September 2015 Meeting Minutes

Cincinnati Oblate Chapter Minutes September 27, 2015

Attendance:
Nick McCarroll, Bryan Miller, Pat Dorn, Susan Anderson, Jerry Etienne, John Campbell, Br. Peduru
Fonseka, OSB, Kathy Gloeckner, Karen Mendoza, John Rasche, Ron Clark, Donna Clark, Peyton Reed, Mary Louise Reed, Rosemary Conrad, Ron DeMarco, Margaret Sherlock, Stephen Drees, Eric Kenny

Our meeting opened with reading of the Mission Statement. Second Sunday Vespers of Week Two was prayed together. Lectio Divina was shared together using Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48.

The Minutes of the April 26 meeting were approved.

Nick McCarroll stated that our current chapter balance is $4.00. We owe $75.00 to Br. Peduru for today’s visit.

New Business: Pat Dorn let us know that Clyde was not there this afternoon because he is not feeling well. We will pray for him. Ron Clark requested that someone else take over the responsibility for the oblate library. Please let him know if you are interested. Ron DeMarco reported that the Saint Meinrad Oblate Council is meeting to prepare for the Meeting of Chapter Coordinators which is planned for June of 2017.

Conference: "Understanding oblation as a vocation" or "A Call from within" by Brother Peduru Fonseka, OSB

Br. Peduru opened his presentation with a question, asking us each to tell him how we decided to be an oblate. There were many answers from the group: being invited to come to a chapter meeting, Lectio Divina convinced me, a visit to Saint Meinrad Archabbey, being with other oblates, something to make sense of all these complications in life.

Br. Peduru read aloud the signed promises made by all oblates. It's a promise in front of God and all the saints and a sense of community with Saint Meinrad Archabbey. In committee with Fr. Meinrad and other oblates we make the promises. The promises are like the final vows of the monks at Saint Meinrad. So there is a community aspect in both oblates and monks with God and the saints. God is the central reason that brought us to this community. All of us had something within that needed to be fulfilled. The invitation from God that we responded to brought us to this community, looking for God. Answering that invitation was answering the "Call from within."

We all wish to get closer to God. We believe that God will help us with a greater understanding of the meaning of life. And so we need to look at life through the lens of God. This way of life helps us put things in perspective. In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father welcomed the wayward son with outstretched arms. God called us in the same way to be His witness. And we responded with our commitment of a year of study to become an oblate.

In a retreat given by the bishop of Barbados, he outlined the following four steps we go through to discern our vocation:

1). The invitation from God
2). Our response to the invitation
3). Listening to our conscience to reflect on the vocation and connect to the spiritual aspect
4). Our human development, integrating spiritual good with the natural good. Essentially rising to a level where we become one with the values we embrace as Christians. We become living examples of those Christian values.

God helps us to do this when our lives are centered around him. He is always with us to give us the wisdom and strength to go beyond all obstacles and answer the call from within.

Submitted by: Ron DeMarco