulita. Fr. Labat later served in Fort Smith where he managed Breynat Hall, a hostel for students. In 1968 he was sent to serve in the mission of Norman Wells, a base for oil explorations. He came back to Tulita briefly in 197, and was again transferred to another assignment – Fort Good Hope – were he served until 1976. He took off the following year to study pastoral care at St. Paul University in Ottawa. In 1978 he became assistant pastor in Yellowknife, and in the early 1980’s served Tulita and Decline as pastor.

In 1989 the bishop of the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, Bishop Denis Croteau, OMI, assigned Fr. Labat and Sister Jackie Keefe to travel around the missions to work with young people. During that year, however, he was stricken ill. When he recovered, he was assigned to work in the Sahtu Region, an area encompassing Deline, Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake where he served until his retirement in 2001. He has since served as chaplain at Yellowknife’s Stanton Hospital and still assists Father Joseph Daley, pastor of St. Patrick’s parish in Yellowknife, on the occasional days when they are short of a priest.

“I will nothing behind,’ he says matter-of-factly. “Others would have written poetry or essays or memoirs about their life. I haven’t,” the self-effacing priest offers without regret. “I keep myself busy. I help in the parish.  I try to be a good priest.”

Was there something else he wanted to do in this life?

I had no other dreams than to walk the month-long journey to Santiago de Compostela [a pilgrimage site on France’s southern border with Spain]. I did it halfway in 2000.”

In 2002 when he was 73, he fulfilled that dream, and completed the pilgrimage.

Summing up his life’s work, Fr. Labat says: “I love Denendeh, the land, and the Dene people I’ve met over the years. This is the place where God is calling me.”

An update (January 2011) to the first article.

Felician was not the first of his family to come to the NWT. His mother’s brother arrived in the NWT in 1904 (died in 1959) and served almost all of his ministry in the Territories.

Felician’s bouts with medical issues have not derailed his life and ministry. He has made the trip for by-pass surgery, developed shingles, broke his collar bone and adds in the same sentence, “It was no big thing!”

When he broke his pelvis and has to be hospitalized for three months the signs indicating retirement could no longer be argued. “I would like to go back to Yellowknife but if doubt it will happen anymore.”

On the window sill, just behind his chair, is a decorative license plate with “Comino de Santigo.” His eyes light up when he describes walking the Comino in Spain. There is a lilt in his voice. “It was wonderful.” On the first attempt he walked sixteen days when his walking partner became ill and the walk had to be discontinued. Two years later (2002) when he was seventy-five years of age, he finished the walk. “This was one of my dreams. Why did I wait so long? I had no problem, not even a blister on my foot.”
Surveying his health record he admits that “I was strong until I came here with surgery.” Much to Felican’s surprise the prisoners in the Yellowknife jail sent a large bouquet of flowers (July, 2009) as a get well card. He searches for a photo of the bouquet, “That famous bouquet!”

In his humble manner he responded to the first request for an interview, “There is nothing to be famous about! I walked with the people.”  The interview came to an end with the good news that his niece and her adult daughters were coming to visit from France, next Saturday (in mid-January).