COURSE DESCRIPTION

The response to Jesus Christ’s invitation to missionary discipleship has taken many forms over the centuries. “Oblation” is the expression used by St Eugene de Mazenod, which he entrusted to the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and those associated with his charism, known as the Mazenodian Family.

This course is a theological and missionary study of the concept of “oblation” and how it has been expressed and lived by Saint Eugene de Mazenod and in the lives and achievements of some of those associated with his charism from 1816 until the present.

Students who do not form part of the Mazenodian charism are invited to use this model as a starting point for reflection on their tradition of missionary discipleship.

The course is being offered asynchronously at 2 and 3 hour credit levels as well as for enrichment.

GOAL OF THE COURSE

To provide the students with a basic understanding of the Biblical and theological foundation of “oblation” and its expression in missionary discipleship through the study of how it has been lived by selected missionaries.

To assist the students to appropriate and express “oblation” in their own discipleship.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion the students will be able to

Objective 1: explain the major elements of oblation as missionary discipleship.

Objective 2: to offer means for a contemporary application of oblation

Objective 3: integrate the theology and practice of missionary discipleship as oblation into their own ministerial theology

COURSE CONTENTS

Oblation and discipleship in Scripture:

• Offering, Sacrifice, Consecration
• The Oblation of Jesus Christ, the Savior
• Discipleship as oblation in the New Testament
• Discipleship as missionary self-giving

Oblation and missionary discipleship and its expressions in the tradition of the Church

• Martyrdom
• Missionary discipleship expressed in consecrated virginity, marriage, religious life and the single life
• “Oblation” as understood and expressed in consecrated life in the history of the Church

Oblation and missionary discipleship for Eugene de Mazenod

• The Crucified Savior as the model of oblation
• Religious life as the expression of missionary oblation
• Martyrdom as an expression of oblation
• ·The “Martyrdom of Charity” and oblation as service

Discipleship and Oblation in the Constitutions and Rules of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

The study of various figures in the Mazenodian tradition under the following categories. (If there are students of other Congregations, they will be invited to compile a list of their own figures and to study and present those in their assignments)

• Oblation and those who were put to death as a result of their Mazenodian charism and vocation
• Oblation expressed in martyrdom in opposition to political ideology and religious extremism
• Oblation as the “martyrdom of charity”
• Oblation expressed in the quest for social justice
• Oblation in crossing frontiers to evangelize the most abandoned.
• Oblation expressed in the field of education
• Oblation expressed in the Oblate founders of religious congregations
• Oblation expressed in the world of art and music

The theological, spiritual and missionary challenges for the charismatic family in the future.

(If there are students of different Congregations, they will be invited to compile a list of their own figures and to study and present those in their assignments)

RESOURCES

The students will be referred to relevant Oblate writings, review articles and sections of books during the course. These will all be available online.