Always Time to Build and Rebuild

Aug 14

Oblates Fr. John Fisher and Bro. Mickey outside OMC.

I recently visited Our Mother of Consolation School (OMC), in Philadelphia, PA. This parish elementary school is undergoing total renovation due to the fire that destroyed the entire school last year, which also happened to be Fr. John Fisher’s, OSFS, first year as pastor. I am quite sure that having to deal with a fire and its aftermath was not on his list of goals and hoped-for accomplishments when he took the role several months before the fire. Having lived with Fr. Fisher in Camden, NJ I did not doubt that if anyone could navigate the parish through this tragedy and begin the process of rebuilding, it would be him.

The purpose of my visit was to check out the wall space so I could get to work on the various artworks Fr. Fisher has commissioned for the newly renovated school, including the elevator doors! I have been anxious to get started on the project for some months now, and my excitement only grew when the foreman, Larry, told us we had to wear hard hats to enter the building. I had never worn one before and may now adopt it as a religious habit!)

I asked him to take a picture because it was official: I would now be, even if in a very tiny way, part of a major rebuilding process of a fellow Oblate’s innovation and creativity.

Bro. Mickey and Brian King touring the automotive center.

When Father Judge High School (Philadelphia, PA) President Brian King gave me a private tour of the new automotive center currently under construction I had a similar experience. (Sadly, we didn’t get to wear hard hats.) The new center is being built on the very same spot where the Oblate faculty house stood for over six decades. Thanks to Brian’s and Fr. Joe Campellone’s OSFS, wildly creative imaginations, the new center will serve and educate kids from over 50 zip codes! Part of my visit that day involved a tour of the original school building where Brian showed me a long hallway with plain white walls…but not for long! We are now making plans for a community mural project to illustrate seven principles of Salesian Spirituality.

New General Council: Fr. Paulo Rodrigues do Santos, OSFS, Fr. Guillaume Kambounon, OSFS, Fr. Barry Strong, OSFS, (General Superior) and Fr. Bijesh Thomas, OSFS.

Father Judge has graduated many men who went on to become Oblates. One such Oblate was recently inducted into the Father Judge Hall of Fame and re-elected as our Superior General. In June, Most Rev. Barry Strong, OSFS, was selected as leader of our worldwide Congregation. I particularly loved the photo of Fr. Barry with the newly elected General Council in a colorful display of cultural diversity: one Oblate from India; one from Africa; and one from South America! These men will lead our Congregation as we continue to work to build a world touched by the gentle spirituality of our patrons.

Even though none of the guys in the photo were wearing a hard hat, I can’t help but feel that the Holy Spirit, our Divine Foreman, is working overtime these days, leading us and guiding us to new and creative ways to Live Jesus; helping us to build and rebuild our Oblate identity and presence in an ever-changing world and church.