Oblate Ministry

Ministry as Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, whether as brothers or priests, presents many opportunities in today’s Church. Oblates minister throughout the United States in universities, high schools, grade schools and religious education ministries. Oblates also serve as parish priests, military, prison, and hospital chaplains, bereavement spiritual care coordinators, foreign missionaries, ministers to the deaf community, retreat masters, preachers, artists, musicians, cooks and spiritual directors. The list is endless as Oblates seek to bring the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales into all aspects of their ministries so that they and all God’s people may find God in the ordinary and regular rhythms of life.

One of the hallmarks of Salesian spirituality is the individual expression of God’s will as discerned of by the heart of a person through the assistance of prayer and the experience of daily life. As Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, we strive to know the signified will of God by listening to the signs of the times and by being attentive to the needs of the People of God. We accept the trials and joys of daily life as the will of God’s good pleasure offering all that we do and all that we experience to God in a love that seeks the union of our hearts to the Lord’s.

If we are to be “good and faithful servants,” as our founder, Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS, calls us to be, we must not only rely on ourselves and our work, but in a spirit of gentleness and humility also look to all God’s people to collaborate with us in working toward the goal set for us by our co-foundress, Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, VHM. She called upon the Oblates to make Jesus present on the earth again through what we think and do and say. This incredible task is only possible with your help. Each day, as we strive to “Live Jesus,” we remember those who make it possible for us to live and minister as we do. We pray for and ask you for your continued generosity and collaboration with us as we strive each day, in doing the ordinary extraordinarily well, to bring for the Kingdom of God, here and now, in the Twenty-first century…and beyond!