Eugene de Mazenod lived and breathed his desire for God in the crisis of post-revolutionary France. He founded a missionary congregation called the Oblates of Mary Immaculate under the motto:"God sent me to bring the Gospel to the poor."
...experience of Christ's love...
An Oblate is a man of Jesus Christ. He has experienced Christ. He has heard the Saviour's call to leave all and follow Him. The desire to co-operate with Jesus Christ and to share in His mission draws the Missionary Oblate to profess the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience for life. He also takes a fourth vow of perseverance.
...sacredness of every person...
The Oblate is a man for the poor. He is well aware of the struggle that grips the world, and he is profoundly affected by the situation of the poor and excluded. The poor include unloved adolescents, the unemployed, prisoners, the sick, those suffering from HIV and AIDS, those caught up in the nightmare of addiction, migrants, those who suffer from mental illness, those ignored by society, those who feel abandoned by the Church, everyone who suffers from injustice or who has not heard of Jesus or who has forgotten him. The Oblate desires to make known to every person their own greatness and dignity in Jesus Christ.
...love for the Church...
The Oblate is also a man of the Church. As a member of the People of God, he desires to play his part in the building up of the Body of Christ, the Church. It is in the universal Church, gathered around the successor of St Peter, that the Oblate hears and responds to people's need for salvation. Profoundly aware that "what we dream alone remains often just a dream, but what we dream with others can become a reality", the Oblate chooses to be present in mission through Community.
...with Mary as model of discipleship...
The Oblate is a man of the Virgin Mary. Mary Immaculate is the patroness of the Congregation. Like the apostle John, the Oblate has made a home for Mary in his heart, life and mission. As Mary received Christ in order to share Him with all the world, whose hope He is, the Oblate learns from her how to share Christ with those who are suffering, abandoned, excluded and dispossessed.
...ready to go anywhere...
Oblate means offering and describes the commitment to serve God's people wherever the need is greatest. So, from the icy plains of Northern Canada to the Tropics of Sri Lanka, Oblates choose to live and work with people who have been pushed to the margins, who have been excluded from sharing the fruits of the earth.
