Hesed’s Oblate Community consists of individuals who have promised to follow St. Benedict’s Rule of the Order. They are not professed nuns or monks, and live normally in society.
The Oblate Community
As Spiritual Director of Hesed Community, Sister Barbara supervised and helped direct the member’s spiritual formation, especially in the study and practice of living in a community grounded by the Rule of Saint Benedict. In 1978, during her discernment of a call to the practice of Benedictine Spirituality, she proposed:
“What have religious communities done directly, as communities, to help develop a community of faith? That is what people hunger for today, to participate in a life style that offers an atmosphere in which, together, they can grow spiritually and thereby be more sensitive to the call of the Spirit in them to effect positive change in our world through a deeper living out of Gospel values…. The life style of the community would emphasize community, prayer, and simplicity of life.”
Since Sister Barbara’s retirement from active leadership, our Oblate Community continues to gather monthly to pray, work and study the Rule of Saint Benedict in order to practice that spirit of love and community in our daily lives. We are no longer accepting new anticipants, however, we participate with Benedictine communities of WCCM (World Community for Christian Meditation), New Camaldolese Hermitage in Big Sur and Incarnation Monastery in Berkeley for ongoing spiritual formation and their Oblate programs.
