As is our practice, we have posted a Journal of our travels and
the hints of stories we have tracked down. We do this to invite you to witness
along with us the unfolding drama of a body of men whose history will be both
discovered and recovered.
First impressions--Mission on their Mind
As soon as one arrives and meets the men of the Northern Province who are gathered at
Tewksbury for a cook-out with the men of the Eastern Province, one gets a sense that
mission is on their mind. Roger, a missionary, is home on leave from Tahiti and he is
explaining to the men all about the Tahitian language- that it is written in roman letters
but it only has 13, and has some sounds that we do not have, words spelt like
"Faaa."
I arrive at the Mission House in downtown Lowell to rooms with maps of the Pacific and
the Caribbean, and a library stacked with books on Haiti- the other mission of the
Northern Province. Luke, my host, tells me that there are probably more active
missionaries in Haiti now than there are in the province that started it.
How & Why did the Provinces split up?
It seems one of the most obvious questions for an outsider to ask, knowing that Oblates
of two provinces have labored side by side for 70 years in the same city, and yet, have
not known each other or collaborated until recent times. There were even remarks
tonight that pointed out that the two groups gathering for a meal is a new
tradition. Change is in the air.
Yet, while they may have labored in their own distinctive ways, Lowell has given more
Oblates to the Congregation than any other City in the world. Now,that's quite a boast!
Now go to the daily Journal of the Stories that we have collected and view some more of
pictures we have captured.
