Walking with Eugene – a new adventure begins!

Thanks to the beautiful collaboration between the Oblate communities working with students – mainly Chavril-Sainte Foy, Fontenay 49 and Aix-en-Provence – the ministry with students and young professionals is developing. This summer, we had our first weekend in Aix-en-Provence, which completed three video meetings that we have had since last January.

It was a new group, “Cheminer avec Eugène” (Walking with Eugene), made up of about fifteen young professionals or young couples who, a few years ago as students, walked with the Oblates. Now they are continuing the journey of deepening their spiritual life and the Oblate charism through this group.

As they come from different parts of France, we meet several times a year by video and twice in person. Among the objectives, each one is supposed to commit himself to a missionary commitment in his place of life (parish, group, movement…). Some of them are among the animators of the “mission weekend” that we will propose this year in our three student homes in France.

It is a beautiful example that the charism of our Founder is not reserved to the religious life but has its place in the life of Christians as Rule 37a of our Constitutions reminds us:

The charism of Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a gift of the Spirit to the Church, shines forth into the world. Lay people recognize that they are called to participate in it according to their state of life, and to live it in ways that vary according to milieu and culture. They participate in the charism in a spirit of communion and reciprocity among themselves and with the Oblates.

By Przemek Koscianek, OMI

Published on the OMI World website