Canada, US region young Oblates meet

On February 14, 2017 the first official meeting of Young Oblates of CA-US Region Committee was held in the Provincial House of Assumption Province in Toronto, Canada. CROCUS representatives Frs. Marian Gil, OMI and Luc Tardif, OMI facilitated this event. Young Oblates from the following provinces were present: Fr. Remi Lepage – Notre Dame du Cap, Fr. Daniel Janulewicz – Assumption, Fr. Vijay Deivanayagam -OMI Lacombe and Fr. Juan Gaspar – US. They selected Fr. Lepage as a chair and Fr. Gaspar as a secretary of this newly established committee, which is carrying out the efforts of “Discerning the future of missionary presence of the Oblates in the CA-US Region.

Discussions on current ministries, Oblate formation, faith sharing with regards to personal Oblate vocation and the reawakening zeal to contribute to future missionary efforts colored the meeting. The recent 36th General Chapter document and its six directives became the bases for ongoing conversation about the future of Oblate mission and missionary presence.

This permanent committee (whose membership will have 3-year terms) will embark on a yearlong process to organize a Congress for Young Oblates of CA-US Region to be held in Canada in late spring of 2018. The process employed at the gathering will be the SEE-JUDGE-ACT Methodology.

Five representatives from each province will be invited to take part in this event. Each province will host a meeting in order to allow participants to learn more about Oblate ministries. The undercurrent feeling of this meeting was one of hopefulness and enthusiasm from all members present.

By Published in the OMI USA Newsletter – May 2017 Issue