IMMENSE HOPE FOR FORMATION

    
         
   

The Province Formation Committee devoted one day of its spring meeting, March 26,  to a gathering with other Oblates involved and/or interested in formation.  The purpose of the session was to look at the future of formation in the light of the Immense Hope Project that is going on throughout the Oblate Congregation.

 

Twenty Oblates met at King's House of Retreat in Belleville, Illinois, with Capuchin Fr. David Couturier who served as facilitator of the meeting.  Fr. Couturier has been working for over a year with the province leadership in articulating the plan and goals of the Immense Hope Project in the United States.  He will also be with the Oblates at the Province Convocation scheduled for October, 2003, in Nashville, TN.

 

Participants in the Immense Hope meetings, whether in the six areas of the Province, or in ministry-specific gatherings, are being asked to reflect on what we are doing well in our ministry, what we should continue to do, and what we should either stop doing or do better.

 

Just a few of the issues discussed by the group were these:

  • The challenges and opportunities presented to us by the influx of candidates for Oblate life from cultures other than the predominant Anglo-European.

  • The importance of challenging all of our candidates to strive for proficiency in both the English and Spanish languages.

  • The number of formation houses that we will be able to staff in the future.

  • The need to focus on communication skills in our candidates.

The Province Formation Committee is made up of eight Oblates involved in formation and/or vocation ministry: Dick Sudlik (Provincial Council Liaison for Formation); Sal DeGeorge (Vicar for Vocations); Jim Allen (Province Formation Director); Jim Brobst (Superior of the scholasticate in Chicago); Andy Knop (Vocation Director); Leo Perez (Director of the Affiliate Program); Louie Lougen (Novice Director); and Tom Rush (Director of the Pre-novitiate in Tijuana). 

 

The committee generally meets twice a year.  However, for one of their meetings, usually in the spring, others involved in formation and vocation ministry are invited to take part in sub-committees (Vocations; Pre-Novitiate; Novitiate/Post-Novitiate).

 

At the March meeting, the committee recommended to the Provincial and Council candidates for the 2003-2004 novitiate class.  They also recommended to the Provincial and Council the placement of the current novices in post-novitiate formation communities after their first profession of vows.  An ongoing project of the committee is a plan for formation to celibacy and chastity that will coordinate what is already being done in all levels of training of future Oblates.  While close attention to this area is nothing new, nevertheless, there is a need to articulate a curriculum that will assure continuity and completeness.

 

 

    
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Participants at Immense Hope in Formation Meeting

Vocation Directors Andy Wier and Andy Knop

Can you figure out why Leo Perez looks different?

Ken Hannon, Allen Maes, Jim Erving, Andy Knop

r-l: Mark Dean, David Couturier, Andy Wier, Leo LeBlanc

l-r Tom Rush, Alex Roque, Jim Brobst

r-l: Sal DeGeorge, Leo Perez, Rufino Nava, Dick Sudlik

 

    
   

 

ORDINATIONS AND VOWS:

Important dates to remember:

May 4, 2003: Final Vows of Zambian scholastic Singini Nacidze, OMI, at Holy Rosary Parish in Chicago.

June 14, 2003: Priestly ordination of Jonathan Closner, OMI, at St. Cecilia's Parish in San Antonio.

June 28, 2003: Priestly ordination of Walter Butor, OMI, at St. Benedict the African Parish in Chicago.

July 16, 2003: First vows of the novices in Guatemala.

August 1, 2003: First Vows of the novices in Godfrey, IL.