OMI Lacombe Canada
COVID-19 Response Working Group

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OMI Lacombe Canada
COVID-19 Response Working Group

In the face of the global pandemic known as COVID-19, OMI Lacombe Canada Provincial Council has created a COVID-19 Working Group.  This group will seek to empower and support Oblates and Associates in responding faithfully and creatively to the particular needs of this time.

The Working Group will:

  • Identify and communicate actions already being taken across the Province by Oblates and Associates, whether individual or communal,
  • Listen to the local needs as they are identified by individuals and districts,
  • Explore options for responding to these needs,
  • Advise and support individuals and districts in their responses.

The ways of responding are myriad, and we are only beginning to discover them.  Many of us are following the advice and instructions from our public health and government leaders and self-isolating.  Others among us are able to be more active out in the community.  But we are all called to a response.

Father Ken Thorson’s Easter message reminded us that, “It is our Oblate call to identify ourselves with those weighed down by fear and anxiety, by loneliness and want by doing what we can to help ease the burden.”

Father Jarek, in his Easter homily reminded us to take our guidance from Pope Francis’ when he tells us, “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.  I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. … And you have to start from the ground up.”

As Oblates and Associates we seek to start from the ground up.  Any action, however small, which brings hope and life to others is precious.

Here are a few examples of needs, actions, and questions to start our thinking:

  • Prayer and Liturgy:
    • How are we reaching out to our parishioners and our companions?
    • How are we helping to sustain faith and hope?
    • Responses from the parishes have included live-streaming liturgies. What else is possible?
    • How can we offer spiritual accompaniment to people?
    • Is it possible perhaps to have designated people in each District available for phone conversations?
    • Could we establish prayer groups, etc. in each District?
  • Internal Community Life:
    • How are we maintaining and sustaining Oblate and Associate community life in this time of isolation for so many?
    • How are we supporting and reaching out to our elders?
    • Is it possible to arrange social media video calls, for example?
  • The larger community:
    • What are the needs around us?
    • What might we do?
    • Is there a coordinated response possible? For example, if the health authorities have indicated a need for home sewn cloth masks, can we do a group effort?
    • Are their specific social justice groups we can support financially or otherwise?

In the next days, you will be hearing more from this COVID-19 Response Working Group: Father Richard Beaudette, Isabelle Gigault, Lucie Leduc, Joe Gunn and Sandra Prather. They will be seeking out and sharing your stories and ideas so that together, we can address more effectively the needs of the Oblate community and the community at large.

Eugene de Mazenod knew that, ‘New needs create new means,” and our Provincial Father Ken reminds us, “The cross of Christ calls us to this; to stand in the midst of the world’s pain and ask, ‘What can we do, how can we respond?”  It is with that Oblate spirit, in solidarity, that we inspire and challenge one another. Together, we can be signs of resurrection and new life in a desperately hurting world.

To offer ideas, or tell your story, please contact Father Richard Beaudette at vicar1@omilacombe.ca or 613-806-3435.

The Covid-19 Response Working Group:

Fr. Richard Beaudette – vicar1@omilacombe.ca
Isabelle Gigault – igigault@omilacombe.ca
Lucie Leduc – director@starofthenorth.ca
Joe Gunn – jgunn@omilacombe.ca
Sandra Prather – sandramprather@gmail.com