Threshold - Summer 2006

What’s an Oblation?
by Ellen Simon, Oblate

It sounds like some kind of surgical procedure . . . Why are you doing that?”

These are just two examples of the questions that I was asked when friends and family discovered I was making my oblation, and, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know how to respond. Even now, after having been through it, I don’t know how to respond – it’s too big! The only words I can come up with to describe it are that it was a simply beautiful day. Family, friends, fellow oblates, and the wonderful sisters of Mount St. Scholastica were all present and loving us as we spoke our vows and dedicated ourselves to living out our lives according to the Rule of Benedict.

For me, it started when I came over a day early to prayerfully prepare myself for this occasion. It was a warm and sunny Friday afternoon as I was greeted and offered safe haven at St. Catherine’s in the usual hospitable style of the Benedictines. A great supper, wonderful conversation, and good night’s sleep were the prelude to an amazing moment-by-moment experience of God’s love and nod of approval on what was to take place that day and night.

Reflecting on the Emmaus story, I and two other oblate candidates realized that our lives, although lived out separately, were the very God-ordered roads that led us to this common destination. We realized that our individual relationships with God would now be largely enriched by this community of devoted people and the insights and wisdom of Saint Benedict. It was like walking through the gates of heaven – song, prayer, light, and love met us as we entered the chapel, and those were exactly the memories that continued to accompany me through the following weeks. It brings a peace and joy to my heart each time I think of it.

That’s what an oblation is to me. That’s why I did it . . . and I am very grateful.

Three new oblates read their profession on April 22. Judy Schreiber (left) is from Kansas City, Kansas, a product of Benedictine education and with lifelong ties to the community. Mary Ann Warden (center) is from Overland Park, Kansas. She became acquainted with the oblate program when she began bringing her father, Jay Williams, to meetings in Atchison. He made his profession last year and she was moved to follow. Ellen Simon (right) is in parish ministry in St. Joseph, Missouri. She was inspired by other oblates she met there.