"The Oblate Charism is a living link between us, lay and
religious. In it, we have a special mutuality and solidarity. What constitutes
the basis of this communion? The same fire that warmed the heard of Eugene de
Mazenod. A passionate love for Jesus Christ and the church, a familial love for
Mary, who is the mother of all descipleship, and a preferential option for the poor, with
their many faces."
(Letter from The General
Chapter of 1998 to THOSE PERSONS WHO SHARE WITH US THE
OBLATE CHARISM viz [The Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate represented at the
Chapter for the first time by ten lay persons
Calling
The call of Jesus Christ, heard within the Church through people's need for
salvation, draws us together as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Christ thus invites
us to follow him and to share in his mission through word and work.
To Live Jesus Christ
We are men 'set apart for the Gospel', men ready to leave everything to be
disciples of Jesus. The desire to co-operate with him draws us to know him more deeply, to
identify with him, to let him live in us. We strive to reproduce in ourselves the pattern
of his live.
Among the Most Abandoned.
We are a missionary congregation. Our principal service in the Church is to
proclaim Christ and His Kingdom to the most abandoned. We preach the Gospel among people
who have not yet received it and help them see their own values in its light. Where the
Church is already established, our commitment is to those groups it touches least.
To Awaken the Faith
We will spare no effort to awaken or re-awaken the faith in those people to whom
we are sent and we will help them to discover 'who Christ is'. Our mission puts us on
constant call to respond to the most urgent needs of the Church through various forms of
witness and ministry.
With Daring, Humility and Trust
We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their
values and aspirations. To seek new ways for the Word of God to reach their hearts often
calls for daring; to present Gospel demands in all clarity should never intimidate us.
Radical Discipleship
Our mission requires that in a radical way, we follow Jesus who was chaste and poor
and who redeemed mankind by his obedience. This is why, through a gift of the Father we
chose the way of the evangelical counsels.
Unity of Life
We achieve unity in our life only in and through Jesus Christ. Our ministry
involves us in a variety of tasks, yet each act in life is an occasion of personal
encounter with the Lord who, through us, gives himself to others and through others gives
himself to us.
Our Life of Prayer
It is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways that the Spirit
suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for
those to whom he sends us. Our life, in all its dimensions, is a prayer that in us and
through us God's Kingdom come.
Community and Mission
We fulfil our mission in and through the community to which we belong. Our
communities are, therefore, apostolic. By growing in unity of heart and mind, we bear
witness before the world, that Jesus lives in our midst and unites us in order to send us
out to proclaim God's reign.
With Mary Immaculate
Mary Immaculate is the patroness of our congregation. Open to the Spirit, she
consecrated herself totally as a lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Saviour. She
received Christ in order to share him with all the world, whose hope he is. In her we
recognise the model of the Church's faith and of her own.
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