Monday, July 15, 2019

March 2019 Minutes

Cincinnati Oblates’ Meeting March 24, 2019

Attendance Linda Faulhaber, Kathy Gloeckner, Linda & Nick McCarroll, John Rasche, Clyde & Pat Dorn, Ron DeMarco,Margaret Sherlock, Ron Lillie, Pauline Cantrell, Hermie Glaser, Peyton & Mary Louise Reed

Ron DeMarco opened the meeting with prayer, then we introduced ourselves. We read the Mission Statement together, then prayed Vespers, followed by Lectio, using Luke 13:1-9 The minutes from the February 24 meeting need a correction: The correct web address for our chapter is: www.cincinnatioblates.org

The treasurer reported a balance of $562 with a bill for copies of $2.78

Old Business The Day of Recollection for 2020, sponsored by our chapter, is all set for May 16, 2020. No one from our chapter was able to attend the St. Meinrad Day of Service in Dayton on March 9.

New Business Br. Francis will be here next month, and we will be discussing The Screwtape Letters, as assigned us last September. Br. Francis has earlier sent us discussion questions to help us understand the book. A live on-line oblate group is coming in the future. Currently there is an email list connection. If you send your full name and email address to oblates@saintmeinrad.edu they will confirm it with you as space opens (it’s currently limited to 100 oblates), though you may not hear for a while. More information will be coming.

March Program: “Our Town Hall meeting”. Ron led a discussion about how to make our meetings more meaningful for our members.

  • Lectio: what do we mean by “prayer” in part three? 
  • Vespers: Chanting the psalms. Some members are having trouble “getting” the sung psalms. Some members find the singing meaningful, even they may not be able to fully sing them. Others enjoy the chanting. There were high feeling levels, and Ron moved that we table a decision for now. 
  • Ron reminded us that the monastery and the oblate program have had quite a few changes, and that these are affecting each and all of us differently. There is a new abbot who is instituting his vision, there are changes in the formation program, we have a new oblate director replacing Fr. Meinrad, we now have oblate deans, and this year’s emphasis on transparency and accountability have all stretched us in new ways. 
  • Chapter coordinators will be meeting in June and discussing how we work in our various chapters. 
  • The Screwtape Letters has been difficult for some. Ron suggests prayer to seek lessons/truth about our discussion. 
  • Several members suggested our meetings have discussions based on the information sent to each of us from St. Meinrad – newsletters and booklets, for example. Sessions sharing how each of us is responding to these, as well as to the monks’ visitations, or the Rule of St. Benedict. A logistical problem here is that novices and guests don’t receive all of this correspondence. One suggestion is that someone could read a booklet, newsletter, etc. and present a summary, which could then be discussed as a group.
Investitures and Oblations: we have questions for the chapter coordinators’ meeting in June regarding the requirement that these happen at St. Meinrad. It is a hardship, in time or in expense, for some to go there rather than have these happen in our chapter meetings. And, it’s body building and encouraging for us to be able to see the oblations and to receive the new oblates into our midst. The meeting adjourned with prayer, and we shared snacks and conversation. 

Respectfully submitted, Mary Louise Reed

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