The Spirituality and Practice of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Week 3:  Vincentian Spirituality: The Bond of Friendship and Solidarity

Scripture:  “There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?  How do you read it?”   He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.  They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.  A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.  He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.  Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him.  If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’  Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim? He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”  Jesus said to him, “God and do likewise.”  (Luke 10:25-37)

Reflection:  Love is as love does.  Jesus knew this, but the scholar was so caught up in having the right answers that he didn’t even consider relationship, which is at the heart of mercy and love.  Don’t we, too, often get so enthralled with being right or knowing more or having absolute certainly that we forget that what really counts is relationship, and not just with those who benefit us, but even with those who may threaten or seem to threaten us.  We learn that most through experience – ours and others’.

Prayer:  God of love, you made us for relationship, both with you and with each other.  Help us to learn more and more how to love others across all kinds of lines.  Help us to be open not only to the good in the poor, but also in those who have so much.  Help us to love no matter what so that we might never miss the sight of your face in others.  We ask this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.
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When you think about it, haven’t you learned your most important life lessons in relationship with others?  Haven’t you had the experience of having a judgment of someone blown out of the water when you actually had significant contact with that person?  Hasn’t your image of God changed drastically as you grew and experienced God’s loving mercy rather than any judgment or anger?  Frederic knew this, and it formed the heart of the core values of the Society.

CORE VALUES

• Holiness of Life is based on intimacy with Jesus, and is an ongoing process of conversion throughout one’s life, requiring prayer, both personal and communal, including and especially the Eucharist.  Vincentians also have a special devotion to Mary, to St. Vincent de Paul, and to Frederic Ozanam.

• Service of the Poor is rooted in the identification of Jesus with the poor.  Because Vincentians see the fact of Christ in the poor, they recognize the dignity of all human persons, and treat them with respect.  They also exercise a preferential option for the poor, giving them special consideration to help them overcome the difficulties which often impede their experiencing of God’s love.

• Humility is a key virtue for Vincentians, both for individuals and for the groups.  Recognition of God as the source of their lives and of their gifts helps them to see themselves and others more clearly, and to give of themselves in love, trusting in God.  The Beatitudes call for poverty in spirit, which they try to practice.

• Simplicity of life helps Vincentians maintain their true reference point: God and God’s Kingdom.  They help each other to live more simply, using less of the world’s goods so that they do not become possessed by them, and so that they remain free to serve the poor – even with their own resources of time and money.  They rely always on God to direct them and to provide for them in their work.

• Community of Faith is vital to Vincentian spirituality.  They are to be friends with each other within the conference, with the persons they serve, and most especially with God.  When they serve the poor they always do so in pairs, not alone, making it part of forming community, as well.  Attendance at and participation in meetings on a regular basis fosters this friendship, as does their shared values and their shared experience.

• Charity for Vincentians is not just direct service, but also calls for justice.  They not only seek to alleviate the immediate suffering of the poor, but they also seek to root out the causes of injustice in themselves and in the world around them.  They seek also to practice charity among themselves, leaving no room for competition, jealousies, divisions, scandal or politics.  They seek to experience and practice solidarity with others, especially the poor.

St. Vincent insisted that these values were more important than principles, ideologies, or reasoned arguments, and he insisted “It is necessary to give oneself to God…in order to serve the poor.”  He also proclaimed the radical priority of action.  If being comes before doing, so, living the truth comes before teaching it.  Vincent told them “We must begin by establishing the kingdom of God in ourselves and only then in others… It’s necessary to tend to our interior life.  If we fail to do that, we miss everything.”

Action in this sense was not merely an expenditure of physical energy to accomplish something.  For Vincent it was the main and perhaps the only way to unite oneself to God’s will and to God himself.  “We have to sanctify our occupations by seeking God in them rather than to get them done.”  Only this intention of going beyond the visible in our actions gives value to the action.

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STORY

A villager is walking by the river early one morning.  The villager looks out into the water and sees a baby floating down the river.  Horrified, the villager races into the water, grabs the baby, and brings the baby to shore.  The baby is fine.  Relieved, the villager looks back into the water and sees another baby floating down the water.  The villager again dives into the water and rescues this baby as well.  Once more, the villager looks into the water…and sees dozens of babies floating down the river.  The villager calls out an alarm, and the entire village comes running to the river to rescue as many babies as they can before the water carries them away.   This is a village that is mobilized.  Every villager is at the river, trying to save the babies from the water.  This is a village that is improving lives.  Many of the babies are being saved.  But the babies keep on coming… because no one is going upstream to find out who is throwing the babies into the water in the first place.

Helping the poor in direct ways to alleviate their immediate suffering is important, but if the conditions that led to their “poverty” are not changed, it’s not good enough.  Vincentians have learned through the decades to seek out the root causes of the problems, and they have realized the need to become involved in issues that are political in nature, and often cultural, as well.  Though they are lay persons, they seek to influence both the culture and the politics and economics in the ways open to them.

One of the ways they seek to influence the political/economic situation is through their Voices of the Poor effort.  They study the needs of the poor and seek ways

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you seen the face of Christ in some one you served?  Describe the experience.
2. How have good relationships helped you to know your own goodness and to be open to the goodness of others?
3. Think about your own experiences of direct service to the poor.  Did you begin to wonder what made them so vulnerable in the first place?  What thoughts went through your head?  How have you dealt with the conclusions that you drew?
4. How do you feel about faith influencing politics?
5. What one thing can I personally do to address the need for systemic change to benefit those who are broken in the system?

 
The Society in Action – St. John Vianney

Meal Programs are a significant way that Vincentians serve the poor. 
• Our conference at St. John Vianney serves the Vincent Center (4th & Clarke Sts.) in Milwaukee once monthly, with SJV parishioners preparing and donating the food, delivering it and serving it as well. 
• They prepare and serve Monday night dinners at the CCWC meal program in Waukesha.
• They prepare and serve daily lunch to disadvantaged children in Waukesha during the summer. 
• They work with Prince of Peace serving at the South Site (10th & Madison) in Milwaukee monthly
• You will also often find members serving at either of the two Milwaukee sites at times they choose on their own.

Closing Prayer:  We join our prayers today with those of Vincentians worldwide for those who are poor in one way or another:

• For those who are most crippled, wounded or shut out in our current economic and political system, we pray…Lord, hear our prayer.

• For all who work to alleviate the suffering of the poor, especially those humble enough to seek the face of God in those they serve, we pray… Lord, hear our prayer.

• For all those who have the insight and courage to work for change in the system, we pray… Lord, hear our prayer.

• For all of us who are so often blind to the flaws in our time and place that harm some among us and keep them from experiencing their giftedness and their preciousness to God, we pray… Lord, hear our prayer.

• For an increase in gratitude among those of us who are richly gifted, from which can flow an increase in generosity and willingness to serve, we pray… Lord, hear our prayer.

In gratitude and wonder for all God’s blessings and God’s ways we pray together as Jesus taught us:  Our Father….

Week 1 Reflection

Week 2 Reflection