At 12:30pm today, in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the participants taking part in the General Chapter of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Dear brothers,
It is with particular joy that I welcome you, representatives of a missionary religious family dedicated to the Church's evangelization. I greet you all with great affection, beginning with your Superior General who has just been elected, and his new Council. You are here for your General Chapter, in the year when you are celebrating the bicentennial of your foundation, through the work of Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a young priests who sought to respond to the call of the Spirit. In the early years of its history, your Congregation attempted to rekindle the faith that the French revolution had caused to fade in the hearts of the poor in the Provinçale countryside, including sweeping away many of the ministers of the Church. In the course of a few decades, this Congregation had been spread across the five continents, continuing the journey begun by your Founder, a man who loved Jesus with passion and the Church unconditionally.
,
Today, you are called to renew this twofold love, keeping the memory of two hundred years of the life of your religious Institute. This is your jubilee, through a happy and providential coincidence, it is also taking place during the Jubilee of Mercy. In fact, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate were born out of the experience of mercy, lived by the young Eugene one Good Friday while he was praying before Jesus crucified. Mercy has always been at the heart of your mission, of your evangelical commitment in the modern world. On the day of his canonization, Saint John Paul II defined Father de Mazenod as a man of Advent, docile to the Holy Spirit in reading the signs of the times and assisting the work of God throughout the history of the Church. These characteristics are present in you, his sons. You too must be men of Advent, able to recognize the signs of new times and of guiding your brothers through the paths that God points out in the Church and in the world.
The Church is experiencing, along with the entire world, an era of great transformation, in the most diverse of fields. She needs men who carry within their hearts the same love for Jesus Christ that was alive within the heart of the young Eugene de Mazenod, and the same unconditional love for the Church, which strives always to be an open house. It is important that we continue to work toward the creation of a Church that is for everyone, a Church that is ready to welcome and to accompany everyone! The work that is needed in order to achieve this is vast; and you too have your specific contributions to offer.
Your missionary history is the history of many consecrated persons, who have offered and sacrificed their lives for the missions, for the poor, in order to reach distant lands where sheep without a shepherd were still to be found. Today, every land is mission territory, every dimension of mankind is mission territory, awaiting the proclamation of the gospel. Pope Pius XI called you specialists in difficult missions. The field of missions today seems to grow larger every day, always embracing newly-discovered poverty, men and women who bear the face of Christ and are asking for help, consolation, hope, in the most desperate situations of life. Therefore, we need you, your missionary bravado, your openness to proclaim to everyone the Good News that frees and consoles.
The joy of the gospel shines first of all in your faces, you bear joyful witness. Following the example of your Founder, charity between you is your first rule of life, the premise of every apostolic action; and zeal for the salvation of souls is a natural consequence of this fraternal charity.
During these days of Chapter work, you have widened your eyes and your hearts to the dimensions of the entire world. This fraternal experience of prayer, discussion and community is the stimulus for a new missionary effort, a point of departure for new horizons, in order to encounter new poverty so that you can carry those you meet with you toward the discovery of Christ, the Redeemer. You must seek out adequate, evangelical and courageous responses to the questions posed by men and women of our times. In order for this to take place, look to your past with gratitude, live the present moment with passion and embrace the future with hope, without allowing yourselves to become discouraged by the difficulties that you encounter along the way, but rather be strengthened by faithfulness to your religious and missionary vocation.
While your religious family is entering into its third century of life, may the Lord grant you to write new pages that are as evangelically fruitful as those written by your confreres who, throughout the last two hundred years, have borne witness, sometimes even with the shedding of their blood, to their great love for Christ and for his Church. Be Oblates of Mary Immaculate. May this name, defined by Saint Eugene as a passport to heaven, be for you a constant reminder of your commitment to the missions. May Our Lady support your steps, especially in times of trial. I ask you please to pray to her also for me. May my blessing - which I willingly impart to you and to all the members of your Congregation - always accompany you along your journey.
(Original text in Italian)
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Dear brothers,
It is with particular joy that I welcome you, representatives of a missionary religious family dedicated to the Church's evangelization. I greet you all with great affection, beginning with your Superior General who has just been elected, and his new Council. You are here for your General Chapter, in the year when you are celebrating the bicentennial of your foundation, through the work of Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a young priests who sought to respond to the call of the Spirit. In the early years of its history, your Congregation attempted to rekindle the faith that the French revolution had caused to fade in the hearts of the poor in the Provinçale countryside, including sweeping away many of the ministers of the Church. In the course of a few decades, this Congregation had been spread across the five continents, continuing the journey begun by your Founder, a man who loved Jesus with passion and the Church unconditionally.
,
Today, you are called to renew this twofold love, keeping the memory of two hundred years of the life of your religious Institute. This is your jubilee, through a happy and providential coincidence, it is also taking place during the Jubilee of Mercy. In fact, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate were born out of the experience of mercy, lived by the young Eugene one Good Friday while he was praying before Jesus crucified. Mercy has always been at the heart of your mission, of your evangelical commitment in the modern world. On the day of his canonization, Saint John Paul II defined Father de Mazenod as a man of Advent, docile to the Holy Spirit in reading the signs of the times and assisting the work of God throughout the history of the Church. These characteristics are present in you, his sons. You too must be men of Advent, able to recognize the signs of new times and of guiding your brothers through the paths that God points out in the Church and in the world.
The Church is experiencing, along with the entire world, an era of great transformation, in the most diverse of fields. She needs men who carry within their hearts the same love for Jesus Christ that was alive within the heart of the young Eugene de Mazenod, and the same unconditional love for the Church, which strives always to be an open house. It is important that we continue to work toward the creation of a Church that is for everyone, a Church that is ready to welcome and to accompany everyone! The work that is needed in order to achieve this is vast; and you too have your specific contributions to offer.
Your missionary history is the history of many consecrated persons, who have offered and sacrificed their lives for the missions, for the poor, in order to reach distant lands where sheep without a shepherd were still to be found. Today, every land is mission territory, every dimension of mankind is mission territory, awaiting the proclamation of the gospel. Pope Pius XI called you specialists in difficult missions. The field of missions today seems to grow larger every day, always embracing newly-discovered poverty, men and women who bear the face of Christ and are asking for help, consolation, hope, in the most desperate situations of life. Therefore, we need you, your missionary bravado, your openness to proclaim to everyone the Good News that frees and consoles.
The joy of the gospel shines first of all in your faces, you bear joyful witness. Following the example of your Founder, charity between you is your first rule of life, the premise of every apostolic action; and zeal for the salvation of souls is a natural consequence of this fraternal charity.
During these days of Chapter work, you have widened your eyes and your hearts to the dimensions of the entire world. This fraternal experience of prayer, discussion and community is the stimulus for a new missionary effort, a point of departure for new horizons, in order to encounter new poverty so that you can carry those you meet with you toward the discovery of Christ, the Redeemer. You must seek out adequate, evangelical and courageous responses to the questions posed by men and women of our times. In order for this to take place, look to your past with gratitude, live the present moment with passion and embrace the future with hope, without allowing yourselves to become discouraged by the difficulties that you encounter along the way, but rather be strengthened by faithfulness to your religious and missionary vocation.
While your religious family is entering into its third century of life, may the Lord grant you to write new pages that are as evangelically fruitful as those written by your confreres who, throughout the last two hundred years, have borne witness, sometimes even with the shedding of their blood, to their great love for Christ and for his Church. Be Oblates of Mary Immaculate. May this name, defined by Saint Eugene as a passport to heaven, be for you a constant reminder of your commitment to the missions. May Our Lady support your steps, especially in times of trial. I ask you please to pray to her also for me. May my blessing - which I willingly impart to you and to all the members of your Congregation - always accompany you along your journey.
(Original text in Italian)
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