International meeting of the oblate brothers

Roma:

The First International Online Meeting of the Oblate Brothers of St. Joseph took place in Rome on 17 October 2020. Our confreres from different Provinces and from different parts of the world participated. The Participants were: Br. Belangero Mario, Br. Schiavino Roberto, Br. Pascaru Anton, Br. Petrelli Filippo (Italy); Br. Amar Joseph, Br. Cagape Robert, Br. Cancio Jose Bart, Br. Canizo Arturo, Br. Casipe Anthony, Br. Moneva Lorenzo, Br. Reyes Ariel, Br. Sibonga Eduardo, Br. Villareal Dante (Philippines); Br. Dos Santos Geraldo Batista, Br. Frare Ismael Giachini, Br. Leandro Scapini Antonio, Br. Libanio Renaildo De Jesus, Br. Rodrigues Antonio, Br. Soares Antonio Barbosa (Brazil); Br. Pohorsky David (USA); Br. Kuchnio Witold (Poland); and Br. Chettiveettil Joyappan (India). Also present was Cleric Marañon Ortuño Alan José (Bolivia).

The meeting began with the prayer of invocation to the Holy Spirit led by the Vicar General Fr. John Attulli OSJ. Afterwards Br. Leandro Antonio Scapini, the In-Charge of the Oblate Brothers, welcomed the confreres with these words:

“In this moment, that we are going to live together, we will deepen the charisms of our Founder, our experience in the communities, our living in the simplicity of relationships with our confreres, good human relationships in sharing life and faith and reciprocal forgiveness. Moreover, also how our communities daily try to do God’s will.”

After the introductory greeting, Br. Leandro invited all the participating Brothers to introduce themselves, saying their name and the position they have in their community. Afterwards, Fr. Jan Pelczarski OSJ (Superior General) took the floor. He thanked the Brothers for their presence and participation even though the hours were unfavourable for some. He also thanked the confreres who organized the meeting.

Here we quote some fragments of the intervention of the Superior General to the Oblate Brothers:

1) All of you are important. “Your vocation and your mission, carried out in various fields, are significant and current. Some of you are involved in the educational field and in the parish apostolate, others are present in the places of the missions, also carrying out activities in favour of the most needy”.

2) The document published by the Congregation for Religious entitled: Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church, deals with the vocation, identity and mission of the brother. This writing recalls the importance of a new spirituality for the Religious Brother: a much more apostolic and contemplative spirituality, which is able to integrate life and other dimensions.

3) The General Chapter of 2018 in a motion invited us “to rediscover and enhance the role of religious brothers and to promote this vocation”.

4) The relevance of your vocation is also reflected in the latest Encyclical of Pope Francis – “Brothers All”. The title of the Encyclical evokes an important concept of Marellian spirituality: “brotherhood”. We find it in Letter n.107 with a view at the Family of Saint Joseph of Nazareth.

5) We are approaching the end of the year of St. Joseph. Like him, we try to do “the interests of Jesus”, without forgetting, however, to take care of our spiritual life and our relationship with Jesus. The daily challenge for everyone is knowing how to integrate the life of prayer with other activities.

The intervention of our Superior General was followed by the video conference of Br. Lino da Campo, the Superior General emeritus of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Holy Family of Belley, founded by Br. Gabriel Taborin in 1835 in France.

The theme treated was “You are all brothers” (Mt 23, 8-12). Br. Lino said that the Brother first of all needs an interior vision of his own vocation supported by a strong evangelical conviction. The rest, even university degrees, are only external supports. They are often not sufficient and not convincing to help understand and support a “vocation of and as a Brother”. The brother prophet, a certain way of living the “paschal mystery”, manifests the ability to live self-forgetfulness. Such behaviours lead the other to become a brother, a man, a child of God. After the conference there was a moment of sharing and questioning.

Then the meeting moved on to the Virtual Tour in which Fr. Guido Miglietta OSJ presented the slides of the Mother House at the time of Marello.

It was followed by a small video on the Michelerio Chapel and the Cathedral of Asti with the explanation of Fr. Severino Dalmaso OSJ.

Br. Mario Belagero thanked the participants and the organizers. The meeting ended with a hymn of St. Joseph Marello sung by the Oblate Sisters of Rome.