Page 117 - Reflections on St. Joseph

not easy today to have faith in these fundamental values precisely because they are so simple.
This is in conflict with the complexity of the modern world in which even the values of religious
life are wrapped up in the smoke of so many pseudo-values that their significance is obscured.
“Greed, the craving of pleasure, the idolatry of power, the triple concupiscence which marks
history and is also at the root of present evils can only be overcome if the Gospel values of
poverty, chastity and service are rediscovered. Consecrated persons must know how to
proclaim, with their lives and with their words, the beauty of poverty of spirit and of chastity
of heart which free one for service to brothers and sisters and of obedience which gives
longevity to the fruits of charity” (Starting Afresh, n. 45).

What does all of this mean for us as Oblates, who are called to live the evangelical counsels
according to the Marellian charism? St. Joseph Marello said: “Nothing can satisfy our hearts, not
riches, not pleasures, not honors, but only God. We ought to always have our sights set on God,
remembering that our goal is this: to know, love and serve God. God is all, everything else is
nothing. Therefore, we ought to reject anything that can separate us from God, no matter how
beautiful and attractive it might be, and embrace all that leads us closer to God, no matter how
ugly, painful and repugnant it might be to our nature. Let us say to the Lord, like St. Paul: Lord,
what would you have me do? I am ready to do what the Lord wants, without reservation”
(Scritti, p. 241)

6. We need to be aware of the social, religious and anthropological circumstances in which we
live, also in relation to the various places and cultures in which our confreres work. This will
permit us to bring clarity to the messy situations in which we find ourselves, and to allow us to
be led by faith in every situation, always placing in first place our Oblate evangelical and
religious values. Even more so from the anthropological point of view, we need to start from
Christ, to live in Christ, for Christ, with Christ, giving all honor and glory to God!

We need to avoid making a distinction or creating opposition between: the life of prayer (the
prayers that we ought to do) and the apostolate (in the field where obedience places us); the
practice of the evangelical counsels and our Josephite-Marellian charism: in the sense that our
charism needs to be the spiritual nucleus of all our spirituality. We ought to live our religious
vows in the light of our charism; we ought to love and identify ourselves with the Congregation
that we have embraced; we ought to see our apostolate in the light of our charism, whether

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Reflections on st. joseph