Oblate Associates - Northern Province South Africa

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With Fr. Lougen OMI Superior General

Oblate Associates celebrating the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Youth Day June 16.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Kino Makhatha OMI who passed away at 21.30 Saturday the 28th February 2015 at Lady Selbourne Pretoria. The associates will be going there to gather in prayer. Leaving St. Hubert's Alexandra after 8.15 Mass. All associates are welcome. May he rest in peace. Amen!

17th February- feast of the approval of the Oblate Constitutions and Rules. In Blessed Sacrament parish, Malvern.

Dear Associates, do you know of any young ladies or your daughters who might be interested in this: this coming weekend (16-18 January) there is a "Come and See" at the Carmelite convent in Benoni. Are you called to be a Carmelite nun? Do you want to experience life in Carmel? Contact me or Sr. Chawezi 0712520225

Pope Francis’ suggested New Year’s resolutions
Posted on January 1, 2015 by Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY — When Pope Francis met before Christmas with Vatican employees, mostly lay people with families, he asked them to do 10 things. The list sounded remarkably like suggestions for New Year’s resolutions:
– “Take care of your spiritual life, your relationship with God, because this is the backbone of everything we do and everything we are.”
– “Take care of your family life, giving your children and loved ones not just money, but most of all your time, attention and love.”
– “Take care of your relationships with others, transforming your faith into life and your words into good works, especially on behalf of the needy.”
– “Be careful how you speak, purify your tongue of offensive words, vulgarity and worldly decadence.”
– “Heal wounds of the heart with the oil of forgiveness, forgiving those who have hurt us and medicating the wounds we have caused others.”
– “Look after your work, doing it with enthusiasm, humility, competence, passion and with a spirit that knows how to thank the Lord.”
– “Be careful of envy, lust, hatred and negative feelings that devour our interior peace and transform us into destroyed and destructive people.”
– “Watch out for anger that can lead to vengeance; for laziness that leads to existential euthanasia; for pointing the finger at others, which leads to pride; and for complaining continually, which leads to desperation.”
– “Take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker … the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless and strangers, because we will be judged on this.”

More pictures from Saturday's braai!

Associates braai with Novices.

THOSE WHO EXTEND A WARM AND TENDER HAND | Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us We catch a passing glimpse into the affectivity of the busy Eugene in the midst of his many preoccupations: his need to express his attachment and joy at being able to share more deeply with some of his Oblate sons. This lifelong aspect of Eugene’s character was mirrored in his devotion to Lazarus,…

Fr. Steckling named bishop in Paraguay
15/11/2014 Vatican

On 15 November 2014, Pope Francis has named Fr. Wilhelm (Guillermo) STECKLING, Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, as Bishop of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este. The former Superior General of the Missionary Oblates is currently serving as the superior of the Beato José Gerard Scholasticate in Asunción, Paraguay.

The newly named bishop will have the difficult mission of bringing peace and harmony to a diocese that has recently suffered a good deal of turmoil. In September 2014, the Holy See issued the following statement: “Following a careful examination of the conclusions drawn following the apostolic visits carried out by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Clergy to the bishop, the diocese and the seminarians of Ciudad del Este, the Holy Father has decided to substitute Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano and has appointed Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Ciudad del Este. This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay. The Holy Father, in the exercise of his ministry as the 'perpetual and visible foundation of the unity of both the bishops and the multitude of the faithful', asked the clergy and all the People of God of Ciudad del Este to accept the Holy See's decision with a spirit of obedience and docility and without prejudice, guided by faith. On the other hand, the Church in Paraguay, guided by her pastors, is invited to embark on a serious process of reconciliation in order to overcome any form of sectarianism or discord, so as not to harm the countenance of the one Church, 'born of the blood of His Son' and so that Christ's flock may not be deprived of the joy of the Gospel”.

Now that “serious process of reconciliation” will be in the hands of a man who had the universal respect and love of his brother Oblates during the 12 years he served as Superior General (1998-2010).

Fr Steckling was born on 23 April 1947 at Verl in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the diocese of Paderborn, Germany. He made first vows as an Oblate in 1967and his perpetual vows in 1973. He was ordained a priest in his home parish of Spexard, near Gütersloh, in 1974. The same year, he received his first obedience for the then Vice Province of Pilcomayo and left for Paraguay.
His early ministry was among the rural Guaranis in the parish of Independencia, diocese of Villarica. He later worked in Asunción as a formator, primarily at the pre-novitiate. In 1986, and again in 1989, he was elected Provincial of the Vice Province of Pilcomayo. He had just finished his term of office and returned to his work at the pre-novitiate when the 1992 General Chapter elected him second Assistant General. During those six years as Assistant he was responsible for the formation portfolio.
He was elected the twelfth Superior General of the Congregation in 1998, succeeding Archbishop Marcello ZAGO, who had become the Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The 34th General Chapter (2004) reelected Fr. Guillermo for a second term as Superior General. Following his 18 year sojourn in Rome, he was happy to return to his missionary life in Paraguay.