St. Vincent de Paul Notes for Lent

Week 5:  Operational Structure: Key to Faithfulness and Longevity in Service

Scripture: 
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.  But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.  If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood hay or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire {itself} will test the quality of each one’s work.  If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage.  But if someone‘s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-17)

Reflection: 
How do we know that what we do in this life is worth the effort?  Are we using our precious, short lives doing something that will have lasting value, or are we just frittering away our precious short years?  And how do we know?

Vincentians utilize structure to help them to be sure they are on the right path. 

1. First and foremost, they follow Jesus.  They read and pray deeply with the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, and they seek to know Christ in the faces of the poor they encounter and serve or serve alongside. 

2. Secondly, they follow the example of their founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam and their patron St. Vincent de Paul.  They continually focus on their lives, their teachings, and their example to inspire and motivate them. 

3. Thirdly, they follow the church’s teachings, especially those that pertain to their service.

4. Fourthly, they also follow the Rule of the Society, which crystallizes and makes explicit the deep motivations that keep them true. 

5. And finally, they function following the guidelines set in place by the Society for their meetings, for their service, and for their prayer, trusting in the cumulative wisdom gained from the long experience of the Society and from their continual confirmation that the Holy Spirit is leading them.

Underlying all of this practice is the deep belief that they – and the people they serve – are indeed temples of the Holy Spirit, and that each is precious to God.  This deep belief both enhances their belief in their own gifts, which are, after all, God’s manifestation in them, and also keeps them humbly trusting that what they give of themselves and their resources are never wasted, even when the person is actually trying to take advantage of them (which does happen, unfortunately).  Vincentians know that “God writes straight with crooked lines.”  In other words, God can use anything, even our willful detours, to create openings for his amazing grace to work in us.  Even for those who cynically seek take what they can get even with they don’t deserve it or intend to use it in ways it is not intended, God can touch their hearts by the generosity with which they are served – even in their cynic “using” state of being.

Prayer: 
Holy Spirit, thank you for taking up your abode within us human beings.  We are deeply grateful for that wondrous reality, and we ask for your continued grace to be open and receptive to your impulses and your power. We especially ask that you continue to lead us, to lessen our resistance to guidance, discipline and structure so that we can fully benefit from those who have gone before us, especially Jesus.  We ask this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.
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The Rule

When Spirit-filled persons like St. Vincent and Blessed Frederic exercise their ministries, their strong charisms (gifts of the Spirit) – or charisma – can so deeply inspire others that their work flourishes.  It can spread far beyond the person and their vicinity, often changing and adapting as it goes.  Over time, if their ministry is to continue to flourish and grow, the need for structure becomes very evident, just as it did in the early Church.  In founding the Vincentians, Frederic Ozanam and his circle of disciples and fellow ministers sought ways to make sure that those that claimed a shared ministry with them were staying true to the original purpose.  They soon realized that they needed to form a Rule, which religious communities have utilized from early on in the Church, to try to ensure the continuation and fidelity of the group.  The principles and structures that they create are based upon their own experience of what worked and what did not, and they usually consulted with many in the group to be sure that they were including everything deemed necessary.  Over time, the Rule was also re-evaluated to be sure that it was as good as needed, and updated when a situation is encountered that had not been considered previously.  This makes the Rule a living Rule, always effective in both shaping and serving the Society.

The major benefits of a Rule were to give structure (within individual Conferences and connecting Conferences from all over the world), clarity and definition.  The Rule set the authority and the boundaries.  For example, it let them know how to deal with new issues, how to settle differences, and how to grow the Society, how to recruit and train new members, and how to collaborate effectively, and how to work in new cultures.  It also helps them to adapt to Church teachings such as those that came from the Second Vatican Council.  The Rule is a major asset of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Meeting Structure

Meetings at St. John’s are on alternate Thursday evenings.  Meetings always begin with prayer and a reading and reflection.  These readings may come from the Training Modules of the Society, they may come from Scripture or from one of the Documents of the Vatican Council, a Bishop’s Letter, or the life of either the patron or founder of the Society.  They practice Apostolic Reflection (see Week 2) on the reading to deepen their understanding of it and their ability to apply it in their lives and ministries.

They read minutes and make amendments, take attendance, examine their financial reports, and review their Conference and individual activities (done in pairs).  They assess the Conference needs and upcoming needs of the people they minister to, as well as requests they have received from other Conferences (local, national or international) that have greater need than they can meet.  They also address national and international collaborative efforts, as well as organized efforts for change in harmful circumstances in the government or culture.  Each Conference has a Spiritual Advisor, who helps to focus the group and their efforts more fully on the person and the teachings of Jesus and the Church.

Finally, they also have an opportunity to discuss and share on assignments that they have either completed or are ongoing, gaining advice and support, as well as discovering other resources for dealing with the persons and their problems.  In this way they are helped in both their effectiveness and their assurance of God’s working in them.  They finish by praying for themselves and the people they are serving, again helping them to notice the face of God in those they serve and those who serve alongside them.

Discussion Questions:
• What is your attitude toward structure and rules?

• Share a time when you experiences the benefits of having such structure and rules.

• How do you know when and how it’s OK to break with the existing structure and rules?

• Have you ever been part of a group that uses a formal Rule?  If so, describe the experience.

The Society in Action – St. John Vianney

When there is a death of a parishioner, our Vincentians schedule a Mass for the soul of that person, and then, about 6-8 weeks after the death, they visit the bereaved at home, offering comfort, support, spiritual aid, and other services as may be needed.  They offer transportation of clients when needed for such things as medical visits and grocery shopping.  In so doing, they are extending the love and care of the Parish community to the grieving, being present in the midst of their grief, and making tangible the loving care of our God for the suffering.  In the process, they also offer hope to those who often feel despairing.

Other home visits may come from referrals, sometimes from other clients.  One such visit happened recently in Waukesha when they visited a woman and her son who were living in a basement “apartment,” which was, in fact, an unfinished, cold, dark basement, for which they were paying excessive rent.  Conference members listened to the woman and her son, assessed the situation, confronted the landlord, and helped the woman to break her lease and find another apartment, assisting her with her first month’s rent and security deposit.  She and her son are now living in much more healthy surroundings, and have new hope in life.

They also helped a young man who had lost both of his parents, and though he had completed his nursing education, he had lost a job and was behind in his rent and in total despair.  After a little help to catch up on his rent and a little encouragement to continue to seek a new job, this young man is now working, very happy, and often helping others out of the gratitude he feels for the critical help he received when he was down.

Some of the funds Vincentians use to handle these emergencies come from money placed in the Poor Box in the narthex.  Others come from the special collection that St. John’s takes up on Holy Thursday at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and when there has been a particularly strong run on their funds, there has even been a special collection held at St. John’s.  Vincentians serve the poor in our community, and they do it not just with their own money, but they do it with the money we donate, individually and as a Parish.  They truly serve in our name.  As a parish, we are grateful!

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

• For those with special charisms of ministry, that they may find support from others and be able to develop ways to sustain their ministry beyond themselves, we pray…. Lord, hear our prayer

• For all Religious communities that seek to serve the mission of the Church through following a Rule, we pray…Lord hear our prayer.

• For the grace to recognize healthy structure and discipline and welcome it into our lives so that we might more faithfully follow Jesus, we pray…Lord hear our prayer.

• For our parish, we work together more fully to further the mission of Christ here in our own community, especially through the Faith in Our Future Campaign, we pray….Lord hear our prayer.

• For all who are in desperate need, here and around the world, we pray….Lord hear our prayer.

• For Vincentians worldwide and especially those in our own parish as they seek to follow the Rule of the Society more fully, we pray…Lord hear our prayer.

In gratitude and wonder for God’s and hope presence right in the midst of suffering, we pray together as Jesus taught us:  Our Father….