Spirituality

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

The Lord loves a cheerful giver, we are taught, and yet, when a friend needs a favor that seems inconvenient, when a call to the Conference helpline disrupts our plans for the evening, or whenever the needs of others call us to give not only our time, but to give the time we had reserved for something else, our good cheer can sometimes fade a little bit. Not that we would fail to help, but perhaps we do so at times with more of a grim determination borne of our sense of duty, rather than cheerful gratitude for having been called.

St. Vincent reminds us that it is not the poor whom we serve, but Christ Himself who holds out His hand for food, for comfort, and for understanding. We “are serving Jesus Christ in the person of the poor.  And that is as true as that we are here…Go to visit a chain gang, you’ll find God there. Look after those little children, you’ll find God there. How delightful…! You go into poor homes, but you find God there.  Again…how delightful!” [CCD IX:199]

It should be a delight, shouldn’t it? Since everything we have belongs to God, including our time, our works of charity can never truly be interruptions. If this is, as we believe, truly a vocation – a calling – then we have the great joy to be directly called by Christ Himself time and time again!

We do not visit the poor in order to earn God’s grace, which is always unmerited and freely given. But we do receive His grace, and one very important dimension of it is joy. Imagine a small child who has just cleaned his room without being asked, and he cannot wait to run to tell his parents what he has done. He is bursting with joy, because he knows that he has pleased them! In a similar way, when we serve for love alone, knowing that we serve is our Lord and Savior, knowing that He considers all we have done as done to Himself, we, like that small child, feel a deep joy within our hearts, a joy that we cannot help but share.

Perhaps the most common advice St. Vincent gave, which appears hundreds of times in his letters, is to “be quite cheerful” in the face of difficulties, when suffering illness, when doing unpleasant work, when in need, and especially when serving the poor. “Be quite cheerful, I beg you,” he said, “Oh, what great reason people of good will have to be cheerful!” [CCD I:145]

We can’t but be cheerful givers when we let the joy of God enter our hearts along with His will, and in return, our joy and our cheer will only grow. As Blessed Frédéric once put it: “He who brings a loaf of bread to the home of a poor man often brings back a joyful and comforted heart. Thus, in this sweet business of charity, the expenses are low, but the returns are high.” [1361, to the Society, 1837]

Contemplate

Do I perform my works of charity as an obligation, or an occasion for joy?

Recommended Reading

500 More Little Prayers for Vincentians

Contemplación : Sé muy alegre

Se nos enseña que El Señor ama al que da con alegría, y sin embargo, cuando un amigo necesita un favor que parece inconveniente, cuando una llamada a la línea de ayuda de la Conferencia interrumpe nuestros planes para la noche. o cuando las necesidades de los demás nos llaman a dar no solo nuestro tiempo, sino también el tiempo que habiamos reservado para otra cosa, nuestro buen ánimo a veces puede desvanecerse un poco. No es que dejemos de ayudar, pero quizás lo hacemos en ocaciones con una determinación seria nacida de nuestro sentido del deber, en lugar de una gratitud alegre por haber sido llamados.

San Vicente nos recuerda que no son a  los pobres  a quienes servimos, sino a Cristo mismo, quién extiende su mano para pedir comida, consuelo y comprensión.  Estamos sirviendo a Jesucristo en la persona de los pobres.  Y eso es tan cierto como que estamos aquí…. Ve a visitar a un grupo de prisioneros, encontrarás a Dios allí. Mira a esos niños pequeños, encontrarás a Dios allí ¡ Que delicia! Vas a casas pobres, pero encuentras a Dios allí de nuevo. ¡ Que delicia! ( CCD IX 199)

Debe ser una delicia ¿ verdad? Dado que todo lo que tenemos pertenece a Dios incluido nuestro tiempo, nuestras obras de caridad nunca pueden ser realmente interrupciones. Si esto es, como creemos verdaderamente una vocación, una llamada ¡ entonces tenemos la gran alegría de ser llamados directamente por Cristo mismo una y otra vez!

No visitamos a  los pobres para ganar  la gracia de Dios, que siempre es inmerecida y dada libremente. Pero sí  recibimos su gracia, y una de las dimensiones más importantes de ella es la alegría. Imagina a un niño pequeño que acaba de limpiar su cuarto sin que se lo pidan, y no puede esperar para correr a contarles a sus padres lo que ha hecho. Está  lleno de alegria ¡ porque sabe que los ha complacido! De manera similar, cuando servimos sólo  por amor, sabiendo que servimos a nuestro Señor y Salvador, sabiendo que él  considera todo lo que hemos hecho como hecho a El mismo. Nosotros como ese niño pequeño, sentimos una profunda alegría en nuestro corazón, una alegría  que no podemos evitar compartir.

Tal vez el consejo más  común  que San Vicente dio, que aparece cientos de veces en sus cartas, es “” ser bastante alegre””  ante las dificultades, cuando sufrimos enfermedades, cuando hacemos trabajos desagradables, cuando estamos necesitados y especialmente cuando servimos a los pobres. “” Sé  bastante alegre te lo suplico dijo “” Oh, que gran razón tienen las personas de buena voluntad, para estar alegres ( CCD 1: 145)

No podemos evitar ser dadores alegres cuando dejamos que la alegría  de Dios entre en nuestros corazones junto con su voluntad, y a cambio, nuestra alegría  y nuestro ánimo solo crecerían. Como lo expresó  el beato Frederic”” El que lleva un pan a la casa de un hombre pobre a menudo regresa con un corazón  alegre y consolado. Así,  en éste  dulce oficio de la caridad, los gastos son bajos, pero los beneficios son altos.(1361, a la Sociedad, 1837)

Contemplar 

¿ Realizo mis obras de caridad como una obligación, o como una ocasión  de alegría?

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

When driving on a long trip, we can easily let our minds become distracted by the radio, a phone call, or just our own thoughts and worries, causing us to miss a turn or an exit. We suddenly find ourselves in an unfamiliar place, wondering where we are, and how we got there. It can be easily agreed that when this happens, the worst thing to do would be to simply keep driving, rather than pulling over to figure out how we got here, and where to go next.

Yet how often, in the spiritual journey of our lives, do we simply keep driving, without pausing to reflect on where we are and how we got here? What are the graces we’ve received, to what is God calling us? In our Vincentian Spirituality, we are taught that God speaks His will to us through the people and events of our lives. To fully discern His will then, requires that we not only be attentive to each moment and person we encounter, but that we take the time to reflect later about where they have led us, and with the knowledge we’ve gained since then, whether they can guide further on our journey.

“When you make these reflections on your interior state,” St Vincent wrote, “you must raise your mind to the consideration of His Adorable Goodness… keep your heart ready to receive the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit.” [CCD V:166] When we miss a turn, or fail to read a sign, our God waits patiently to point it out to us again, if only we take the time to look for Him.

All the many gifts we receive are meant to be shared, and so St. Elizabeth Ann Seton calls us “alone in the secret of your heart [to] reflect … what use have I made of the grace of my God?” [CW 3, 262] When Frédéric considered his many gifts – his parents, his education, his many friends – he saw that “often I am led to reflect that it wishes from me something more than common virtue…” [97, to Curnier, 1835]

Guiding each other through the wilderness, we close our eyes from time to time, recalling each turn, each landmark, each indication of our progress and our destination. “It is not enough to take a superficial glance,” Frédéric said, “you need repeated reflection.” [34, to Falconnet, 1834] And so, while our individual reflection is vital, we also reflect together in our Conference meetings, not only on the readings we may share, but on our personal journeys towards God. We share our path, our direction, and our progress with one another in the hopes that we may all arrive together at the Kingdom to which we are called.

It is not our own will we seek to discern, but God’s will for us. To do that, we must “pull over” from time to time. As St Louise said, “The time has surely come for me to reflect on myself in the sight of God.” [SWLM, L.110]

Contemplate

Do I “pull over” often enough to reflect on where I have been, and where I am going?

Recommended Reading

Praying With Vincent de Paul

Contemplación. Ten tú  corazón  listo.

Cuando conducimos en un viaje largo, podemos fácilmente dejar que nuestra mente se distraiga con la radio,una llamada telefónica o simplemente con nuestros propios pensamientos y preocupaciones, lo que nos hace perder un giro o una salida. De repente nos encontramos en un lugar desconocido y nos preguntamos donde estamos y cómo  llegamos allí.  Se puede fácilmente acordar que cuando esto sucede, lo peor  que se puede hacer sería  simplemente seguir conduciendo, en lugar de detenerse para descubrir cómo  llegamos aquí y adonde ir a continuación.

Sin embargo ¿Con qué  frecuencia, en el viaje espiritual de nuestras vidas, simplemente seguimos conduciendo, sin detenernos a reflexionar sobre donde estamos y cómo  llegamos hasta aquí? ¿Cuáles  son las gracias que hemos recibido, a qué  nos llama Dios? En nuestra espiritualidad  Vicentina, se nos enseña que Dios nos dice su voluntad a través  de las personas y los acontecimientos de nuestras vidas. Entonces, discernir plenamente su voluntad requiere que no sólo  estemos atentos a cada monento y a cada persona con la que nos encontramos,  sino que nos tomemos el tiempo para reflexionar más  tarde sobre hacia donde nos ha llevado, y con el conocimiento que hemos adquirido desde entonces, si ellos pueden guiarnos más  en nuestro viaje.

“Cuando hagas estas reflexiones sobre tu estado interior,” escribió  San Vicente, “debes elevar tú  mente a la consideración de su Adorable Bondad, manten tú  corazón dispuesto a recibir la paz y la alegría  del Espíritu  Santo.” (CCD V:166) Cuando perdemos un giro, o no leemos una señal, Nuestro Dios espera pacientemente para indicarnoslo nuevamente, si tan sólo  nos tomamos el tiempo para buscarlo.

Todos los muchos regalos que recibimos están destinados a ser compartidos, y por eso Santa Isabel Ann Seton, nos llama “solos en el secreto de su corazón (para) reflexionar ¿qué  uso he hecho de la gracia de mi Dios?” (CW 3, 262) Cuándo Frederic consideró sus muchos dones, sus padres, su educación, sus muchos amigos – vio que a menudo, me veo llevado a reflexionar que desea de mí  algo más que la virtud común.

Guiándonos unos a otros a través  de la naturaleza, cerramos los ojos de ves en cuando, recordando cada giro, cada punto de referencia, cada indicación de nuestro progreso y nuestro destino.” No basta con echar una mirada superficial” Frederic dijo: “es necesario reflexionar repetidamente” (34, a Falconnet, 1834 ) y así, si bien nuestra reflexión individual es vital, también  reflexionamos juntos en nuestras reuniones de la Conferencia. no sólo  sobre las lecturas que podemos compartir, sino también sobre nuestro camino. nuestra dirección y nuestro progreso unos con otros con la esperanza de que todos podamos llegar juntos al Reino, al que estamos llamados.

No es nuestra propia voluntad lo que buscamos discernir; sino la voluntad de Dios para nosotros. Para ello, debemos “detenernos” de ves en cuando. Como dijo Santa Luisa “seguramente ha llegado el momento de reflexionar sobre mi misma ante los ojos de Dios” (SWLM, L 110)

Contemplar

¿Me “”detengo”” con suficiente frecuencia para reflexionar sobre dónde he estado y hacia donde voy?

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

“When I am formed,” a teenaged Frédéric lamented, having been assured by his spiritual director that his many doubts would be eased at that time, “When will that day come?” [13, to Materne, 1830] He might as well have asked when the Grand Canyon would be fully formed, shaped as it is, slowly and over time by the gentle influence of water and wind.

Yet rocks in canyons are simple things whose formation is only physical. Unlike rocks and canyons, our formation cannot be completed by a passive reaction to external, physical forces. We are not bodies with a spirit, nor spirits trapped in bodies. Instead, we are created as whole and unitary beings, endowed with the capacity for faith and reason, able to seek and perceive the transcendent, “created in the image of God… at once corporeal and spiritual.” [CCC, 362-368]

Indeed, our Greatest Commandment instructs us not to love God only spiritually, but “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” – with our whole person. We are called as Christians to union with our Creator. It is our purpose. Formation, then, is not a single thing that we do in order to check off a task so that we can move on to another. Instead, formation is a lifelong process of becoming as God intends us to be.

For Vincentians, our vocation is the pathway towards this formation. As our Foundation Document on formation explains, this encompasses four different dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual, and ministerial. So while our formation includes training, primarily within the intellectual dimension, it can’t be limited only to our minds. Unlike the rocks of the canyon, we are actively involved in our own formation and in each other’s formation. We form and are formed within our community of faith, and in our Vincentian friendship.

We love God, as Jesus commanded, and St. Vincent taught, with the strength our arms and the sweat of our brows through our person-to-person service of the poor. By itself, that service forms us only in part. It is in the prayer, reflection, and sharing with each other that surrounds our service that it begins to form our whole persons. With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in our works and in our prayers, we form ourselves and each other, for “no one is saved alone.” [FT, 32]

The Grand Canyon, we may say, is in its great beauty and according to its nature, perfect. It is fully formed. Our nature and our faith call us to be formed for more than beauty, but rather so that we might be “perfect, just as [our] heavenly Father is perfect.”

When will that day come?

Contemplate

Do I seek to grow closer to God in heart, mind, body, and spirit in this Vincentian vocation?

Recommended Reading

Faces of Holiness

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

“A Conference meeting” the Rule instructs, “shall incorporate Spirituality, Friendship, [and] Service” [Rule, Part II, Statute 7]. These three, of course, are the Essential Elements of the Society, and importantly, we are expected not to incorporate or highlight only one of them, but all three. Why is that?

The Essential Elements have been included in the Rule for only about twenty years, but they have been known to us, in different words, since the beginning. The Essential Elements – all of them – unite us. Blessed Frédéric once said that the “distances that stand between the most loyal of friends do not separate the Christian spirits or wills that come together to love one another, to pray, and to act…” [1367, to the Assembly, 1837]

Each element is important by itself, of course, but unlike the theological virtues, of which the greatest is love (charity), our Essential Elements are equal and inseparable; each one informs, motivates, and enriches the other two. We have all experienced a strengthening of a friendship when we share a meal, work on a project, or perhaps take a trip with somebody. Frédéric noted this also but went on to explain that “if purely human acts have this power, moral acts have it even more, and if two or three come together to do good, their union will be perfect.” [142, to Curnier, 1837] The special character of Vincentian friendship is the bond formed by our charitable works, our service to Jesus Christ. Again, emphasizing this link between service and friendship, he explained that “the strongest tie, the principle of a true friendship, is charity … and good works are the food of charity.” [82, to Curnier, 1834]

Our service, of course, has never been about the bread, or the firewood, or the financial assistance. The challenge our founders hoped to meet was how to translate their faith into deeds. It isn’t about the firewood, it is about the faith. “We must do,” Frédéric said, “what Our Lord Jesus Christ did when preaching the Gospel. Let us go to the poor.” [Baunard, 65] Our service, then, is a pure expression of our spirituality, it is our special way of living our faith, and of following the greatest commandment.

It is because of this unity between the essential elements that the friendship we share with one another we share also with the neighbor, welcoming him or her into our community of faith, and inviting him, along with us, to union with Jesus Christ.

Esse, the Latin root of essential, means “to be.” Essence is the very nature of our being; that which is essential is what makes us who we are. Ours is more than the friendship that shares a meal or a drink, more than the spirituality that joins hands to pray around the table, and more than the service that enhances a resumé. Each element is important by itself. Together, they are the essence of the Society.

Contemplate

Does friendship build my spirituality, spirituality motivate my service, and service enrich my friendship?

Recommended Reading

Serving in Hope, Module I

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

“Money,” our Rule tells us, “must not be hoarded.” [Rule, Part I, 3.14] Members of the Society have always understood this to mean that every dollar we have is meant to serve the needs before us today; we do not save up for a rainy day, because, for the neighbor in need, it is raining right now, and the “funds donated to the Conference belong to the poor.” [Manual, 23]

As our original Rule explained, our charitable works are entirely optional; they are not bills to be paid or budgeted in advance, and so they should be paid with all the generosity our current balance can afford. When we have little, we give a little; when we have much, we give abundantly. It’s okay to run out of money, for “nothing is more Christian than to trust one’s self to Providence,” while having “a disposable capital which we never touch, to lay out beforehand a budget as in a relief association, are proceedings essentially contrary to the spirit of our Society.” [Rule, Art. 19 note, 1835]

In practice, we often find that when we offer everything we have to the poor, a new donation arrives unexpectedly, or the number of calls for help drop off for a while. Blessed Frédéric, reflecting on lessons learned over the Society’s first few years, recalled that they had hardly any money at the beginning, and it seemed to him “a great folly” but God provided, and he was now “very much convinced that to do works of charity, it is never necessary to worry about pecuniary resources, they always come.” [121, to his mother, 1836]

It is always well for us to remember that money and other material assistance are not the most important things we give. It is our friendship, our understanding, our presence, and our love that are most needed. Yet there are times, perhaps especially when we do not have material resources enough to meet the needs of a neighbor, that we can become reluctant to offer our presence and our hearts.

We naturally “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” and we would much rather rejoice! After all, sharing the sorrows and pain of another can bring sorrow and pain to ourselves. Yet it is that very tear we fear to shed, the shared tear, that St. Vincent tells us is itself “an act of love, causing people to enter one another’s hearts and to feel what they feel…” [CCD XII:221] If we truly seek, then, to serve for love alone, we can never budget our tears or our presence to be offered only along with material assistance.

Our treasuries and food banks may dwindle, but just as Providence so often makes itself known through generous donations, our Divine Donor provides us with a boundless reserve of love that is given to us only to be shared.

Contemplate

Do I sometimes “hoard” myself? Do I sometimes “hoard” my love?

Recommended Reading

15 Days of Prayer with Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

In his encyclical, Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis focuses on the importance of the heart to the practice of our faith; not merely the physical, biological heart, but the heart which is the core of our being, the union of body and spirit. Not surprisingly, he cites St. Vincent de Paul, who often taught that all God asks of us is our hearts. He also said that “as soon as a heart is empty of self, God fills it.” [CCD XI:281] His biographer Joseph Guichard even noted that St. Vincent began each day by crossing himself and saying, “My God, I give You my heart.”

St. Vincent’s actual heart is in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris, but in Frédéric’s time, it was in a cathedral in Lyon, Frédéric’s childhood home, where it was an inspiration to him. Like Vincent, Frédéric recognized the centrality of the heart to our vocation, saying of our patron that he “is a life to be carried on, a heart in which one’s own heart is enkindled…” [175, to Lallier, 1838] Adding then, to Vincent’s teaching, Frédéric’s thoughts begin to define for us a Vincentian heart.

Our works, he believed, should be guided not by cold reason, nor bureaucratic rules, nor even solely by the model of other Conferences. Instead, as he advised one new Conference, “It is better for you to raise your work by your own strength, under the inspirations of your heart, under the influence of local circumstances…” [90, to Curnier, 1835]

For Frédéric, the heart was the center of both faith and charity, for “the human heart easily allows itself to be captured by love and there is always much love there where there is much faith.” [145, to Velay, 1837] This love of God, charity, arises in our hearts through “God’s design… to implant religion in the mind through reason, and in the heart through grace.” [Baunard, 213]

Yet there is another vital aspect of the Vincentian heart: its union with other Vincentian hearts. Frédéric went so far as to say that “The principal goal of our association was to do everything with one heart and one soul...” [1457, Report on the Works, 1834] You can’t be a Vincentian without other Vincentians; our friendship is first “a union of hearts in Jesus Christ, our Lord.” [Bailly, Circ. Ltr. 14 Jul 1841] That friendship we share with one another, we extend also to the neighbor, serving for love alone; a love that arises from the light of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and that seeks to unite us in communion with one another and with Jesus Christ.

This flame in our hearts inspires us to love God, as St. Vincent taught, “with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.” [CCD XI:32] In our works, in our faith, and in our friendship, Vincentian hearts are united, and as Frédéric said, “When the heart and the hand are at work, how can we stop them?” [40, to his father, 1831]

Contemplate

How can I better allow myself to be led by the inspirations of my heart, in union with fellow Vincentians?

Recommended Reading

Dilexit Nos

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

Thrown from his horse and struck blind by a great flash of light, Saul of Tarsus then heard the voice of Jesus Christ, admonishing him for his oppression of the early Christians. Soon after, he would dedicate his life fully to Jesus Christ. We remember this event on the road to Damascus as the conversion of St. Paul. For most of us, our conversions are far less dramatic than Paul’s. Conversion takes a lifetime, the sum total of many small “moments of conversion” rather than a single flash of light.

The word conversion has its root in the Latin conversus, meaning “to turn around.” When we are converted our hearts turn towards God, but for this to happen, our hearts must be open to finding Him in the people and events of our lives. Our stubborn hearts are easily distracted by the pleasures and troubles of our material lives, but from time to time, God slips through in an encounter with a person, in an event that has special meaning in our lives, or sometimes just in a feeling that washes over us.

We don’t always recognize our moments of conversion when they are happening. It is sometimes only years later that we are able to look back on an event, maybe even a very bad experience, and understand how it set us onto a path leading towards God.

Just as each of us can find God in the people and events in our lives, so also we are the people in the lives of others; the actors in their events. How well do our actions point them towards God? Do we demonstrate His love by our own gentleness, by our selfless giving, by our friendship? Do we imitate Christ? Do we always see others as more important than ourselves? “Sometimes,” St. Vincent taught, “all it takes is a gentle word to convert a hardened person; a harsh word, on the contrary, is capable of upsetting a soul and causing in it a bitterness that could be very harmful to it.” [CCD XI:56]

Every person is made in the image of God, the imago dei, unique and unrepeatable, including us. It doesn’t matter whether others see us that way, it matters that this is who we are. When we act according to God’s will, when we love the way He taught us, we can become a light of hope, an instrument of His will. We can be, for others, a moment of conversion.

Just as we sometimes reflect on our lives, “re-reading” moments and seeing that God was there with us all along, so, too, can the neighbors we serve. It may not be during our home visit. It may not even be next week or next year. But if we are truly acting according to God’s will, then He is speaking through us, in our words and in our actions. One day, we can be the neighbor’s moment of conversion, not through our effort, but through our faith; not through our will, but through our hope; not through our plans, but through our love.

Contemplate

How can I better be God’s instrument as a moment of conversion for others?

Recommended Reading

500 More Little Prayers for Vincentians

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

Championship teams are often described as having a “culture of winning.” Our neighbors in generational poverty are sometimes described as living in a “culture of poverty.” Cultures are formed by shared beliefs – for the winning team, a belief that they are winners leads them to see everything they do as serving the cause of winning. A culture of poverty can form when we begin to believe that “good things are not meant for people like me,” and it becomes harder to take actions that we believe are hopeless. Beliefs drive behavior.

The Cultural Beliefs incorporated into the Rule in 2018 represent those things that all Vincentians believe, which in turn lead us to act in a certain way. Our belief in “One Society” for example, leads us to view all of our fellow Vincentians as a family with shared goals. [Rule, Part III, St. 2] Importantly, these cultural beliefs were not invented in 2018. On the contrary, they represent a set of common beliefs that go back to the founding of the Society – beliefs that move us to act as Vincentians, beliefs that make us who we are.

As the Society expanded, first by splitting the original Conference into two, and soon afterward by the founding of Conferences outside of Paris, Bl. Frédéric recognized that it was not enough for each local Conference to perform works of charity in isolation. To live our shared charism, to honor our God and our patron, it was necessary for new Conferences to “understand that their strength is in unity and that the entire uniqueness of their work lies precisely in its universality.” [182, to Lallier, 1838]

As the Society continued to grow, with new Conferences forming around the world, Frédéric emphasized that “To grow is not…important; there must at the same time be unity in proportion as the circle widens, each of its points connected with the center by unbroken spokes.” [137, to Janmot, 1836]

With members now in more than 150 countries, it remains true that ours is a community of faith that extends beyond the boundaries of each Conference, forming “a true and unique worldwide Community of Vincentian friends.” [Rule, Part I, 3.3] We recognize this with the process of aggregation, formally incorporating each Conference into the International Confederation of the Society. “Our moral strength,” as in Frédéric’s day, “comes from other conferences in Paris and the provinces. This solidarity raises us in the eyes of the world at the same time that it gives us confidence.” [137, to Lallier, 1837]

You cannot be a Vincentian without other Vincentians, for we grow in holiness together. In the same way, we cannot be Conferences without other Conferences, Councils without other Councils, and we cannot be a network of charity encircling the world in any way except together, in communion with all of our fellow Vincentians.

Contemplate

How do I stay in communion with my District, Diocesan, and National Council?

Recommended Reading

Apostle in a Top Hat

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

Charity, Blessed Frédéric explained, was the strongest tie of friendship, but charity “is a fire that dies without being fed, and good works are the food of charity.” [82, to Curnier, 1834] This would make no sense if charity were a synonym for good works, as the word is often used today. Instead, for Frédéric and for Vincent, charity is something that pre-exists our works, and is something we receive as well as give.

Of our three theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, the Apostle Paul tells us that charity is the greatest. In many translations of the bible, this virtue is called love, which is the sense in which Frédéric and Vincent discuss charity. In the original Greek, Paul uses the word agape, one of several words for love in that language. Unlike the words for romantic or brotherly love, agape does not describe a feeling. Indeed, God does not command us to feel a certain way about another person. Instead, He tells us, using that same word, agape, to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those that curse us. Even sinners, after all, love those who love them. Charity calls us not to feel but to act.

The Greek agape appears to descend from the Hebrew word for love, avaha, which in turn comes from the root hav, meaning “to give.” Agape, charity, is the divine love, expressed towards us through the act of giving: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” The Son, in turn, gave us His very life, an act of giving which He explained was the greatest love. Not content to give Himself to us only once, St. Vincent explained, Christ “willed to break all the laws of nature” to remain truly present, sacrificing Himself again and again, feeding us as bread and wine in the Eucharist. He did this, Vincent explained, because “charity is inventive to infinity.” [CCD XI:131]

This love called charity is not a feeling, but instead is “the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.” [CCC, 1822]

God’s gift, God’s love, God’s charity is completely gratuitous, yet we cannot help but love Him in return, in our words and in our deeds, “with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.” [CCD XI:32] We love Him also by loving our neighbor, in His name and for His sake. Love freely given is freely repaid. This is why, as Frédéric said, “He who brings a loaf of bread to the home of a poor man often brings back a joyful and comforted heart. Thus, in this sweet business of charity, the expenses are low, but the returns are high.” [1361, to the General Assembly, 1837]

Charity is not meant to make us feel a certain way. It is meant to make others feel a certain way: loved.

Contemplate

How do my visits, my manner, and my love make the neighbor feel?

Recommended Reading

Mystic of Charity (especially “Home Visits in the Vincentian Tradition”)

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development 

The word “courage” often brings to mind images such as a firefighter rushing into a burning house to save a child, or a soldier making his way under fire to help a downed comrade. Among our Vincentian saints and blessed, few examples are more vivid than that of Bl. Rosalie Rendu, who, during the revolution in 1848, climbed atop a barricade in the midst of some of the fiercest fighting in the city, demanding that they cease fire. Just days prior to this, the Archbishop of Paris, attempting a similar act, had been shot dead. For Rosalie, both sides paused in their hostilities.

What is courage, exactly, and in what sense did our holiest Vincentians pray for God to grant it to them? Rosalie prayed to God “to grant me the spirit of faith which will strengthen me in my weakness and give me the courage to make the sacrifices that He asks of me.” [Sullivan, 104] The courage she sought was not to overcome trials or danger, but to overcome her own weakness; to overcome herself.

St. Louise was even more explicit in explaining this, saying “We need great courage to overcome ourselves, although often the things we call trials are more imaginary than real.” [SWLM, L.438] As she understood, it is not the difficulty of the trials that prevents us from acting, since many of them are not even real. Rather, it is our own fear, our own egos.

St. Vincent urged the missioners to “always be very courageous” because otherwise “that cursed spirit of laziness gives up at the smallest contradiction: there’s not the slightest discomfort it doesn’t avoid, no responsibility it doesn’t fear, no satisfaction it doesn’t seek; this self-love ruins everything.” [CCD XI:216] We associate courage with heroism; Vincent associated courage with selflessness. This is not a contradiction, as Rosalie’s great heroism shows. Rather, selflessness is a prerequisite to heroism, and it is the selflessness that requires courage. We recognize this same thing in our military heroes, whose award citations often include some form of the phrase “with complete disregard for his own life and safety.”

Courage is of the heart, which is the Latin root of the word. As Frédéric once put it, “I admire that courage which knows restraint in the face of a stricken family, and that praiseworthy smile which shines like a parting ray in the midst of the most somber thoughts. But I love not less those solitary tears shed in the silent room at the foot of the crucifix…whatever is strong is not what stands stiffly, but what straightens up after bending.” [290, to Amélie, 1841]

The first step towards canonization in our church is the recognition of a life of “heroic virtue,” which doesn’t begin with courage under fire, but with courage to overcome ourselves.

Contemplate

Do I pray for the courage to give more of myself?

Recommended Reading

Amélie Ozanam: A Heart with Much Love to Give