DownloadGENEROUS COOPERATORS IN THE WORK OF NEW EVANGELIZATION
Father Jean Hérick JASMIN, the director of the Oblates’ prenovitiate in Colombia, was a translator during the XXXV General Chapter. Upon his return to Bogotá, he wrote this editorial in the prenovitiate’s newsletter.
On Wednesday, October 6, 2010, at the conclusion of his catechesis on Saint Gertrude, Pope Benedict XVI greeted, in Italian, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, stressing that the goal of the XXXV General Chapter being held in Rome was to renew apostolic zeal and to make more present the charism of the Institute “so as to cooperate generously in the work of the new evangelization.”
Obviously, at that wonderful moment, I felt very proud of being an Oblate, as I heard the pope, in just a few words, highlighting the distinctive mark of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Little by little, this pride, without being lost, transformed itself for me into a question: What does it mean to be a cooperator in the new evangelization, today, at the beginning of the third millennium? Better still, what is the real meaning of this renewal of Oblate identity?
The Fourth Santo Domingo Conference reminded us that “all evangelization begins with the mandate of Christ to his apostles and their successors; it develops within the community of the baptized, in the midst of living communities that share the faith, and it is aimed at strengthening the life of filial adoption in Christ, expressed primarily in fraternal love (cf. S.D. #23). Thus it proclaims that the New Evangelization “has its point of departure in the Church, through the power of the Spirit, in a continuous process of conversion, seeking to give witness to unity in the diversity of ministries and charisms and living intensely its missionary commitment.” (S.D. #23)
To speak of the New Evangelization in the context of Oblate life, a few months after the celebration of the XXXV General Chapter, means that, in the face of the tragic situations of injustice and suffering of our people, amidst of the sorrowful and painful situations suffered by some pastors of our Church, amidst the cries against social inequality and situations of violence, secularism, wasteful hedonism, we are called to give answers that “only the Church can give, as the sign of reconciliation and bearer of life and hope.” (S.D. #23)
The New Evangelization becomes for us Oblates today one of the inspiring images to glean from the gospel message as “new lights for new problems.” (S.D. #24) Being cooperators in the New Evangelization as Oblates today means being able to receive, consciously and freely, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the threefold gift of conversion (a new heart, a new spirit, a new will). It means being able to create a truly human and multicultural history; being able to form men and communities that are mature in the faith and provide an answer to the new situation in which we live. It means being pilgrims among pilgrims, living not only spiritual fatherhood but also spiritual brotherhood. (A.Cencini, 1996:42)
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