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November
28, 2000
The
following article was
written by Fr Tony Mannix CM for the September 2000 issue of
'Oceania Vincentian' . ('Oceania Vincentian' is a Publication in
the Australian Province of the Vincentians):
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The
Congregation of the Mission
and
The Mission of the Church to the Poor
Anthony
Mannix CM
I
THE MISSION THEN (1)
Origins
revisited
Vincent
was confirmed in his mission to the poor but was still
discovering its extent when, on 17 April 1625, the contract was
drawn up with the De Gondis to provide a sure foundation from
which the mission could move forward. Convinced "that poor
people are losing their souls because they are ignorant of the
truths necessary for salvation and because they do not know how
to go to confession, " he had discerned the pastoral action
to take: "It was knowing this state of affairs that made us
establish the company" . (2) He responded to
the need.
The
numbers of poor in Paris and throughout France were great, yet
Vincent was never put off by that nor deterred from making
a start by the fewness of personnel. He responded as and
where he could, however inadequate the response seemed to be.
The Congregation numbered only about forty-six members by 1635,
ten years from its foundation, yet Vincent wrote to Antoine
Portail later that year, "How fearful I am, Monsieur, of
big numbers and expansion. And how many reasons do we not have
to bless God who allows us to be few in number, like the
disciples of his Son!" (3) It was the spirit
that counted -- the Spirit who counted!
Statistical
probabilities did not complicate Vincent's making decisions. At
the level of faith and in the context of prayer, he observed the
need, sought wisdom in discerning the will of God, waited for
some indication of being called to a particular mission
(eventually expressed as "responding to the call of the
bishops") and then he deployed what personnel and funds
were available. "Are you fully aware ... that we have the
maxim and practice of not requesting any foundations, and that
Our Lord alone has established us in the places where we now
are?" (4) The need always far exceeded the
resources of the Congregation to meet it adequately.
Having discerned a situation, Vincent acted upon it.
Others
involved, too
Vincent
and the Congregation were not the only ones to respond to these
needs. He supported and welcomed the efforts of others. Of his
contemporaries, consider St John Eudes working in the Normandy
region and Jean Jacques Olier in Paris. He knew them and learned
from their experiences, too. He was not in competition with
others working or able to work in the field, so he bypassed the
cities and turned to the country districts.
From
such a small base he did not hesitate to send members of the
Congregation to distant places: country France, Rome, North
Africa, Britain, Madagascar, Poland ...
Vincent
called lay people forward to engage in apostolic works and,
given discernment of an issue, did not hesitate to break new
ground in pastoral practice.
II
THE MISSION NOW
The
Second Vatican Council speaks (5)
The
Vatican Council recovered and developed a basic New Testament
insight into the mission of the church: mission to the poor is
at the heart of its mission to the world ...
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"Just
as Christ carried out the work of redemption in
poverty and oppression, so the church is called to
follow the same path if it is to communicate the
fruits of salvation to humanity... the church
encompasses with its love all those who are afflicted
by human infirmity and it recognizes in those who are
poor and who suffer, the likeness of its poor and
suffering founder. It does all in its power to relieve
their need and in them it strives to serve
Christ...."
('Lumen
Gentium' par 8)
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The
Gospel Word moved Vincent de Paul to initiate his pastoral
response to the needs of the poor with very few members; the
same Gospel Word has now moved the whole church to the poor with
its vast number of members.
Thirty-six
years since 'Lumen Gentium', have we yet paused long enough to
reflect on the extent of its pastoral vision, to thank God in
some corporate way for it and also for what Vincent and the
Congregation have contributed towards this pastoral vision?
Apart
from, or with ?
How
has this vision affected the Congregation of the Mission? Has it
really put us out of business? If so, we could sing our 'Nunc
Dimittis' (Canticle of Simeon) and happily merge again with the
priests and laity from whom we took our origin. Such a step
would demand discernment in accord with Vincent's own criteria;
his few words about the duration of the Congregation were, in
reality, a fervent prayer and exhortation to his confreres to be
true to the spirit of the Congregation and its mission and to
get on with the task in the right spirit! (Where are those
words?) (6)
Or,
does this vision call us to re-align awareness of our mission so
that we see it, not as setting us apart from others
similarly involved but, because it takes us to the heart of the
church's own mission, as bringing us closer together with those
others who are similarly involved? We would then be defined by
our commitment to staying with the poor, regardless of
other considerations, called to working with those being
overlooked (who will often coincide with the 'poorest of the
poor') and we would be identified by our corporate spirit and
mobility to pursue those works beyond the boundaries of the
dioceses, as service to the local churches.
The
Congregation would be a sign in the church of faithful
dedication to the poor. It would not necessarily be the best
at the work, or the most effective but would be striving always,
moved by the zeal that Vincent saw as important. Discernment of
its apostolic undertakings would be paramount.
Today's
steps
The
years since the Vatican Council have exposed our need to be
thoroughly renewed for its pastoral programme by making its
ecclesiology our own. We have often been unduly concerned about
our declining numbers and influence and have been busy shoring
up community in the face of declining mission. We have reached
out to the poor but sometimes for our need rather than for
theirs!
A
necessary step is to tune into and engage in a more concerted
study of "the signs of the times", worldwide and
province-wide, to try to hear the more pressing cries of the
poor and so discover the "lords and masters" who are
calling us now. Like Vincent, having discerned what needs doing
we could then act.
We
need not wait until the discernment is exhaustive and complete.
When the cries we hear clearly resonate with our own spirit and
charism and are echoed by the bishop(s) we can move. The doing
then becomes part of the ongoing discernment.
As
Vincent and his companions were missioners of the Council of
Trent, so we should be missioners of the Second Vatican Council.
Renewal for mission will entail our being thoroughly steeped in
the ecclesiology of Vatican II with its clear focal point.
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(1)
These reflections were accompanied by a reading of "St Vincent
de Paul -- A Biography" by José Maria Román CM
(translated by Sr Joyce Howard DC) London 1999.
(2) Letter to François Du Coudray, 1631 (St Vincent de Paul,
Correspondence, Conferences, Documents Brooklyn N Y
1985-- (cited below as CCD) Vol 1 p 112; translation as in Román
p 187).
(3) Letter to Antoine Portail, 16 October 1635 (CCD Vol 1 p 304;
translation as in Román p 278 where date is 16 September 1635.
(4) Letter to Mother Catherine de Beaumont, 19 May 1647 (CCD Vol
3 197; and other reference in Román p 291).
(5) Dogmatic Constitution on the Church - 'Lumen Gentium' , from
"Vatican Council II - The Basic Sixteen Documents"
edited by Austin Flannery OP New York / Dublin 1996 pp 9-10.
(6) Note, for example: "And those who come after us, in
three or four hundred years time, will look upon us as their
fathers ... what example should we not leave our successors. . .
" (Repetition of Prayer, November 25, 1657) in Conferences
of Saint Vincent de Paul, compiled by Pierre Coste
CM, translated by Joseph Leonard CM, edited Eastern Province U S
A, Philadelphia 1963 p 266.
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