Building the Vincentian Community

"The more you give to our Lord, the more blessings you will receive. His yoke is sweet to him who embraces it willingly." -St. Vincent de Paul


I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of a Vincentian Founders Festival on Thursday in Los Angeles.  The idea behind the day was simple: two different elementary schools, run by the Daughters of Charity, joined together for fellowship and to do service together. 


It was an incredible experience to be a "fly on the wall." As with all Vincentian endeavors, these schools minister to the poor and marginalized. You wouldn't have known it on Thursday though - with the children in each grade level wearing matching T-shirt colors, you couldn't even tell the two schools apart - and with the excitement the children had for their service projects, you could see they did not consider themselves to be "the poor."


As I wandered into the 4th grade classroom, I saw busy children in matching green T-shirts, taking turns between eagerly decorating lunch bags or making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Their task was to make sack lunches to be given to the homeless, and they took special care to decorate everything with crosses and symbols of love. Busy about their work, they scarcely noticed me. Visiting the 1st grade classroom was a little different - bubbling over with excitement in their dark red T-shirts, they were practicing their new writing skills on cards for kids in the local children's hospital. Each table I stopped at couldn't wait to show me the words they had carefully written, the pictures they had painstakingly drawn. 


But service projects aside, Thursday was also about building community; not just any community, but Vincentian community. The day was started by cheering and singing about St. Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul, and we celebrated Mass together in St. Vincent's church. These children are taught every day by loving and committed teachers and staff, who remind them that they must always take care of those who are less fortunate. An entire generation of young Vincentians - who made new friends, shared lunch tables, and cheerfully served others. 


This is such a powerful embodiment of what the Vincentian Lay Missionaries (and indeed, the entire Vincentian Family) are all about. We seek to not just serve the poor, but to enliven the young adults who participate in the program, and to teach them how to be Vincentian. These Vincentian schools exist to serve the children and their families, providing quality education for those who can't afford it. This Founders Day was not just about serving the children, though - it was about teaching the children to serve others. About growing the Vincentian family, sharing the message of St. Vincent de Paul with anyone who will take it to heart. There is no distinction between rich and poor - all that remain are children of God.

Being Present with the Abstract

I’m finding that, much like before my first trip to Africa, it is very easy to get caught up in day to day activity. Between work, relationships, chores and projects, sometimes someone saying “You’re going to Africa?!” almost catches me off-guard.

I believe there is some value in this. For example, one of the most interesting cultural differences I learned in Ethiopia was the idea of living in the moment. Jesus tells us only to worry about today, because tomorrow will have enough cares of its own. There have been so many times in my life where I’ve found myself just counting down to the next stage – it’s actually quite refreshing to find myself caught up in the cares of today. If you constantly live in a state of preparation for tomorrow, you won’t notice today’s beauty!

It’s not all upside though. I also think in our culture, it’s very common to supersede the important with the urgent. Everyone is always in a hurry because things needed to “be done yesterday.” Finding ways to live in the moment with God, is a different thing altogether. Being present to abstract realities - preparation for mission, spiritual exercises, etc - takes dedicating time from our lives. There is a time to sow, and a time to reap. 

My goal for this week is to spend some real time, not just "spare time," offering our upcoming VLM journey to God. Please continue to pray for our volunteers, our worksites, and our mission - and may we all become more in tune with the abstract in our lives.

The Growth of the Every Day

It's amazing how quickly time flies! The past few weeks have been a blur of activity - and sometimes it takes being a little under the weather for me to slow down.

The thought that's been bouncing around in my head these last few weeks is taking time to notice the growth we are experiencing every day. Slightly different than just "stopping to smell the roses," this notion of growth calls us to deeper reflection. For example, I just started working part time as a nanny for a 6 month old girl. For anyone who hasn't been a parent, being a full time caregiver for an infant is a very demanding job. They are dependent for every need, and have no real way to communicate any of those needs except for expressing discomfort - usually in the form of very pitiful tears.

Given my life choices, it's obvious that I love to work with children. However, this job is giving me new challenges. In small, every day ways, I've noticed that caring for this child is giving me a deeper capacity to love, purely for the sake of love and not for any returns. Much like working with the very ill and elderly as I did in Lexington, this can be a job of few (communicated) rewards. I find myself growing in the process, though. I find myself desiring to give more - that this little girl is a child of God, and no matter how hard the day is, she is His, and she is loved.

In the example of St. Therese of the Little Flower, I feel we are each called to grow in small ways. To step outside of our comfort zones, even for a minute, to share God's love. It could be a smile with a stranger in the grocery store, or a homeless man on the street, or even with a neighbor who's hands are too full to open their front door. Wherever we are comfortable, we should go one tiny bit further. Our comfort zone will continue to grow. Like any health plan requires daily effort and long term pay-offs, this small every day spiritual growth will blossom in our lives, bringing us closer to the One who made us.