One year ago…
It was just a year ago that the Oblates of the Virgin Mary were invited by Bishop Dewane to staff San Pedro Catholic Church, and this week we observe three special celebrations that shed light on the OMV charism and spirituality.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits (feastday: July 31), St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists (feastday: August 1), and Venerable Bruno Lanteri, founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary (+August 5, 1830) were each raised up by the Lord to build up the Church in particular ways.
St. Ignatius gave to the Church the gift of the Spiritual Exercises, an ordered way of meditating on the life of Jesus Christ, so as to form hearts in communion with the heart of Christ and set them on fire with love for souls.
St. Alphonsus Liguori offered an antidote to the rigorism of his times that kept many people away from the Sacraments. He cultivated confidence in the Lord’s mercy in Confession and a lively devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Venerable Bruno Lanteri experienced the power of these spiritual tools in his own life, and handed them on to the Oblates.
The Oblates use the Spiritual Exercises in giving retreats and spiritual direction, in preaching and pastoral ministry, as a powerful means of conversion and a source of missionary zeal. And the Oblates seek to cultivate a heartfelt love for the Eucharist and a deep confidence in God’s unfailing mercy.
Thank you for welcoming our Oblate community to the San Pedro parish family. There is such a rich legacy of faith in Christ and eagerness to bring his love into the world here at San Pedro. The good Lord has given us so many great examples of holiness to imitate, and so many tools at our disposal that we can always look forward with great hope to the challenges ahead.
Our confidence is in Jesus Christ, who has raised up great saints in every age, nourished by the same Eucharist, relying on his same mercy. He calls each one of us to a life of holiness, of abiding friendship with him. Let us commit ourselves to using the means he entrusts to us for our sanctification, and to encourage one another to live holy lives, and to invite everyone to discover in Jesus their true and faithful Savior and Friend.
-Fr. Tom
