See below for an audio version of this reflection.
Is the Vincentian Charism alive today?
Is the Vincentian charism alive today? You bet!
The health of a charism is not in the number of members who profess their vows in the institute. The health of the charism is seen in its vitality wherever it is received, nurtured and made operative. The charism of religious life is alive and well both inside and outside of the religious institute’s vowed membership.
Naming Vincent’s Charism In Everyday Life
Let me tell you a story, a true story. It is a story connecting the dots of one person’s life with the Vincentian Charism or culture. It is the story of a married woman who was interested in learning more about a group of women who called themselves Sisters of Charity. She was considering becoming a “lay associate”.
In conversation with a Sister she respected greatly, she heard the story of Vincent instructing one of the first groups of the long line of women who became known as Daughters of Charity, Sisters of Charity or some variation. Sister spoke of how Saint Vincent reminded them that they were to have
- for monastery only the houses of the sick,
- for cell a hired room,
- for chapel the parish church,
- for cloister the streets of the city…
It was a moment of awakening for her. She burst into quiet tears, tears of recognition. After a few moments, she was able to explain what had happened.
In those words of Vincent, she recognized the lives that she and her husband had lived for years serving the marginalized in the south west of the United States. And, in that moment, the Sister learned a new level of meaning to those words. She realized immediately that she was not “forming” this woman for becoming an associate but rather merely helping her to recognize or name the charism she and her husband had been living for decades.
Vincentian Professionals
Isn’t this what was described in the recent post reflecting on a still little known phenomenon in the Vincentian family. The story illustrates the same point in a different way
It seems as if many others are beginning to connect the dots.
- People skilled in various professions are acting on a desire to use their professional skills to address the needs of their suffering sisters and brothers.
- Members of these groups gather among themselves to discuss how they can use their unique skills. Musicians, lawyers, etc. seeking to serve others who are less fortunate. They walk in the way of Vincent from within their professions. I think we could call them Vincentian “professionals”.
- Musicians, lawyers, graphic artists, psychologists, translators, alumni of Vincentian institutions and the list goes on.
Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac certainly promoted the laity, especially women. The many impressive Vincentian accomplishments cannot be understood apart from the participation of so many lay persons, so many laymen and laywomen, in the mission.
Vincent was amazed at the number of laity who began to walk in the footsteps of Christ the Evangelizer of the Poor.
The point is … we are just beginning to see a new vitality of the Vincentian Charism… but in ways we did not expect!
Questions
Are we seeing this new vitality?
Are we help people recognize it in their lives?
Click below for an audio version of this reflection…
Great insight and great story of the woman and her husband in the USA!
Could the insight of Culture of Vocation help this experience to become not only more prevalent but extend it beyond our own founding charism so that we participate in the charism of St. Vincent by helping revitalize the Church today?
On the other side of the coin is that engaging the poor can be so overwhelming that, without a solid relationship to the Savior, the pain encountered leads to either frustration or attempts to control human behavior that never have worked.
There is an urgency around revitalizing our Charism.
Thanks to both Gabriella and Miles
Gabriella – I love retelling this story and have done so digitally many times over the years.
Miles – This story from 15 years ago is why I have resonated so well with the idea of a culture of vocation ever since.
Here is one of my more recent retellings of the story cast in the context of Elijah’s mantle and contextualizing it with the lay associate movement.
https://famvin.org/en/2018/09/14/signs-vincents-charism-is-alive-and-well-today/
I got distracted before adding a piece from 2016 reflecting on the study of “unaffiliated Vincentians”
https://famvin.org/en/2016/02/01/unaffiliated-lay-vincentians-challenges-trends-and-opportunities/
Blessings and thanks to you, John, and all the’freres this July 19th! The message is so true. The message is so true — and seen systemically, acknowledged by at least one state governor explicitly in an interview. Thanks.
“without a solid relationship to the Savior, the pain encountered leads to either frustration or attempts to control human behavior that never have worked.”
I like particularly this part of your comment, Miles, since it confirms my own conviction about the Savior and commitment to him being decisive, about our not being able to do anything without him. This is what I think José Antonio Pagola’s homilies and his Grupos de Jesús foster.
But if we are to work even with those who do not share our faith, we surely would not expect this of them? Are their efforts doomed because they have no idea about this solid relationship, let alone have it?
Could we perhaps speak of “anonymous solid relationship to the Savior” or of a “solid relationship of desire?”
Or maybe I should just let Num 11, 26-29 and Mk 9, 38-41 be, and also wonder about those who, surprised, ask in Mt 25, 37. 39, “When did we see you hungry and feed you …?”