3. Move Forward

Courage is a glimmer of hope that refuses to fade into the night and is wonderful wisdom. We are built to fight and to win. We have within us the power to overcome obstacles inherent in life, but to succeed, we must become aware of and use the riches that are within us.

Is there anything more exhilarating than a fit athlete who fights hard and manages to outdo himself in a final sprint, where victory is the result of a last-second effort?

To move forward is to maintain courage, to become aware of one's inner mechanism, to find one's balance. Five minutes of reflection each day is the regime to follow.

Excerpt from the “Collection Volontaires de Dieu”, Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I.

Do you want to change your life? (1) Five minutes can change a life
Do you want to change your life? (2) - Having a goal in life.

The Leadership Committee decided to merge the Facebook pages, “Attitudes for Lifeˮ and “Thoughts for the Heart and Mind, ˮ
to create a page under the name, “The Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate” where you will find the two pages, in
French, English, and Spanish, but also occasional publications about the Institute and headquarters.

Subscribe in large numbers to the Facebook page of “The Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate”,
and most importantly, ask your family and friends to subscribe as well.

Having a goal in life.

We lead hectic lives, we have lost the desire to simplify our lives, we end up believing that happiness is a utopia, because to look for it, we run left and right instead of reaching for it within our hearts. However, there is an innate and very strong desire to be happy within each of us.

Thanks to the media, mankind has managed to reach the most distant people on the globe. Today, we see more people in a day than our grandfathers saw in their entire lives.

Happiness is within us. It’s a matter of asking questions, listening to the answers that arise from the heart, getting started and doing something positive.

If we agree to reflect every day for five minutes, we will end up discovering our own resources, our true potential. […]

Every human being must exploit the positive that inhabits them to have the ability of not being broken by minor injuries such as the impatience of others or their indifference. We must defend ourselves, not through acts of contempt, but by seeking to understand, […] by not breaking our own way of loving.

We have the power to empathize that lies within us, to build peace and to spread it everywhere. It is by accepting to live in this way that we become useful. It is by living the best of yourself that life becomes a true wonder.

Excerpt from the “Collection Volontaires de Dieu”: Do you want to change your life? Louis-Marie Parent, OMI

Do you want to change your life? (1) Five minutes can change a life

Do you want to change your life? (3) – Move Forward

Do you want to change your life? (4) Finding balance

Mary, Mother of hope, walk with us! […]

Help us to bear witness to Jesus, the only Savior; make us helpful to our neighbor, welcoming to those in need, artisans of justice, passionate builders of a more just world; intercede for us [...].

Queen of peace, protect humanity. Watch over all Christians: may they advance in confidence on the path of unity, as a leaven for harmony on the continent.

Watch over young people, the hope of the future, that they respond generously to the call of Jesus; watch over the leaders of nations: may they work to build a common home in which the dignity and rights of each person are respected.

Mary, give us Jesus! […] He is the hope of the Church, of Europe and of humanity. […] With you, we say: “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev 22:20)

May the hope of the glory that He has placed in our hearts bear fruits of justice and peace!

Excerpt from the beautiful prayer to Mary
by John Paul II

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In the tenth year of its existence, I joined this group of young girls to respond to the call that I felt inside. They lived happily and I saw that “giving of themselves without counting” had no limit, as they were so excited to freely and happily be at the service of others. A brilliant testimony for me!

On the other hand, I led myself to believe that the life of a member of a Secular Institute was easy and without constraint. After six months, I discovered that it is rather a privileged living environment, which presented a great challenge for me. This responded to the deep desire that I had, “to give myself without counting” to others in a consecrated secularity.

“If the Oblate thinks of God, if she avoids criticism and complaints, if she is diligent in serving, if she applies herself to spreading peace around her, her mouth, her heart, her conscience are instruments of charity and her whole life is a prayer.” (Father Louis Marie Parent) This is my program for life, I said to myself! I must admit today that nothing is ever certain.

I began my Oblate life quietly and without fanfare, and today I joyfully celebrate my 60 years within the Institute. Yes, the Institute is a living environment in the middle of the world where the happiness of having said “yes” like Mary is experienced.

Adrianna Delisle

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The Volunteers of God now have an official Facebook page that uses four languages, according to its subscribers: French, English, Spanish and Italian. Italian? That's right! We have about 20 Italian subscribers, and we occasionally publish news or thoughts in Italian along with the other three official languages of the Volunteers of God.

Why have a Facebook page? To make the Volunteers of God known, as well as the spirituality that animates them and to propose the five attitudes of life as a means to build a more peaceful, more just and more loving world.

It allows us to be in direct contact with our subscribers, to read their questions and be able to answer them in a short time. It is also a place to post our upcoming activities, outings, meetings, and events of all kinds in person and on ZOOM.

Hope to see you there soon!

Violaine Couture
Coordinator for the French and English-speaking sectors
and Esther Acuña
Coordinator for the Spanish-speaking sector

I searched for a long time, I analyzed and finally I found what I was looking for: a consecrated life in the middle of the world.

I freely committed myself to live with the evangelical counsels of the three vows: chastity, poverty and obedience. My commitment through my vows is a way of assuming my human, Christian and civic responsibility, through a simple and sober form of life within society. This choice opens a path to unconditional love, a path that is great and full of freedom. It is also a commitment to develop a spirit of sharing and justice with respect for the common good.

I live my secular consecration in the open world, and through my professional life. This is a choice that meets the deep values that inhabit me. I try to live the charity of Christ and to be attentive to the realities of my environment. My mission is supported by daily prayer and fraternal life. I create bonds of solidarity between the people I meet in my workplace: between organizations and religious communities.

I very much appreciate team life within the Institute, it allows me to experience fraternal communion. The testimony of companions edifies me and encourages me to develop positive values according to the apostolic attitudes of the second five.

I give thanks to the Lord for my vocation, and all that I receive through the Institute.

Renée Nema

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Blessed art thou for having guided me and called me to live in the Oblate Institute in 1961.
Blessed art thou for our good Father Parent, who was faithful to the breath of the Spirit in founding our Institute.
Blessed art thou for your love that you make grow in my soul through the mysticism of the 5-5-5.
Blessed art thou for having opened my heart to the different people to love in the various environments where you led me, especially my 20 years in Saint-Jovite.
Blessed art thou for these three years in Chad where you spoke to my heart in this poor environment, but rich of heart.
Blessed art thou for bringing me back to my roots in Sorel to sanctify myself and live the charity of Christ by working with You to build thy kingdom.
Blessed art thou for your love, always present and active in the parish, in this living environment of the RPA (residence for the elderly) where you teach me, in my heart and in others, to live each present moment, putting my talents to the service of others.
Every day I will sing of the good you have done me.

Claire Pronovost

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Let us read this beautiful prayer that Fr. Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I.,
has left us as a legacy, just as Jesus gave us his Spirit.

Your Spirit is within me

Lord, since your Spirit is in me,
since he expresses himself through me
by distributing his love, by dosing it
through the weakness and richness of my whole being,
make me faithful, docile, helpful, […]

Give me the lights,
the courage of the apostles after Pentecost.
Give me the eloquence of example, of conduct,
of the Word too, so that I may cry out without fatigue
that your Son Jesus is alive,
that he has triumphed over death,
that he draws us into the furrow of his glory,
that he engraves in our hearts
the certainty of the resurrection.

Lord, fill me with your Spirit.
I know that he is in me through baptism,
but I don't think about it enough.
I don't realize that he is the heart of my faith,
the heart of my sanctification, the breath of my zeal, […]

Lord, engrave your availability in my mind,
in my heart, in my will, in my senses,
so that I may leave to the Holy Spirit
the freedom to live, to act, to love,
to serve, to create unity,
to build peace through me
using my whole being.

Lord, give me an attentive heart
like that of Mary. Amen!

Prayer by Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I.
Excerpt from the book: Je t'accueille, 1994, pages 81-82

Photo: Pixabay

The Volunteers of God, a group affiliated with the Secular Institute The Oblates Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, commit themselves annually to live 5 attitudes of evangelical life in their environment.

With the members of this group spread across Quebec, Canada, the United States and many other countries of the world, I allow myself to dream of peace, one day.

These are difficult times for all of us in terms of the violence that is spreading around the world.

The Volunteers of God, convinced of the need to be a source of peace, believe in the power of the Word of God in one of its beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.ˮ Mt 5:9

By meditating on this Word, they become aware that they belong to this God of Love. They discover, as time goes by, that this peace of Christ is a strength. They know that they will live it in the midst of the upheavals of the world. But energized by the power of the Spirit, they want to announce it to those around them, since it transforms actions into benefits. Pope Francis' message in Bethlehem on May 25, 2022 was clear: “Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a torment. ˮ

In order to live this ideal, the Volunteers of God live in the presence of God, putting their trust in his Spirit. I allow myself to dream of peace with them by concluding with a phrase from our founder: “Peace is impossible if we do not feel the life of God in the center of our being.” Taken from the book: In the Footsteps of Jesus, 1993, page 128, by Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I.

Réjeanne Allard, Oblate




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