As part of the preparation for meeting of the Vincentian Family at World Youth Day in Rio the official site has prepared a series of catechetical instructions.
Here is the fourth “Preparatory Catechesis for the International Meeting of the Vincentian Family” (PDF) Belo Horizonte, July, 2013
LET’S GO TO THE POOR!!!
“I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40)
I. THE REALITY THAT CHALLENGES US…
II. ILLUMINATING THE REALITY…
III. Vincentian Inspiration:
Saint Vincent de Paul: “If we ask Jesus: What did you come to do here on Earth? He would answer: I came toserve the Poor. What else did he come to do? And he would answer again: To Serve the Poor. If we look well, we can see that Jesus didn’t have others than the Poor.”
Saint Louise de Marillac: “You are the servant of the Poor. Love them tenderly and respect them strongly, look at them with the same eyes of Christ. Don’t judge them nor condemn.”
Blessed Frederic Ozanam: “Then, get to work! May our actions be consistent with our faith. But what to do? What should we do to be true Catholics? Doing what pleases God: let’s assist ourneighbor as Jesus Christ did and put our faith under the protection of Charity. Let’ go to the Poor!”
Vincent, Louise and Ozanam, like other saints and blessed of the Vincentian Family left a legacy of service and action in favor of God’s favorites, the Poor. They chose to live the radicalism of their faith in Christ, expressed through direct service to the poorest. Their option was for the changing of the structures that excluded and oppressed the poor in their time.
As members of the Vincentian Family, keeping in mind the teachings of the Word of God and the example of our predecessors, we are called to give witness to Christ in service to the poor, too. This is an option that cannot be ignored if we are to live its missionary character.
And every mission requires surrender, effort, dedication.
Let’s share our experiences and points of view about the Vincentian mission:
ved of God”?
