From earliest childhood stories have helped us to understand ourselves and how we live in this world.
So Many Stories!
Which story are you most aware of?
At one level the story that most interests us is our own story with its twists and turns, highs and lows. Unfortunately, many of us stop at the top level of our stories. We may never really understand our own story. We spend a lifetime figuring it out. Sadly, sometimes we think it ours is the only story.
There are so many other stories we know and can tell. Our loved ones each have a story. So also, the rich and the famous, the good and the bad. There are the stories of the forgotten ones or the unknown ones and even the stories of all creatures and indeed all of creation.… which God tells us is good. Even God has a story!
Have you ever thought of all these stories as God’s story?
Pope Francis has! In Fratelli Tutti he reminds us that all our stories are connected. In Laudato Si he reminds us that all our stories are connected with all that God has created.
Our vocation as storytellers
Pope Francis reminds us that we are all God’s story
In the confusion of the voices and messages that surround us, we need a human narrative, which talks to us about us and the beauty that lives there.
A narration that knows how to look at the world and events with tenderness; that tells our being part of a living fabric; that reveals the intertwining of the threads with which we are connected to each other.
He goes even further. We are all God’s storytellers. Pope Francis draws our attention to the almost poetic words of St. Paul.
“You are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor 3:3).
Each of us in our own way shares in the storytelling vocation of the evangelists and a whole host of biblical authors.
The special vocation of Vincentian storytellers
Vincentians accept the special vocation to tell God’s story. It is the mission of Vincentians to focus on the stories of the forgotten and marginalized.
We, inspired by the model of St. Vincent, claim to stand in the heritage of Jesus to bringing good news (the story of God’s love) to the poor.
“He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…” Luke 4:17 ff.
As we try to live this mandate we sometimes forget that this does not just mean talking at people. It means listening to their stories so that together we can see and understand their individual stories as part of God’s story.
Storytellers are also very good listeners. Listening to their stories helps us all to understand their story and see that their story is part of God’s story.
Listening to their stories helps them tell their stories. We take a holy pride in being “the voice of the poor”. But we must also help them find their voice and tell their own story. We must never forget they must tell their own story. We are also called to help them understand and tell their own story in their own language.
As we listen to their often painful stories we may also recognize the bruised and battered face of Christ today. Perhaps we can recognize our role as that of Veronica as she wiped the blood from Jesus’ face. Jesus may leave us with his imprint on us.
Click below for an audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk
True stories like the one we hear in “I’m just a nobody” song that you, Fr. John, mentioned in one of your first Mindwalks.
Great meditation which reminds me that NO ONE who has been created is NOT important no matter what life has reserved for her/him.
Thank you.
A Society of St Vincent de Paul Vincentian mentored me years ago that the best way to start a conversation during a home visit was to ask “What parish did you grow up in?” Since most of the people we served at the time knew their “parish” as well as (or better than) they knew their ZIP code, even if they weren’t Catholic, it became a good introduction into the notion that this isn’t an interrogation but a conversation between friends.
Not being a native to the area, I took a slightly different approach and would ask, “How did we get where we are today?” Most often they would begin with a list of financial hardships and I would gently stop them. “No, we can get to that later. How did you get to this apartment, this neighborhood, this town? What brought you here and why is it so important to stay?” That provided a great avenue into discovering more about them as a person, a family member, a source of income and what more recently has encouraged them to contact us. It also enabled a recollection about better times and how to get back to them. Much more effective (and personal) than the usual “intake questions.”
Each of us likes to explain to a listening ear how we got to this place in our lives and allowing Persons in need that human right has proven very helpful to both sides of the conversation. It begins that “connection” that you, Father John, and Pope Francis encourage us to discover.
Thanks for the reminder about how important that is.
I really like the angles you take–storytelling. All of us have our ‘Once upon a time…’ and then we conclude with ‘and we lived_______________ever after.’ Maybe ‘happily ever’ or ‘sadly ever’ or ‘still searching’…or whatever. But we keep on our journey of discovery.