The Gift of the Other

In OMI Lacombe Canada today there are twenty-five Oblates under the age of 55, and about a month ago most of us were gathered at Queen of Apostles Retreat Centre in Mississauga for a few days of sharing and reflection.  On the second day of our gathering we spent the morning and afternoon discussing one of the prominent themes of the 36th General Chapter; interculturality.  We listened to an audio presentation given last Spring by Fr. Anthony Gittens CSSp, and were then joined by Fr. Louis Lougen and Fr. Warren Brown on Skype, who highlighted some of the possibilities and challenges intercultural living holds for religious and Oblate life today.

OMI 55 meeting at Queen of Apostles in early October

As I looked around the room that morning I was struck once again by our OMI Lacombe reality: that of the twenty-five Oblates under 55, only five of us are Canadian born. Eighty percent of our group comes from a variety of countries and cultures: India, Peru, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Poland. As our discussion continued through the morning and afternoon, some of the men spoke about their arrival in Canada, to OMI Lacombe, or to one of the former provinces. Their stories ranged from having been welcomed with openness and respect, to facing the often implicit (and at times explicit) call for assimilation from Canadian born OMIs, including myself. Yet, as the stories were told there was no sense of resentment, but rather gratitude for the opportunity to share our stories with each other, and a sense of hope in the nascent awareness that our diversity is a gift which well lived will lead to a more authentic Oblate religious life, and provide a positive witness for our increasingly international and multicultural societies.

The Chapter document highlights the fact that there are few Oblate units today that are true mono-cultures, and most of us live in international, multicultural communities. The invitation of the Chapter is for us to explore the possibility that these communities hold;

“…there is felt in many places a need to readjust attitudes and structures to facilitate a better understanding between those arriving and those receiving them.” Acts of the 36th General Chapter, No. 53

From our earliest days Oblates have gone from their own peoples and cultures to live with new peoples and cultures. For the sake of the Gospel, Oblate missionaries make themselves the stranger, accepting that in their adopted place they would always be different… would always be ‘other’. The potential blessing intercultural living holds is that the one who is ‘other’ brings his unique experience of God and the world  (and for us the Oblate charism) into conversation with the experience of those in the receiving culture, and in the process we begin to move, with respect to our Oblate communities in particular, from us and them, to we.

While Oblates missioned to new countries must necessarily adapt to their new situation, the need for the same in the receiving Oblate community is a more recent awareness. Intercultural living asks the receiving community (the dominant culture) to make space in a variety of ways so that the arriving member’s experience of God, church and the charism, is not lost. Thus the community’s understanding of itself, as revealed in the other, is deepened.

This call of the Chapter resonates with Pope Francis’ call, made time and time again, for a culture of encounter.

“For me this word is very important. Encounter with others. Why? Because faith is an encounter with Jesus, and we must do what Jesus does: encounter others. . . with our faith we must create a “culture of encounter,” a culture of friendship, a culture in which we find brothers and sisters, in which we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith. They all have something in common with us: they are images of God, they are children of God.” Pope Francis, Address at Vigil of Pentecost with the Ecclesial Movements, Rome 18, 05, 2013.

Our days together in Mississauga were a moment of encounter. The stories we shared there about our Oblate life and ministry in Canada revealed for me the challenge and opportunity present in the increased diversity of our Oblate communities (our internationality, culture, age, etc.). In so many ways we are a reflection of the wider Canadian society, and so perhaps the development of our intercultural practice with each other in our houses and districts, could provide a humble witness to the potential that exists in the diverse communities which make up the towns and cities where we live.

By Ken Thorson, OMI