CELEBRATING 180 YEARS OF OUR CONSTITUTIONS AND RULES AND RECEIVING 10 NEW PRENOVICES      

It was on the 17th of February 1826 that the Church approved the constitutions and rules and the

Institute of The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Saint Eugene de Mazenod, our Founder, was on this day blissful with joy and in a warm letter called upon all his spiritual sons to an attitude of gratitude, deeper fervour and a renewed faithfulness to their vocation. This was in a letter addressed to Fr tempier dated March 20, 1826.

One hundred and eighty years later, the sons and followers of Saint Eugene of the Oblate Delegation in Zambia and particularly the pre-novitiate community, Mission Centre House and the members of Mary Immaculate Parish heeded to the call of the Holy Founder to rejoice in the Lord for the gift of the OMI Charism to Holy Mother Church. The climax of our thanksgiving was the celebration of Mass at the Mary Immaculate parish.

Fr Joseph Phiri, the Delegation Superior was the main Celebrant. The homily was given by Fr Ron Walker, the parish priest and vocation Director. Among the Oblates present were  Fr Evans Chinyemba, Director of the pre-novitiate, Fr David Kalert and Fr Vincent Sakala, Pre-novitiate associate Directors together with the Oblates from the Mission Centre House.

To introduce the celebration of the day, Fr Joseph Phiri reminded all present of the meaning of the date of 17th February and its importance in the life of all Oblates.

He invited all in attendance to unite their prayers for oblate vocations in the world. He thanked those who came to join the Oblates to pray for them and with them. He indicated that we are celebrating the past with joy and anticipating the future with deep hope.

The holy Mass by itself brought an air of deep devotion and solemnity. Amid the parishioners and priests was the pre-novitiate choir. Their beautiful voices, filled with vibrancy, added a unique flavour and joy to the music, as they raised them in praise of the Lord.

Indeed catching three birds with a single stone is not a common phenomenon in any milieu. However this was ostensibly true on 17th February 2006. In the Oblate Delegation of Zambia, we

chose  this day to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the canonization of our Founder, St

Eugene de Mazenod. We chose this day to mark it as a day of vocation promotion. We chose this

day to officially accept ten new pre-novices into the pre-novitiate.

They expressed their desire by proclaiming the simple but serious commitment to the program.

These ten young men are a sign of hope for the growth of the Zambian Delegation and the Congregation at large. Fr Walker’s words are resounding in the hearts of the new pre-novices: “Many are called but few are chosen”. He urged them to be happy and serious at the same time.

 The celebration rightly ended with a moment of refreshment and nourishment, which carried a sense of charity, love and joy to the Oblates, pre-novices and selected members from Mary Immaculate parish.

There was a supper hosted by the pre-novitiate community.

                             (Andrew Ngulube and Reagan Kunda, Pre-novices)  

           

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