The Cannon Hill Catholic Parish is under the Pastoral care of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a religious congregation of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church under the patronage of Our Lady. They are essentially missionaries who work in many countries throughout the world and are available for every kind of apostolic work.
The Oblates of Mary Immaculate minister in 9 parishes, 4 colleges and a number of other pastoral ministries throughout Australia. In Brisbane, this includes the Cannon Hill Catholic Parish, the St Eugene De Mazenod Parish in Burpengary and IONA College in Wynnum West.
OMI and De Mazenod Family Charism
A charism is a gift given by the Holy Spirit to a canonised saint for the benefit of the whole Church.
In the case of St Eugene De Mazenod, he was given a keen awareness of the specific needs of the Church, a deep desire to minister particularly for those neglected, abandoned or overlooked. He sought to build a close community around him. All this was driven by a passionate love for Jesus Christ, whom he sought to present to all he met.
The De Mazenod charism considers means in which we can access those in our community who are spiritually abandoned, or socially isolated. A means of taking the Gospel to the community in a way that presents Jesus to the those whom the Church touches the least.
To embody this charism, St Eugene identified various Constitutions for his religious order.
For the laity the essence of the Constitution includes:
- Hearing the voice of Jesus in our everyday life and acting upon this through our everyday tasks.
- Instilling a desire in us to be detached from the worldly aspects of life in order to better cooperate with Jesus and so grow more deeply in faith
- Enhance our ability to notice the needs of others around us and develop missionary hearts that seek to serve them
- Strive to better understand who Christ is for us, and help others do the same
- Findings new ways of sharing the Gospel with others by reaching the heart of another and keeping our own hearts soft enough to hear their needs.
- Seeking to hold loosely the blessings in our lives so we are not controlled by them
- Allowing our focus to remain on Christ so that all tasks and events in life provide us a personal encounter with Him
- Bringing life’s pressure to God so that they may be become a prayer that draws others to God
- Finding ways to bear witness to God within our own communities so that Jesus is drawn into our midst
- Seek Mary’s help to be open to the Spirit, so that we might take the crucified Christ to the world
De Mazenod Family Chat
The De Mazenod Family Australia has created a website to share as much with you as possible including:
- previous editions of Family Chat
- important events happening in De Mazenod communities,
- videos, articles and resources to help deepen understanding of the De Mazenod charism, and
- anything else considered important to share with you, the Australian De Mazenod Family.
MAMI
The Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate (M.A.M.I.) is the organisation through which the Oblates enlist the help of lay people.
Through this Association, lay people become part of our Oblate Family. They become our co-workers, co-helpers and Oblate Associates. Members receive a certificate on being enrolled and they also receive a copy of our Oblate Newsletter - M.A.M.I. News Bulletin.
We offer Masses each day for all our members and they are also remembered in our Community prayers.
