Recent years I have heard from other Benedictine Oblates there is little formation to become an Oblate. In many respects, it is true that Oblates are not well-formed when you compare what many monasteries do for them and what other groups like the Lay Dominican Fraternities, the Secular Franciscans, the Avila Institute (founded by Dan Burke) and the ecclesial movements (Communion & Liberation, Focolare, or Opus Dei) provide. Adult Faith Formation has never been as important as it is now. The point is not question the deficiencies as much as it is to fill-in the gaps. The urging here is to encourage all of us to take our spiritual and theological formation more seriously because it puts us in relationship with Someone Greater.
There is supreme need for an ongoing formation the spiritual life that leads to a firm communio with the Triune God and a spiritual life that is generative, holy and diaconal.
To this end, Dr Maxwell Johnson provides four brief videos in which he explores central themes in being a Benedictine Oblate. Himself an Oblate of Saint John’s Abbey, Max Johnson is a professor of Liturgical Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Johnson’s work in Benedictine Spirituality is accessible.
part 1: Benedictine Spirituality, Spiritual Values of a Benedictine Oblate – https://youtu.be/MzLgbbc6o6A
part 2: Benedictine Spirituality, The Liturgical Nature of the Benedictine Life – https://youtu.be/hkl2OaFNwQU
part 3: Benedictine Spirituality, Lectio Divino and the Scriptures – https://youtu.be/klcRcVnDIxA
part 4: Benedictine Spirituality, Ecumenism and Benedictine Spirituality – https://youtu.be/ik3x_rOxqs0