Mission Minded

Not many of you know this about me, but when I prepared to enter religious life as a young adult, it was with the intention of becoming a missionary.  I had hoped to serve in Africa one day.

My dad traveled the world for his work and did not approve of this desire because of the great poverty he witnessed personally.  However, he loved Quebec and enjoyed his business trips there.  So, when I discovered the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary founded in Quebec, I enthusiastically showed him the booklet (making sure he did not see the pages about Africa and Haiti.)

After entering the community, which also embraced Brazil, I realized the Lord had something else in mind and I never served outside the country.  However, it was my goal to meet someone from every country in the world and reached 28 before losing count.  (I have many wonderful experiences and friends as a result!)

My other connection to the missions is my personal patron Saint, St Therese of Lisieux.  When studying at Providence College, my spiritual director and professor told me to research her life for one of my assignments.  As you know,  St Therese of Lisieux is the patron Saint of missionaries yet she was a cloistered nun!  So you see, you need not travel far to be "Mission Minded".

As the Director of Missions/CRS, I want to keep in touch with you because we are all called to be "Mission Minded" in our efforts to evangelize and catechize...  I want to continue supporting you in your efforts and ask for your prayers and support as I begin my new position.

For those who know me well... let me say... my joy for creativity and change is beginning to simmer....

God's Blessings for Advent and Christmas!

Ruth Oakley

Gift Received; Gift Given

Gift Received; Gift Given

As Divine Providence would have it, my Chinese missionary friend, from the Philippines, and I were walking together on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City one warm and bright summer day.  Our conversation was filled with youthful zeal as we explored our 'vocations' together; she moving to Taiwan, and I returning to Maine.

Sr. Nancy asked philosophically, "How does one "BE" a contemplative?"  You see, we were lamenting our busy schedules and daydreaming of quieter surroundings.  As we strolled along, I allowed my imagination to drift around the concept of contemplative living. 

Over the years, I have come to understand the difference between my imagination and the Lord's promptings and I assure you, this gift I am sharing with you came from the Lord!

A contemplative is one who:

SEEs.... KNOWs whom they SEE.... LOVES who they KNOW.... and ENJOYS who they LOVE.  (rho 1989)

I have prayed with this gift for many years now.  To SEE means to become aware of God's movement within us, which is life giving!  To KNOW this God who dwells within us is to feel secure even in the midst of trials.  To LOVE the God we come to KNOW in the depths of our being is to find healing for all our wounds.  And to ENJOY God whom we LOVE is to find peace, balance, belonging, affirmation, hope, and trust which assures us that nothing can separate us from Jesus.  And our Lord comes to us each day most intimately in the Eucharist.

Want to live contemplatively?  Then SEE our Lord in the Eucharist.  KNOW it is the real Presence that comes to us so tenderly.  LOVE the Lord in the Eucharist so you may find strength for your mission.  And ENJOY the fruits of the grace that is ours each time we receive Him.

Who is a Contemplative?  Anyone desiring to be.....

Ruth Oakley

Miner's Miracle

October 15th is the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, doctor of the Church and famous for her analogy of our spiritual life being connected to the depths of the 'well within' from which we draw "life giving water" as Jesus promised the woman in John's gospel.

How appropriate that today I would want to focus my sharing on the Miracle in the Chile Mine!  Because from St Teresa's 'well bucket' of spiritual graces from which we drink the love of God who dwells within... to the Miners in the depths of the earth 'drinking the grace of HOPE'... the same lessons can be applied.

Imagine, 17 days with limited food, you are in complete darkness not knowing if people have given up the search for you?  Then suddenly the ceiling opens and you look up realizing that you will be rescued.  "Mario Sepulveda, the one who brought rocks as souvenirs for fellow miners, gave this remarkable testimony: “I was with both God and the Devil. God won. I held His Hand and there was no doubt He would get me out.” 

The Fenix descended 2,230 feet below the ground to 'scoop up' the miners one by one and hoist them to the surface where the whole world cheered, intoxicated with JOY!  The chaplain to the President who organized a prayer chain said, “this miracle is a proof that there is a God." (taken from Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid, Manilla Bulletin Publishing Co.)

Both images (well bucket and Fenix capsule) make me grateful to the Lord that I'm Catholic!  Because I know that Faith, Hope, and Love, with the greatest virtue being Love... certainly embraced each miner below and family members above, sustaining the HOPE that the miners would be found, would be alive, and would be brought to safety.

St Teresa speaks about the dark night of the soul as a feeling of abandonment by God, yet, she tells us, it is in this moment that we most need to be faithful to prayer which is our lifeline to the "Light" of God's loving embrace.  Like the miners who held God's hand, trusting, refusing to collapse in fear, we too are challenged to trust with Faith, Hope, and Love, that our Lord will never abandon us in times of trouble.

My relationship with Jesus has taught me this truth.  It is through prayer, reading God's Word, quiet times for listening in the depths of my being that enable me to discern between the devil of doubt and the God of Hope!  Thank you Lord, for your steadfast love!  Bless the Miners, family members, rescue workers, and all who choose to drink from the depths of your grace!  Amen.

Ruth Oakley

Pause and Look Up

Luke 9: 12-13,16-17 

"Late in the afternoon the twelve came to Him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He said the blessing over them,  broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets."

With the new catechetical year beginning, I imagine us all taking a deep breath as we launch our programs.  This Scripture passage is one I pray with often because of the disciples' dilemma: "There are so many and we have so little." Maybe the disciples learned something that day that could help us all?

While reading between the lines, I had the impression that the disciples were becoming overwhelmed with the crowd and wanted to take a break by sending everyone home to regroup.  They told Jesus, "Send the crowd away..." Instead, Jesus helped them realize two things. First, they don't work alone,  it is Jesus who feeds people.... through their efforts.  This can help us keep our ministries in perspective. Secondly, our efforts, however inadequate we may think they are as we begin this new catechetical year, are enough for the Lord to work miracles!  We need to intentionally give the Lord all of ourselves: our minds, hearts, hands, and plans so that He can bless all of it and then, through us, feed His people with what they will need to draw closer to Him.  When and where and how our ministry will touch the hearts of God's people is perhaps not for us to know. However, we can be certain of this: Jesus will take even the little we have to give and multiply the blessings to overflowing if we ask Him.

So, on those 'stressful' days of activity, let's pause, look up, and receive the blessing Jesus gives us to give to others.  Because when we do this, I've discovered, we will always have enough... (energy, time, resources, etc.) to accomplish the tasks at hand with more left over for rejoicing!

Ruth Oakley