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Anniversary of OMI Congregation’s Founding – January 25 January 23rd, 2017
“…The dynamic of conversion continues in our Oblate life and mission as long as we are alive! Our missionary journey is not an easy one. Jesus’ faithfulness will sustain us. The smile of Mary Immaculate, her loving gaze, is upon us and we dedicate our missionary lives to her once again so that we will be true to the Oblate charism.”
Rev. Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI
Letter of the Superior General for closing of the Oblate Triennium
Introduction
The OMI JPIC Office would like to wish blessings to all the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate on the anniversary of the order’s founding. During the Oblate Triennium, the Missionary Oblates approved the new OMI JPIC Companion in Mission. Read excerpts from the Superior General’s introduction in the document.
Superior General Message – OMI JPIC Companion in Mission
We, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, are committed to the ministry of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation as an integral part of the mission to bring the good news to the poor. This ministry is an essential dimension of our missionary lives. The concern for justice, the commitment to be peacemakers and the care for the gift of God’s creation are signs that the Kin
gdom announced by Jesus is among us. This is especially valued by Oblates and is expressed in the Biblical motto of our Congregation: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim deliverance to the captives and reco
very of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
It is fundamental that this OMI JPIC Companion In Mission, become a basic text for all Oblates to read, study, share and use for discerning concrete actions on behalf of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. I ask that all our Major Superiors and local Superiors familiarize themselves with this resource and use it in fostering continuing formation for the members of our communities and with the lay people associated with us. This OMI JPIC Companion in Mission, is also a document to be used in first formation so that from the beginning of their missionary journey, young Oblates will have a unified vision of JPIC within our missionary vocation to evangelize the poor and most abandoned.
Conclusion
“….We will reflect the understanding, patience and compassion of the Savior. We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their values and aspirations.”
OMI Constitution & Rules 7,8
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month January 18th, 2017
President Barack Obama has proclaimed January 2017 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States, calling upon businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we must play in ending all forms of human trafficking. Many with groups are bringing attention to this issue through prayer and educational resources. Below are links to some of these resources.
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB):
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month & Day of Prayer Tookit:
“Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. We must unite our efforts to free victims and stop this crime that’s become ever more aggressive, that threatens not just individuals, but the foundational values of society.” Pope Francis
- U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking provides several resources on its website including prayer services and an interfaith toolkit produced and distributed by the Washington Inter-Religious Staff Community Working Group on Human Trafficking (WISC).
- The Catholic Health Association is sponsoring a Twitter Chat on Human Trafficking, Feb. 2nd, 1-2:00 PM Eastern. Contact Jody Wise for details: wisejo@trinity-health.org.
Fr. Seamus Finn among Presenters at the Rome Roundtable 2017 January 18th, 2017
The Global Foundation gathered for its Rome Roundtable 2017 on January 14th and 15th
and convened participants from the business and investment community, religious leaders, civic institutions, academia and civil society to evaluate responses and measure progress on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The fifty invited participants were asked to report on progress since the last roundtable and to discuss additional commitments and actions that they would undertake during the coming year.
Visit this website to read the Vatican Radio report on the event and Pope Francis’s address to participants.
My comments were focused on the numerous challenges and debates that have taken place over the last century about development. The UN sponsored decades of development that focused on different dimensions of the topic and how they might be appropriately addressed and then the encyclical letter, “Populorum Progressio” (On the Development of Peoples), of Pope Paul VI, in 1967 built on the teaching of the Catholics tradition and the Second Vatican Council on the issues. This encyclical remains as a foundational point of reference for the Church’s understanding of development especially with the introduction and definition of the concept of “integral human development”. More recently through a United Nations process in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were adopted as a benchmark and guide for action in countries and communities across the world.
The adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the General Assembly in 2015 has set a clear agenda for the work of development until 2030. In our panel presentation my colleagues, Mark Cutefani, CEO, Anglo American and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape town reported on the collaborative multistakeholder project that has been organized by the Mining and Faiths Reflection Initiative to address development issues in mine site communities at local and regional levels.
Investors and Public Health Groups Voice Support for Affordable Care Act January 18th, 2017
Amid calls from some lawmakers and the President-elect for an immediate repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a coalition of 119 faith- and values-based investors and public health groups strongly defended the gains made under the law and urged restraint.
In a letter sent today to President-elect Trump and members of Congress, the group, led by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, praised the expansion of quality and affordable health insurance under the ACA to more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans, and warned that a repeal of the health care law would have a “destabilizing effect on jobs, businesses and our economy, and would further jeopardize the health and financial security of millions of Americans”.
Read the full article on Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility’s (ICCR) website.
Support the BRIGDE Act for Young Immigrants January 18th, 2017
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate JPIC joins other faith organizations including US Catholic Bishops in urging that members of Congress lead by example and compassion by co-sponsoring the BRIDGE Act. This bipartisan effort will ensure the safety and dignity of nearly one million young immigrants who are contributing to our communities and love this country, but who may be at risk for deportation.
Created in 2012 through executive action, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allows undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to come out of the shadows, work, attend school and be protected from deportation. Another executive action can easily end the program.
BRIDGE ACT “Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy” is a bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in an effort to provide temporary relief to young people currently protected from detention and deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, should DACA be rescinded.
As people of faith, we believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially children. These young immigrants entered the United States as children and know America as their only home. BRIDGE Act would help to protect DACA youth from deportation and prevent the devastation that comes with family separation.
Join us by urging your members of Congress to co-sponsor the BRIDGE Act. Let them send a strong message that withdrawing DACA has moral and economic consequences for communities.
Find your members of Congress by going to this website:
https://www.congress.gov/members
In his message for the 2017 World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis calls special attention to child migrants; “The rights of children are a cause for special concern, as among migrants, women and children are particularly vulnerable. Children especially are often “invisible” because they lack documents or arrive in new countries without accompaniment.”
