Contemplation

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Contemplation — Pray, Pray Again
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In advising a young priest who was departing to become the Superior of the Agde Seminary, Vincent offered guidance that was both deeply spiritual and profoundly practical – advice that remains pertinent to those in servant leadership in the Society today. [CCD XI:310-316]

He urges the new leader to focus on imitation of Christ, discernment of God’s will, and especially on the virtue of humility. Indeed, it is Christ’s humility that Vincent holds forth as an example to imitate. Christ, as leader of His disciples did not “lord it over them”, despite, in fact, being the Lord! He taught us that he had come not to be served, but to serve.

Vincent contrasts this very basic tenet with those who that you have to “make it clear you are Superior.” Instead, he emphasizes that the superior should live just like the others, and always seek God’s will in prayer and meditation, rather than rely on his own personal judgment. Observers should not be able to tell by watching how we live, which is the leader.

Again and again, he comes back to humility, and to imitation of Christ’s humility: The superior does not take personal satisfaction in the works or successes of the company, instead always attributing them to God. He does not offer his words of advice or make decisions without recourse to prayer and meditation to God. He asks God to tell him the needs of the others and to guide him in serving them.

No matter how dedicated we may feel that we are in our prayer lives, Vincent’s words here remind us how much more room there is for prayer and meditation – and how very practical this advice is. For those times when, even subconsciously, we think “this problem is not important enough to bring to God,” Vincent reminds us, echoing the Sermon on the Mount, that God counts even the hairs on our head. Not to bring our “little things” to Him more regularly is, in a sense, to deny the great humility of God’s incarnation in Christ; it is to elevate our own judgment in place of God’s.

As servant leaders, we should marvel each day that Providence led us to this place and to this role and pray that we are giving back to heaven all that we have been given. Perhaps this, from St. Vincent, should be one of our daily prayers:

“Lord, what have I done to have such a ministry? What works of mine correspond to the responsibility being placed on my shoulders? Ah, my God, I’ll spoil everything if You yourself don’t guide all my words and works!”

Contemplate

How often do I pray for God’s guidance in all of my decisions and all of my works?

Recommended Reading

Praying with Vincent de Paul

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Contemplation — A Persevering Fidelity
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As Vincentians, our primary purpose is our own growth in holiness. Achieving this is very closely tied to another core tenet of our spirituality, which is that our “ideal is to help relieve suffering for love alone, without thinking of any reward or advantage for [ourselves].” [Rule, Part I, 2.2] It only stands to reason that our ideal is also the greatest commandment, Christ’s express will that we love the neighbor as ourselves, for the love of God.

Saint Vincent de Paul once explained to the priests of the mission that in order to do this, we must make our intentions clear at the start. He suggested this prayer, which members of the Society might also consider offering before each home visit: “My God, I’m going to do this for love of You; for love of You I’m going to stop doing this thing in order to do something else.” [CCD XI:284]

Making this good intention, he said, is much like saying the words of the sacrament of Baptism – it isn’t the water that baptizes the child. Water is only matter; the prayer is the form. In a similar way, our charitable works, by themselves, are only matter if not expressly offered for the love of God alone.

There are many temptations that can distract us from this. Vincent described five vices that act contrary to our virtues: “(1) mere human prudence; (2) the desire for publicity; (3) always wanting everyone to give in to us and see things our way; (4) the pursuit of self-gratification in everything; (5) attaching no great importance to either God’s honor or the salvation of others.” [CCD XII:254]

So, for example, although we owe an accounting of our works to our donors, we can sometimes get too caught up in the narrative of our great successes, and even begin to see our works as achievements, forgetting “that giving love, talents and time is more important than giving money.” [Rule, Part I, 3.14]

Fr. Corpus Delgado, C.M., in a conference on St. Louise de Marillac, shared this great insight from her example: “To follow Jesus the Crucified Lord is to learn little by little that success is not one of the names of God, and that in our vocation and in our service, we are not asked for percentages of effectiveness but a persevering fidelity.” [CEME, Salamanca, 2010]

The home visit isn’t about the light bill, or the rent, or the groceries. If it were, we could leave those things at the doorstep. It’s about the love of God and the neighbor, which perhaps can’t be measured or reported but is exactly the thing that can lead to our growth in holiness, so that it is no longer we who love, but Christ who loves through us. [Rule, Part I, 2.1]

Contemplate

Do I make my intention clear to God before each work of charity?

Recommended Reading

The Manual

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Contemplation — Close Enough
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There’s an old joke, when a task is incomplete or incorrect, that “it’s close enough for government work!” There is no comparable joke for charitable works, because we have the highest standard possible: we are called to do God’s will as best we can discern it. How can we best help this family? What is the best decision for the Conference? Through prayer and discussion, we come to a consensus that we hope reflects God’s will.

It is true that to begin works of charity, offered for love alone, requires very little discernment because Jesus very specifically told us His will that we should love the neighbor, and serve the least among us! Yet we know that in the course of these works, as we walk our Vincentian pathway, we encounter more questions along the way. We are never really done with seeking God’s will.

Our prayers, individually and together, draw us closer to Him. We offer praise and thanks, and place our needs before Him, but, as Jesus prayed, “not as I will, but as you will.” We seek His will in the answers to our prayers. In our Vincentian friendship, we seek to be of one mind and one heart, “following the example of the blessed Trinity.” [SWLM, 771] We seek to do His will by imitation.

The Society’s primary purpose is our own growth in holiness, towards “perfect union with Christ”. [Rule, Part I, 2.2] That isn’t limited to the works of the Conference, because ours is a “vocation for every moment of our lives”. [Rule, Part I, 2.6]. Both as Vincentians and as Catholics, we are called to discern God’s will for the spiritual journey through our lives.

In between all our talking and doing, we must also stop to listen, to try to hear that tiny whisper in the storm. We must look back upon the events and people in our lives and “re-read” those moments that changed us. We may accept a loss or misfortune as God’s will, but that is only one step. Placing ourselves silently in God’s presence, we also look back to see where that misfortune led us – something we could only know by looking back.

Little by little we move closer to knowing and doing His will and doing it fully. It isn’t the gist of God, it’s the will of God. If that seems very specific, that’s only because it is. God’s will is for each of us, very specifically, because He loves each of us very individually.

To seek and to do His will is nothing more than to love Him back, and when we truly love Him, we are close enough for charitable work.

Contemplate

Consider a moment of conversion in your life. How did it change your heart, and your path?

Recommended Reading

A Heart on Fire – Apostolic Reflection with Rosalie Rendu

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Contemplation — On Our Way
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One of the central activities of the Conferences and Councils of the Society is formation. Because we often use this word as a synonym for “training” we can begin to think of it as an isolated event, something to check off on a list when we join the Society or enter into specific positions. But formation is not a single event – it is a lifelong journey of becoming…of becoming what?

As Vincentians, we have chosen a specific way of being Catholic, and this way, this vocation, forms us. The Foundation Document on Vincentian Formation, adopted by the Society more than twenty years ago, suggests four different dimensions of formation, closely mirroring the areas outlined in Pastores dabo vobis, an apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests.

Our human formation, the basis for all formation, begins with our actions, which are shaped by our virtues. We become by doing, we build habits of virtue in order to become virtuous. For Vincentians, these include the Cardinal Virtues, the Theological Virtues, and our Vincentian Virtues.

Our spiritual formation has to do with the transcendent aspect of our nature; the aspect in which we are truly made in God’s image. Our spiritual formation reminds us that we are created to live in community. The model of the Holy Trinity reminds us that the eternal life is a shared life, and that our path to it is also shared. As Vincentians, we pray and reflect together often. Our spiritual reflections and prayers in each Conference meeting are a vital part of our ongoing formation. Our individual prayers, retreats, Mass – and prayers shared with the neighbor are all part of our spiritual formation. We journey together towards holiness. [Rule, Part I, 2.2]

Our training falls within our intellectual formation. The efforts we make to learn the practical aspects of our vocation, to learn about poverty, and about specific works and programs. But our intellectual formation also demands that we take the time to read about our heritage, the words and deeds of our saints and blessed, as well as to devote time to personal study of Holy Scripture.

Finally, ministerial formation comes from a commitment to our vocation as mission, accepting our service as a means to our growth, and remaining open to all ways to serve, including servant leadership.

Our particular way of being Catholic, our particular process of becoming, is our Vincentian vocation. We follow, in every part of our lives, our Vincentian pathway towards becoming what Christ calls us to be, “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Contemplate

In what way was I formed today? How did I grow closer to holiness?

Recommended Reading

Faces of Holiness

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Contemplation — My God, I Give You My Heart
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Our Rule repeatedly emphasizes the importance of prayer to our vocation. We pray often, the Rule reminds us. We live “a life of prayer and reflection, both at the individual and community level,” [Rule, Part I, 2.2] Prayer is central to our lives and to our vocation. So, as in all things, we must ask: what does St. Vincent teach us about our life of prayer?

In a general audience in November 2020, Pope Francis expressed four characteristics of prayer, given to us through Christ’s example. [General Audience, 4 Nov 2020] The first of these is the primacy of prayer; prayer is “the first desire of the day.” We listen, we encounter God from our first moment of consciousness.

Similarly, St. Vincent de Paul urged that we should “always do whatever you can so that, prayer being your first occupation, your mind may be filled with God for the rest of the day.” [CCD IX:29] Vincent himself began each day with “mental prayer,” interiorly seeking God’s guidance. The Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission would later incorporate this practice for all the priests and brothers of the mission.

We are only human, and it is easy to seek coffee first – to try to physically jolt ourselves into the energy we need to get up and to get going. But how full are our hearts when we open them instead, first thing each day, to God? Caffeine may well make our hearts beat faster, but prayer will make them beat more insistently, more persistently, more patiently, and more purposefully.

Coffee doesn’t give us the empathy to understand the neighbor as we would a brother or sister. Coffee doesn’t help us to form relationships based on trust and friendship. [Rule, Part I, 1.9] Coffee is indeed a joyful way to help us greet the day, but coffee is only physical. It warms us from the outside in.

Prayer fills us from the inside out, from where God touches us most deeply so that His love may take root and grow to where we can share Him and His love with all those we encounter. But first, and to start each and every day, we must open our innermost hearts to Him.

On awaking, his biographer Joseph Guichard said, St. Vincent would begin each day by crossing himself and saying, “My God, I give You my heart.” May we follow his example, not only in our words, but in our devotion, our practice of prayer, and in our hearts – every day.

Contemplate

As a Vincentian, a Catholic, a Christian, how do I greet each day?

Recommended Reading

500 Little Prayers for Vincentians

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Contemplation — Our Long-Term Vision
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Our Manual explains that Vincentians “trust in Providence” in our works and in our lives. [Manual, p. 63] We understand this to mean, as Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount, that we should not worry about tomorrow, that we should let the day’s own troubles be enough. [Matthew 6:25-34] But how do we live this belief in our Conferences?

In one sense, it would seem that trust in Providence is a call to passivity – just sit back and let God take care of it! Yet neither Jesus, St. Vincent, nor Bl. Frédéric suggest anything of the kind. While assuring us that God knows of our needs and will provide, Jesus reminds us to “seek first the Kingdom”, which he contrasts to the flowers God cares for, though “they do not work nor spin.” [Ibid]

St. Vincent was a man of action, who famously called his followers to love God with the strength of their arms and the sweat of their brows! [CCD XI:32] We begin with discerning the will of God, then acting upon it, trusting in Him to provide us with what we need. We already know that serving the poor is the direct, expressed will of Jesus Christ. Waiting to act on that, when you think about it is, at least to a degree, a failure of trust.

Similarly, writing extensive and detailed assistance guidelines meant to cover all circumstances is an example of “treading on the heels of Providence” to use one of Vincent’s often-used phrases. Rather, we should be guided by Frédéric’s teaching, that in works of charity “it is necessary to give yourself up to the inspirations of the heart rather than the calculations of the mind. Providence gives its own counsel through the circumstances around you, and the ideas it bestows on you. I believe you would do well to follow them freely and not tie yourselves down with rules and formulas.” [Letter 82, to Curnier, 1834]

Trusting in Providence means trusting that when we seek to do God’s will, the outcome of our works also will be His will. God provides, but he also knows what we need, even when we do not. We can and should plan ahead – fundraising is part of that – but God calls us first to provide for the neighbor before us, for the troubles of their day, not for our treasury balance tomorrow.

Trust in Providence presents us with one of the ironies of our vocation. Letting today’s troubles suffice, without a thought to tomorrow, would seem to be very short-sighted. Yet by doing this, we fulfill God’s will, seeking His eternal kingdom, which is the longest-term vision we can possibly have.

Contemplate

Do I sometimes let my worries for the future drown out the cry of the poor today?

Recommended Reading

Vincentian Meditations II

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Contemplation — Practice Makes Perfect
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When we become Vincentians, whether as active or associate members, one of the things we promise is to live our Rule. This is, of course, a promise we should make only after reading it! Although our Rule is relatively brief, it’s still a little long to memorize. So, in order to live it, we need to reread it from time to time, by ourselves and with our Conferences. It seems like a tall order to live by some lengthy set of instructions, and few people are naturally inclined to try to do that. But the Rule, in its essence, is not a lengthy set of instructions at all. There are some specific instructions, such as how to elect a president, and how long the term of office is, but the Rule is primarily a spiritual document.

Like the rules of various religious orders, it is meant less to prescribe a long list of actions and behaviors, but to describe what a Vincentian looks like. For example, the Rule tells us that Conferences meet “in a spirit of fraternity, simplicity, and Christian joy.” [Rule, Part III, St. 8] That’s it. One sentence. It doesn’t go on to describe the specific steps we must take to live this part of the Rule, so how do we know if we are living it? One way to measure this is to ask ourselves whether a visitor to our Conference write the words above to describe our meetings. Would we describe our own Conference meetings with these words?

To live our Rule means not only to do the things, such as our home visits and other person to person service, but to truly internalize our spirituality, our traditions, and our virtues. If I have to remind myself from time to time, to be patient, gentle, kind, and understanding, that’s okay. At some point, I will no longer just be acting gently, but I will be gentle; I will no longer be doing Vincentian things, I will be Vincentian.

We promise to live our Rule, and Vincentians keep their promises! We can only do this fully by reviewing that Rule from time to time, and asking ourselves, “Do these words describe the way I act as a Vincentian? Do they describe my Conference?”

Do I “serve the poor cheerfully”? Do I “form relationships based on trust and friendship”? Do I help the neighbor “to feel and recover their own dignity”? Do I “never forget the many blessings I receive from those I visit”? [Rule, Part I, 1.8ff] We reread to remind ourselves, so that we can practice, and become better.

To be a Vincentian is to have a particular way of living our faith, and to pursue our primary calling as Christians, as Catholics, and as Vincentians: to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect. And we all know the old saying: practice makes perfect.

Contemplate

What parts of the Rule describe me and my Conference? What parts do not?

Recommended Reading

The Rule (especially Part I)

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Contemplation — He’s Right Over There
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Vincentians are people of prayer – it is central to our vocation. Equal to it, though, is our commitment to go out and do. In the doing, we receive God’s transformational grace; we grow closer to perfect union with Christ by serving Him exactly as he has asked us to do, in the person of the poor.

St. Vincent once offered an interesting analogy for the balance between contemplation and action, likening it to the dove that eats its fill, then chews more food only in order to feed it to the little birds. In the same way, he said, we “gather light and strength for our soul in meditation, reading, and solitude on the one hand, and then to go out and share this spiritual nourishment with others.” [CCD XI:33]

Yet we also acknowledge the truth that it is really we who receive. And so, our person-to-person service becomes mutual, as Frédéric taught that it must be. From us, the neighbor receives not only some material relief, but the assurance that God has not abandoned or forgotten them; that He loves them so much he sends us to listen and to pray with them. We, in turn, receive a true revelation and a conversion of our hearts.

In the life of St. Vincent, we note several important moments of conversion, transforming him from the young, ambitious priest seeking benefices and connections, to the humble servant of the poor. In 1617 especially, when he received the confession of the poor farmer in Gannes, and later that year encountering the poor farming family in Châtillon. Like most of us, he was not converted in a blinding flash on the road to Damascus. Instead, through a series of experiences, some of which he may not have even noticed at the time, his heart was turned fully towards Christ.

Spiritually, he had been influenced strongly by the teaching of several mystics, especially Benet of Canfield, whose Rule of Perfection would be echoed fifty years later in the Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission. Yet he could be somewhat dismissive, at times, of mystic visions of God.

What Vincent came to understand viscerally through his own encounters with the poor is that if you wish to have a vision of Christ, well, he’s right over there! He is asking for food, or shelter. He is begging to be seen. If you want a revelation of His will, listen; listen with your ears, your eyes, and your heart to the cry of the poor.

We give our time, our talents, our possessions, and ourselves; we serve the will of God and of the poor in providing material assistance and prayer. When we do so, two or three of us together, the Christ who sent us is, as He promised, there with us, making every encounter a moment of revelation and conversion if we seek it.

Contemplate

When did I last see Christ, and what did He reveal to me?

Recommended Reading

Mystic of Charity

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Contemplation — Something of the Glory of God
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Our Rule tells us that our “journey together towards holiness” is made primarily in four ways: visiting the poor, attending our Conference meetings, praying, individually and communally, and transforming our concern into action. [Rule, Part I, 2.2]

Our visits to the poor are the central and founding activity of the Society; the activity that defines our particular way of being Christian. We don’t make our visits alone. Yet the visit itself is not our primary purpose. As Blessed Frédéric explained, “visiting the poor should be the means and not the end of our association.” [Letter 182, to Lallier, 1838] Our calling to see Christ’s face in the poor whom we visit is not a practical tool to facilitate material assistance, it is a reminder of Christ’s own teaching.

Few Conferences are small enough or busy enough that every single member has the opportunity to visit the poor every week, but that doesn’t mean growth in holiness is limited only to the home visitors! Instead, this is one reason that “Conferences meet regularly and consistently, usually weekly, but at least every fortnight (twice a month).” [Rule, Part I, 3.3.1] By meeting to share our encounters with the poor, we enable all the members of our Conferences to grow closer to Christ at every meeting.

We open and close our meetings with prayer, share in spiritual reflection, and support each other in our work. Our meetings ”are held in a spirit of fraternity, simplicity and Christian joy.” [Rule, Part I, 3.4] Beyond the Conference meetings, we also seek to live individual lives of prayer, believing, as St. Vincent taught, that beginning our days with prayer, our “mind may be filled with God for the rest of the day.” [CCD IX, 29] We pray the rosary together, and celebrate Mass together, especially on our Vincentian Feast Days.

Finally, true to the spirit of our Patron Saint, we seek to transform our prayer into action, our contemplation into effective love. This commitment is the fruit of the relationships we form with the neighbor and with each other. It is the zeal with which we pray for, and work for “the full flourishing and eternal happiness of every person.” [Rule, Part I, 2.5.1]

We journey together towards holiness because God creates us as social beings, whose relationship with God is reflected in our own social relationships. [CSDC, 110] United with each other and the poor, we recognize that “something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person”. [CSDC, 144]

The four aspects of our shared Vincentian journey are not separable. Through them, “we strive to develop a three-fold relationship with God, the poor and one another”. [Rule, Part III, St. 5]

Contemplate

To which of these four things (visits, meetings, prayer, action) can I seek to more fully dedicate myself?

Recommended Reading

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Chapter 3

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Contemplation — Enough
Contemplation — Enough 940 788 SVDP USA

We are called to see the face of Christ in those we serve. In imagining His face, it is easy to imagine the peaceful face portrayed in so many great works of art over the years, or the glorified Christ, or even Christ crucified on a clean cross at the front of our churches.

Which Christ, then, are we called to see? Christ, our Lord, risen in glory? Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter? Jesus the condemned, bloodied, and humiliated? For St. Vincent, the great lesson of the incarnation was that “Since Christ willed to be born poor … he made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty.” [Manual, 54] Through Vincent’s vision, we are called to see the carpenter, the unemployed, the single mom – all those neighbors who so regularly call our Conferences for help. He is there.

Blessed Frédéric’s vision reminds us that in the poor before us “we can put finger and hand in their wounds and the scars of the crown of thorns are visible on their foreheads…and we should fall at their feet and say with the Apostle, ‘Tu est Dominus et Deus meus.’” [Letter 137, to Janmot, 1837] We serve Him, and we also share in His suffering.

Who is Frédéric’s Jesus in our neighborhoods today? In whom can we see Christ’s scars? Who is wrapped in tattered clothing, wounded, unwashed; who sleeps in the cold, and on the street? From whom is it sometimes easier to turn away?

Do we “[speak] about them with euphemisms and with apparent tolerance”? Do we “look at those who suffer without touching them”? [Fratelli Tutti, 76] Do we offer them our prayers but not our hearts, wishing them to go in peace, but not providing for their needs? Are we sometimes paralyzed into inaction not by lack of charity, but by the fear that their needs are too great for our efforts?

As he walked towards Golgotha, Jesus stumbled under the weight of His cross. Veronica stepped forth, offered Him a cloth with which He wiped away the blood, sweat, and tears, and then continued on His way. Should she have held back, knowing she could not save Him from the cross?

There is not a Jesus of Frédéric or of Vincent. There is only one, and if we seek to see and to serve Him, we must remember that our smiles, kind words, handshakes, consolations, and prayers [O’Meara, 177] are not an extra thing for the neighbor without electricity, they are the most important thing we offer – especially to the neighbors who have nothing.

Do not be afraid. As He promised He will be with us to the end of the age.

Contemplate

Do I believe in my heart that my friendship, prayers, and love are enough?

Recommended Reading

500 Little Prayers for Vincentians

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