Oblate Formation 
Posts concerning Oblate and Novice formation. These include articles which are also applicable to most Christians, whether Oblate or not. Additional articles on instruction of various parts of the Rule can be found under that category.
If Christ has not risen . . .
“If Christ has not risen, then idle is our preaching, and idle is your faith” (1 Cor. XV. 14). This is as true now as it was when St. Paul wrote it for the Corinthians nineteen hundred years ago. The resurrection of the Lord is the foundation of our faith. We do not preach simply… Read More ›
Why such an enormous price for our salvation?
When meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, which culminated in His death on the cross, we can hardly avoid wondering, “Why such an enormous price for our salvation.” We know that one tear of the Savior’s divine eyes, one sigh of His Sacred Heart, would have been enough to ransom the whole world, because… Read More ›
Hypocrisy
Padre Pio, the famous Capuchin Stigmatic, in an interview with William M. Carrigan in 1945 said: “HYPOCRISY IS THE GREATEST EVIL OF OUR TIME. It exists in all levels of our society, in high places and in low places.” Padre Pio had no claim to scholarship, but his deep wisdom concerning the spiritual welfare of… Read More ›
Reflecting on Lent
Tonight we are halfway through Lent. We have gone through twenty days and three Sundays. We have twenty days and three Sundays ahead. So it is a good moment to stop and look. What have we been doing with this Lent? Going back and listening to Benedict again: During these days, therefore, we will add… Read More ›
Saint Benedict’s Advice for Lent
The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 9 March 2011. Saint Benedict offers his thinking about the observance of Lent in chapter 49 of his Rule. Besides abstinence from vice, food, and drink, Benedict recommends reading, especially Sacred Scripture. The right kind of Lectio Divina can lead to that “compunction of heart” that is… Read More ›
As Lent Begins…
Begin to recognize yourself, to love and possess yourself, to be kind to yourself, and you will be happy. If you desire to know yourself and to possess yourself, go into yourself, and do not search for yourself outside. Distinguish between what is around you, what belongs to you, and your self. The world surrounds… Read More ›
Ashes (Ash Wednesday)
To think of ash, is to enter into the reality of endings, absurdity and temporality; bringing to mind that everything in life that we often work and strive for, is in reality a dead end, a waste of time and even if truth be told, if actually thought about, not worth the effort. I think… Read More ›
Never too late
There are different types of beauty that are often noticed by individuals but perhaps ignored by the overall culture. There is the vibrant beauty of youth, which is of course noticed by our culture and idolized to the point of actually causing harm. Young men and women with an inner glow and vibrancy that perhaps… Read More ›
Christians distinguished by ‘absolute trust’ in God the Father
“He who believes in God … puts the search for his kingdom and his will in the first position,” commented the pontiff, calling this attitude “precisely the opposite of fatalism.” “Faith in providence, in fact, does not dispense one of the difficult struggle for a decent life, but liberates from the anxiety for things and… Read More ›
A Choice to Go
I may be a fairly good sailor at this point in my life but there were times when, like Peter, I had to be humbled. One time I was sailing a Sunfish in Michigan. I had trouble controlling the wind which was building and the sailboat and I ended up in shallow water. I had… Read More ›