Meeting 3 - I am an Oasis Member – What Follows?¶
Goal and Method of the Meeting¶
On the third day of the retreat, participants already realize that Oasis is something more than a “religious club”. They also know in outline the vision of Fr. F. Blachnicki regarding the tasks and methods of the Light-Life Movement. So the time has come to take concrete actions regarding their own parish Oasis communities. This meeting is to help them discover the needs of these communities and ways to satisfy them.
One and a half hours are allocated for the meeting. It will be conducted using the method of Evangelical Review of Life, so it will consist of three parts, with the following goals:
See – Objective look at one’s own communities, finding both shortcomings and features worthy of praise. Exchange of experiences between participants. (30 min.)
Judge – Discovering God’s expectations regarding communities and their individual members based on the Scripture. Assessment of the condition of their communities in the light of God’s Word. (45 min.)
Act – Finding spheres of activity of parish Oasis communities that require improvement. Making concrete resolutions. (15 min.)
Animator Preparation¶
The fragment Rom 12:2–18 should be read and considered beforehand, and preferably prayed through and tried to relate to the realities of Oasis communities. I suggest doing this before reading the rest of the outline.
Other fragments listed further on may also be helpful in preparation, although most of them will probably not be used at the meeting. It is also worth familiarizing yourself with the additional materials at the end of the outline.
Prayer¶
We start the meeting with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, asking Him for openness to His inspirations and readiness to undertake actions that He requires of us. You can also add an intention for the unity of the Movement and fidelity to the charism.
See¶
Each participant talks about their community. A form of discussion is more advisable here than speaking in turn. However, everyone must have an opportunity to speak. If there are several people from one parish in the group, care should be taken so that one person does not tell “everything”. Valuable here are not only the facts themselves, but also the private assessment of such a state of affairs, therefore every voice is important.
It is very important to talk about both good aspects of the life of a specific community, and bad ones. The goal of the meeting is not to complain about how bad it is in our Oases, how weak and imperfect they are. The meeting is to help participants discover the truth about their communities. It is necessary to talk about successes and achievements in individual parishes. This is to enrich all participants, strengthen hope for improving certain defects and maybe indicate ways out of them, proven in other Oases.
If participants show the opposite tendency, i.e., claim that everything is fine, it is not so dangerous for now. Discovering defects is the goal of the second part of the meeting, although it would be good if participants noticed certain things themselves. If they do not notice, the Scripture will help them in the second part.
Questions that can be asked to participants:
What Oases are in your community: Children of God Oasis (ODB), Domestic Church, …?
How many members are there? At what stage?
How often are the meetings – group and general?
How many people go on retreats?
Is there a common Holy Mass? How often?
What does prayer look like in the community?
How does Oasis act in the parish?
How is the cooperation: with priests, with altar boys, with Marians, with other parish groups?
How is Oasis seen by parishioners?
Judge¶
This part of the meeting will be based on a fragment of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans Rom 12:2–18. It is quite a long text, touching concisely on many issues. One should not delve into everything, rather focus on what individual communities fall short in. At the same time, one must be careful not to overlook important issues, such as the Eucharist or prayer, which this fragment touches on with three words. You can read the text in fragments and consider them successively, e.g. Rom 12:2, 3–8, 9–12, 13–18.
I do not want to impose an interpretation of the text. What the participants deduce themselves is important. Moreover, the animator may see the need to emphasize certain issues, according to their discernment. Therefore, the following considerations (until the end of the Judge part) do not have to be taken into account at all. However, I would like to share my own observations, which may prove helpful. There are certainly too many of them, I present them so that there is something to choose from. However, I have highlighted in bold the topics that, in my opinion, should be raised:
Rom 12:2 - St. Paul did not write out all these tips in a random order. So he starts from the basics: seeking God’s will and metanoia. Without this, a Christian community does not exist. At the same time, one must have an open mind so as not to build on patterns taken from this world, but to rely on God’s plan, which is often surprising and demanding.
Rom 12:3–8 - Paul’s teaching about the Church as one body in Christ can also be applied to the Oasis community. Everyone has their place, according to the gift they received. At the same time, St. Paul lists functions that should be performed in every Christian community. Out of necessity, in Oasis often one person fills several functions. Some functions are taken over by the college of animators, some can be performed by participants. It is important that none of them is missing in the community:
gift of prophecy – Does not have to be understood in the sense of an extraordinary charism. In the context of the community, it is primarily discerning God’s will. Someone must perform this function, usually a priest or a college of moderators, since the goal of the community is to do God’s will. Again St. Paul lists it in the first place. However (unlike the next two) St. Paul explicitly calls prophecy a gift, so no one can perform this function ex officio (e.g., a priest) and it cannot be assigned to anyone. In practice, it comes down to suggesting ideas regarding action and possible changes in the community. Their source should always be prayer.
office of deacon – Again, it does not have to be understood in the sense of ordination. Greek diakonos means servant, so diaconal activities can be understood as all necessary services in the community. It can be liturgical service or cleaning the room. They are usually performed by participants, often in the form of duties.
office of teacher – transferring knowledge. By virtue of service, all animators perform it.
gift of admonishing – necessary in every community.
leader – moderator, not necessarily a priest.
giving, acts of mercy – Oasis, or at least Oasis members, are to serve the needy. The point is not to replace the parish branch of Caritas, but rather to cooperate with it. It is good if the community as a whole engages in some works of mercy. If this is not possible, then of course every member of Oasis should serve someone somewhere somehow. Faith, if it were not combined with works, is dead in itself. (cf. Jas 2:14–19)
Rom 12:9–12 - A list of rules to follow in community life. Each of them is important. Most can be simply translated into our realities, so I will comment on only a few:
Serve the Lord – This is perhaps the only direct reference to liturgy in the entire text. Meanwhile, the Eucharist should be an inseparable element of community life, as other Pauline texts speak of (cf. e.g. 1 Cor 11:17–34). As far as possible, Oasis should gather every week for a common Holy Mass.
Be patient in tribulation – that is, in all internal and external difficulties.
Be constant in prayer – Community prayer is necessary in every community where God is to stand in the center. Its lack basically cannot be justified by anything. Both thanksgiving and petition prayer in the intentions of individual members, the entire parish community, the entire Movement, as well as for the parish, the Homeland, the Church and the world are needed. Individual prayer of individual members for the community is also necessary.
Rom 12:13–18 - Further rules, this time speaking about the community’s relations with the “outside world”. After describing the internal life of the community, St. Paul moves on to external activities and relationships with other people. Here we also come to the main goal of the meeting, because this part of community life often shows deficiencies in Oasis. Basically all topics discussed here are important:
Contribute to the needs of the saints – St. Paul talks about material support for the Church. We can additionally ask ourselves if and how we care for the finances of the community and the entire Movement.
Practice hospitality – Are we open to new members? Do we invite guests to meetings?
Bless those who persecute you – Oasis sometimes meets with criticism from various sides. One must respond to this criticism with Christian sensitivity, trying to fix errors and improve one’s image. And if the criticism is actually groundless, the answer of love is prayer for the light of the Spirit for those who judge us unjustly.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep – Oasis cannot be detached from the reality in which it is located. In particular, it should unite with the parish in its joys, and support it in difficulties as far as possible.
Do not consider yourselves wise – especially wiser than the parish priest, than parents…
Try to do good to all people – We return to the topic of acts of mercy.
Live in harmony with all people – One must take care first of all that Oasis does not initiate any disputes. Secondly, Oasis should act to alleviate all disputes. Not only those that directly concern it, but also sometimes in the role of a mediator. Of course with sensitivity and not against anyone.
As I mentioned earlier, the animator may consider some matters as requiring more attention. Then they can support themselves with one of the following texts:
1 Cor 11:17–20 Importance of the Eucharist and avoiding disputes.
Eph 5:17–20 Discerning God’s will; common prayer of praise, in particular prayer by singing.
1 Tim 2:1–4 Community intercessory prayer for the world. Jas 2:14–19 Acts of mercy.
Eph 5:3–4 Culture of the word.
Gal 6:1–3 Mutual support and responsibility for the other. Phil 2:1–5; Eph 4:1–3 Unanimity and humility.
Act¶
After stating how it is (part I) and how it should be (part II), participants should make an effort to discover possibilities for improving community life. Certain ideas could have appeared already during the previous parts. They should now be repeated, specified and the possibilities of introducing them into life assessed. One must also think about those problems whose solutions do not impose themselves immediately.
The course of this part depends on the remaining time and the possibilities of the group. If there are too many ideas, one should rather focus on some and discuss them in more detail. If there are too few, one can try to mobilize participants for a short “brainstorming” so that everyone thinks about a specific problem of the selected community.
The best fruit of this meeting will be declarations of participants to undertake specific actions. Of course, they should be spontaneous, one cannot allow an atmosphere of pressure to be created. If there are no such declarations, it is enough for participants to take away a sense of responsibility for the community from the meeting.
Prayer¶
For the power of the Spirit to fulfill resolutions. For all those responsible and for all members of our communities. For fruitful cooperation of Oasis with the parish…
Alternatively: The mystery of the descent of the Holy Spirit — The Apostles, locked in the Upper Room, after receiving the Spirit went out into the world to proclaim Christ with the testimony of word and deed.
Additional Materials¶
- From the Code of Canon Law, canon 215
The Christian faithful are at liberty freely to found and govern associations for charitable or pious purposes or to promote the Christian vocation in the world and to hold meetings for the common pursuit of these purposes.
- From the apostolic exhortation of John Paul II Christifideles laici:
The necessity of clear and established criteria for discerning and recognizing such lay groups is always understood in the perspective of the communion and mission of the Church, and therefore no tension exists between them and the freedom to associate. It is possible to establish the following criteria for discerning and recognizing all lay associations in the Church:
The primacy given to the call of every Christian to holiness, as it is manifested “in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in these faithful” and in a growth towards the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity. In this sense whatever association of the lay faithful there might be, it is always called to be more of an instrument leading to holiness in the Church, through fostering and promoting “a more intimate unity between the everyday life of its members and their faith”.
The responsibility of professing the Catholic faith, embracing and proclaiming the truth about Christ, the Church and humanity, in obedience to the Church’s Magisterium, as the Church interprets it. (…)
The witness to a solid and authentic communion in filial relationship to the Pope, (…) and to the Bishop (…)
Conformity to and participation in the Church’s apostolic goals, that is, “the evangelization and sanctification of men and the Christian formation of their consciences, so as to enable them to infuse the spirit of the Gospel into the various communities and spheres of life”. From this perspective, one of the characteristics of groups of the lay faithful is their being involved in the mission of the Church. They are therefore a privileged channel for the formation and the encouragement of an active and responsible participation of the lay faithful in the work of the new evangelization.
A commitment to a presence in human society, which in light of the Church’s social doctrine, places it at the service of the total dignity of the person. (…)
The fundamental criteria mentioned at this time find their verification in the actual fruits that various group forms show in their organizational life and the works they perform, such as: the renewed appreciation for prayer, contemplation, liturgical and sacramental life, the reawakening of vocations to Christian marriage, the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life; a readiness to participate in programmes and Church activities at the local, national and international levels; a commitment to catechesis and a capacity for teaching and forming Christians; a desire to be present as Christians in various settings of social life and the creation and animation of charitable, cultural and spiritual works; the spirit of detachment and evangelical poverty leading to a greater generosity in charity towards all; conversion to the Christian life or the return to Church communion of those baptized members who have fallen away from the faith.
- From the Testament of the Servant of God Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki:
Looking at the development of the Movement, the fruits, at this reality in the life of the Church in Poland — I cannot but see in it a gift—charism. It was not invented, created by me, but it was given and assigned to me. There was a lot of admixture of my own, immature ideas in it, I often hindered this work as much as I could, but the very fact that despite this it lasted and developed according to a certain constant, internal logic, testifies to the fact that it is a gift. For this great gift of my life, for the fact that I could become a tool in this work — glory be to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. And if I had something to convey and wanted to convey something in my spiritual testament — it is this gift — the Light-Life charism. Understanding, love, fidelity to this charism. It seems to me that there are still few people, also in Poland, who have already received the grace of understanding the significance of this charism for the renewal of the face of the Church — Christ’s Bride, the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to earth. If the Lord allowed me to live and act longer, I would desire one thing, that I could more effectively and fruitfully show in the midst of the modern world the beauty and greatness of the Mystery of the Church–Sacrament, that is, the sign and instrument of unity of all people.