Vocations Directors Hold 1st “Zoom and See”
Oblate Vocations
By Fr. Richard Hall, OMI
On August 8th the Oblate Vocation Directors held the first “ZOOM and SEE” gathering. Over 20 interested young men from all over the country attended this gathering along with pre-novices and even a pre-novice from Zambia, and from Cameroon, with a grand total of 25 participants! Oblate Fathers Jesse Esqueda, Richard Hall, Pauldass Selvaraj, Jarek Pachocki, from the Lacomb Province (Canada), Juan Gaspar, Director of the Pre-Novitiate, and David Muñoz along with Irma Noyola were in attendance.
Fr. Jesse lead the gathering with an introduction of who the Oblates are followed by Fr. Richard fielding questions from the men. One of the more poignant questions of the day was “what is the difference between the spirituality of the Franciscans and that of the Oblates? We were fortunate to have Fr. David Muñoz, who’s becoming an expert on Oblate Spirituality, respond. The difference is, “the center of our charism as Oblates is Jesus Christ and not the Poor.” But our service to the poor and most abandoned extends from our relationship with Christ at the center of our charism.”
The ZOOM and SEE was a successful event with the hopes of having our next ZOOM and SEE in October with the pre-novices in attendance.
The recent COVID Pandemic has called upon all of us especially the Vocation Directors to become more creative in seeking vocations for the Oblates.