Little Brothers of the Oratory

Peace!  It is of the nature of inspired undertakings that they are born of an admixture of dreams, cherished values, divine seduction, chance encounters, lofty and beautiful designs wrought by rusty and broken implements of construction, all brought together by the Kairos of kronos, by divine synchronicity, to become the seed of a cell of the Kingdom of God.

The humble personalities involved in such a venture know that nothing will be accomplished by their own reason and efforts alone, but by the submissive virtue of Jesus Christ.  These ‘little’ ones will be the objects of scorn for their apparent presumption.  Stern prognostications about the dimness of their prospects and the questionable nature of their motivation will be made by blog and via other media.  I don’t care.  The “still, small voice” that calls and inspires is enough to encourage, guide and sustain whatever it is that has to be learned from the mystery of God’s way of touching individual and communal human lives.  We will be grateful for the encouragement and support of those who wish us well and we will not be discouraged by those who would make the Little Brothers of the Oratory into a byword for folly.

Unum Corpus.  ‘One Body’ is a theological, mystical, ecumenical, eschatological, transcendent and immanent reality of what the church is called to be.  Contrary to some liturgical inferences, Christ did not die for “many” but for “all.”  To exclude from this one body those for whom Christ died, is a dismembering, self-inflicted, act of amputation.  It is not for people to decide who does and who does not belong to this body, but our God, who sees and loves in each person what he sees and loves in his own son, whose act of redemption was an invitation for ALL to share the divine life of the Trinity. 

The Little Brothers of the Oratory will not exclude, keep out, deny access to, disbar, prohibit, rule out or preclude anyone from the koinoinia of Christ because of their human imperfection.  What an act of self-righteous arrogance it would be to do so and to deny to others the gift that has been so freely given to all.

Anawim is a Hebrew word that means “the oppressed and outcast who depend on God for deliverance.” Anawimic Theology is that which focuses on the lowliness and oppression of God’s people and on God’s deliverance of them. (1.) Those who suffer for the sake of righteousness, (2.) Those whose vulnerability is taken advantage of by oppressors, and they cry out for help from the Lord and (3.) Those who are punished even though they are innocent and look to the Lord for justice.

The liminality of the poor is not their distinguishing characteristic.  God’s love for the poor tells us more about the nature of God than it does about the poor.  The poor can be as just or as unjust as anyone else, but our God with divine simplicity is attracted to what is weak and vulnerable, just as a mother who loves all of her children equally will appear to be more devoted to the most weak and the most vulnerable among them.

The little Brothers of the Oratory will regard it as an honour, a choice incumbent upon them and a calling, to be numbered among and embrace the anawim of our God.  I have outlined some of what will become the pillars of the Little Brothers (and hopefully Sisters!) of the Oratory, in residence or by spiritual affinity as priests, religious and married and single women and men who live at home, all part of one family.

A lack of precise information can give rise to both speculation and to questions.  There will be a time for that in due course.  Let us get settled in first.  At least wish us well.

Brother Jim

Little Brothers of the Oratory.

PAT SAYS:

The Blog about the new proposed Little Brothers of The Oratory the other day elicited a fair number of negative and cynical comments - not to mention the obnoxious ones that were not published.

Here Jim, one of the proposed founding members offers his view on the project.

I will not add to what he says.