150^th Anniversary of the Arrival of Oblate Missionaries in Natal

 

Sermon Jubilee Mass: Pietermaritzburg 25 May 2002. Fr Stuart C Bate OMI

Readings: 1 Sam 16:1-11; Gal 5:13-16; 22-26; Matt 10:1,5-10

 

Introduction

In these days we are celebrating our Faith in God as Trinity: One God who in creation and salvation beholds the fruit of his work saying “indeed it is very good” (Gen 1:31).

 

God’s mission flows from his love for us (Jn 3:16; AG 2). Out of this love he sends his son for the salvation of the world. And out of this love the Father and the Son send the Spirit to lead us to the complete truth. (Jn 16:13).

 

Our readings today present us with three aspects of that truth, aspects which are related to our identity as Southern African Oblates of Mary Immaculate and to the pathways which this local Church is called to walk.

 

The first reading illustrates that God’s choices are not always obvious or reasonable at first sight. Samuel had to identify God’s will through spiritual discernment.

 

The Gospel presents the one mission of God using the metaphors of  life, healing and casting out demons: metaphors which speak powerfully to the people of our context.

 

The second reading gives a test which we can apply to see whether or not we are walking by the Spirit. It is the test of fruits and the text provides us with some, though not all, examples of such fruits.

 

The readings illustrate the story of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Southern Africa. They point to salient signs within our own history and tradition. These are  signs which we should endeavour to notice and learn from, for they attest to the presence of the Spirit in this group of men. They show that faithfulness to God’s mission happens in ways that are not always evident at first sight.

 

Discerning the presence of the Spirit.

David’s story is about spiritual discernment for God’s mission. It teaches us that God’s choice may be surprising. Yet the Spirit always provides ways for us to know his choice. Samuel, accepted by the people as God’s prophet, was the vehicle of his voice.

 

On 13 November 1851, the newly appointed Vicar Apostolic of the newly created Vicariate of Natal set sail from Marseilles together with four other Oblate companions.

 

Like David, Allard was a most unlikely choice. In fact five other possibilities were discarded before the Spirit’s choice was identified by the Church.

 

The original vicariate confided to Allard and his companions was huge. It now comprises as many as 35 separate dioceses:  all four diocese of Lesotho,  23 of the 29 dioceses of  South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland and perhaps, though boundaries were unclear, all eight dioceses of Zimbabwe. Most, though not all, of these particular churches were initially evangelised by Oblates. We have handed over almost all of the particular churches we founded whilst others were created from our mission outposts and given to other workers. Only four of these 35 are now headed by Oblates: 2 in Lesotho and 2 in South Africa.

 

In his first report, Devereux proposed to Rome that the new vicariate be confided either to the Jesuits or the Spiritans of Fr Libermann.

 

The role of Samuel in this affair is played by the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Rome, Giacomo, Filippo Fransoni. He first approached the Jesuits and then the Spiritans but discovered that they were not the ones, for the Spirit had occupied them elsewhere and they had no-one to spare for the task. Only then did he try the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

 

Now the Spirit had been troubling the Oblate Superior, Eugene de Mazenod, Bishop of Marseilles, about his African mission in Algeria which was beset with problems. He was debating whether or not to withdraw from the mission when the letter from Fransoni arrived inviting him to accept the Vicariate of Natal. Eugene wrote in his diary: “as things are it seems impossible to accept the invitation. But it comes from God, no one can think otherwise” (Brady 1952:39). And after a few more days of spiritual discernment he wrote his acceptance.

 

But still we are not at Allard, for De Mazenod’s choice fell on Charles Bellon who was working in England and knew the language and culture of the natives there. He seemed the perfect choice. Yet despite this, the Spirit had allowed him to fall sick. And so, plagued with ill health he asked to be excused.

 

Eugene did not know where to turn and in the end decided upon the Canadian novice master, Jean Francois Allard. Now Allard was completely convinced that he was not the person at all and begged the founder to reconsider. Indeed he delayed travelling to Marseilles, completely convinced  that St Eugene had made a mistake. And in the end he only complied in accordance with his vow of obedience which Eugene had to assert.

 

Meanwhile, Bishop Devereux had suggested another name to Fransoni, a Canon from the diocese of Limoges in France, called Montaigut. So now Fransoni had two names to choose from: Allard and Montaigut. In the end the members of the ordinary meeting of Propaganda Fide (SCPF) in Rome, as the council of the Church for this matter, had to choose between these two names. In faith and inspired by the Spirit, they chose Allard.

 

Like David before him Allard was not the first nor the second nor even the third possibility presented by the good men of the Church. He certainly did not feel that God was calling him to this mission. Yet, as with David, this was God’s work  and, as with David, the Spirit was able to use the events of the time and the people concerned, to effect his will.

 

I have spent a long time on this story because I think it illustrates something important about Oblate Spirituality and how God often works in this part of the world.

 

For God does not always work in a clear, obvious and “reasonable” way. Prudential reason in decision making process is never enough to discern God’s voice.  It is faith in God which opens our hearts to the voice of the Spirit. For it was  through the faithfulness of the Christian participants: Devereux, Fransoni, the Jesuits, the Spiritains, Bellon, De Mazenod and the others that God had a chance to make his plan work. No-one there stubbornly stuck to his own ideas.

 

Our Southern African Oblate tradition and the history of the Church here are filled with examples of this process in action. Even the struggle against apartheid was like that. People did what they could. Many Oblates were involved. Some went to jail. People played a variety of roles but in the end it was God who surprised us all by the miracle of 1994 after so many years of apartheid intransigence.

 

The Spirit multiplies our frail efforts: the criterion of fruits

It is God who creates the fruits of our missionary activities. Our work  will only bear fruits which last when we work with God and not against him. This is why one of the principal criteria for spiritual discernment is that of fruits. Jesus says: “you will be able to tell them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:20). Our second reading today tells us that these fruits are of many different types depending on the goodness that God needs to create amongst his people.

 

This small beginning, 150 years ago, has led to enormous fruits and we sometimes lose sight of how the Lord has blessed the work and ministry of the Oblates in Southern Africa.

 

More importantly it shows how the Oblates who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, in this part of God’s vineyard, have conformed themselves to the mission of the Spirit.

 

We recognise these fruits not to boast but rather to be inspired by God’s marvellous works amongst us. They encourage us in our own, often difficult, labours today. They lead us to praise Him for choosing us and allowing us to participate in his saving work.

 

The original vicariate confided to Allard and his companions was huge. It now comprises 35 separate dioceses: all eight dioceses of Zimbabwe, all four of Lesotho and 23 of the 29 dioceses of  South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. Most, though not all, of these particular churches were initially evangelised by Oblates. We have handed over almost all of the particular churches we founded whilst others were created from our mission outposts and given to other workers. Only four of these 35 are now headed by Oblates: 2 in Lesotho and 2 in South Africa.

 

Yet Oblate presence in Southern Africa continues to flourish. We are by far the largest group of male religious in the region. The Benedictine historian Sieber (1998:91) published figures in 1997 which showed that there were 280  Oblates working in South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana. The next highest group was Mariannhill with 90.

 

We are also the group with the greatest level of indigenisation. Oblates began to recruit local vocations long before other religious congregations did. By 1997 Sieber reports that 200 of the 280 Oblates were indigenous: 71%. The next highest figure is the Marist brothers with 54%; though of only 22 men.

 

Yet Sieber’s figures do not include Lesotho where the figures reveal an even greater level of Oblate presence in the Church and indigenisation. Nor do they include the miracle of Zambia where a mission planted only 20 years ago has born astonishing fruits today.

 

Southern Africa’s only formally recognised Saint, Blessed Joseph Gerard, was an Oblate of Mary Immaculate.

 

Fruits like these suggest that the Holy Spirit has a plan for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in this part of the world. God wants Oblates to continue to be part of his mission here. Indeed, given these numbers and continuing vocations, His will must be that we should play a major role in the Church of the future.

 

But what role?

 

In a moment of Kairos like this Jubilee year, this year of favour, we are called like never before to a discernment of this role. And given our history, it may not be immediately obvious to us what the Spirit’s choices are.

 

But there are at least two other reasons why discerning God’s will for us is a major priority right now. One is missiological and the other is socio-cultural.

 

The missiological reason comes from the fact that the primary evangelisation is now over.  Local churches have been established within the borders of the original vicariate. This means that our missionary role here must change.

 

So should we leave and focus on new missions ad gentes elsewhere? Or is our mission to continue here providing priests for these particular churches, many of which suffer from great shortages of clergy? So far we have adopted these two missionary strategies. New missions have been established in Zimbabwe, Cape Town, Umzimkulu,  Mpumalanga, Botswana, Angola and Kenya. At the same time we have continued to serve as diocesan clergy in the particular churches of our traditional areas. Both of these are clearly valid options since they conform to our tradition and to the vision of our congregation.

 

New fields for mission

However recent changes in our socio-cultural context suggest that new fields for mission must enter into our discernment.

 

They are recent changes. They come of late, like David, and  like Allard so they might be important.

 

They are socio-cultural changes and responding to socio-cultural changes is part of Southern African Oblate missionary tradition. Remember that it was the socio-cultural changes to the north of him which led Devereux to call for a new missionary effort leading to the establishment of the Vicariate of Natal.

 

The new  socio-cultural context emerging around us today includes things like the New South Africa, initiatives like the African Union and the Millennium Africa Plan and increasing socioeconomic cohesiveness between the countries of southern and central Africa.

 

Now this new context is surfacing many missionary needs but I would just like to highlight three. Three particular faces of  the poor and abandoned today.

1.               The materially poor.

2.               Those who suffer from the social sicknesses of emotional dysfunction and moral confusion.

3.               The youth.

 

Material Poverty

The materially poor have always been with us but what has changed are the strategies about poverty. In the apartheid era, the South African government effectively underdeveloped black people both within and outside its borders through migrant labour, homeland governments and racial development boards. Poverty as an issue was effectively deprioritised.

 

In the New South Africa and in the “New Partnership for Africa’s Development” (NEPAD) the struggle against poverty has moved to centre stage and policies now  respond to this particular issue. This means that for the first time there is synergy between State, Church and Civil society. We can work together and not against one another.

 

Our response to HIV/AIDS shows that this can be done. The Catholic Church is currently the largest NGO in the South African struggle against AIDS  with 74 separate projects operating country wide. Many Oblates are involved in this work.

 

Responding to poverty means working for development.  Research has shown that the top three development issues facing the country at present are: Unemployment, Crime, and Skills shortage. Obviously these are interconnected and the provision of effective education will produce people with skills, reducing unemployment and crime.

 

Now education was a major Oblate mission in the past. It was a mission which was actively undermined by the Apartheid State leading to the Mission schools debacle in the 1950's. But now our efforts can be part of a larger process of government, civil society and church, working together for the betterment of people’s lives.

 

Social sickness

Anger, rage and fear are three of the major expressions of the social sicknesses of emotional dysfunction and moral chaos which affect our society. Years of abnormal relating as human beings have led to emotional scarring in all of us. We carry around in our broken hearts attitudes of superiority, inferiority, prejudice and fear, anger and hatred. Our history is one of exploitation and dehumanisation of the other. Now that the oppressive structures have been removed, the lid has come off the boiling pot and we can see the symptoms more clearly. They include car rage, child abuse, promiscuity, and an inability to form stable relationships leading to broken marriages, family suicides, drug abuse and a whole host of other social sicknesses. The ministry to heal our people is a critical priority right now. Not on the medical level, but on the level of emotions, spirit and human reconstruction. This is the healing to which today’s Gospel refers.

 

Such healing also includes moral reconstruction, for without shared values, a society degenerates into insecurity, violence and chaos. When people live by a set of coherent values everyone knows where they stand and trust and cooperation grow. Families should be like that, neighbourhoods should be like that and churches should be like that.

God wants us to create such societies. Setting up centres for healing, like clinics, has been a part of our mission history here. Whilst those were mainly medical, today’s mission to heal needs us in a different way.

Youth

Youth are suffering today. The South Africa they live in is being renewed, but they were born and brought up in a society which lived in a state of low intensity war. Many of those who are 21 this year spent the first 15 years of their lives in a most violent, chaotic and confused society in transition: a country going through the pangs of birth from old to new. Yet today, with mounting unemployment, there is little for them but  beer, braais, soccer and the streets.

 

We used to have a powerful influence amongst youth. By 1953 the Catholic Church controlled 15% of all black schools, by far the most visible Catholic presence in society at the time. In the 1960s and 70s there were a number of Catholic youth movements within the country which provided leadership training.

 

Today the Catholic church has a very small influence amongst young people. It is the area of ministry in which the Church has reduced its involvement more than any other. Yet it is the most important area for the future of the Church in this country. What I am saying here is that if the Church is not involved with young people in a meaningful way then the future for us will be quite bleak.

 

Greater national and regional effort on the development of youth ministries and movements is one of the most urgent and pressing needs for evangelisation today. More priests and religious must be released to specialise in this work but they must also be inserted into structures which can train them to do it well. Here is a mission that the Oblates should do.

 

Conclusion

In the past the Spirit spoke through signs which help us now to discern for the future. Here are some of them.