Here is the third video of the series dedicated to Folleville, presented by Fr. Tomaž Mavrič, CM.
You can see the first video of this third series in this link, and the second in this link.
Let us recall that two series have already been published:
- In the first series of videos published in the month of January, Fr. Mavrič invited us to look with faith and charity at three objects that belonged to Vincent de Paul: his hat, his cape and his sandals.
- The second series was published in February, and includes the videos “The Globalization of Charity,” and “Your Call” and “Go out to the peripheries.”
These new videos were filmed on January 2, in Folleville. We wanted to communicate the feelings that Vincent experienced in January 1617 when he traveled to Gannes. Vincent was alone when he arrived at the de Gondi estate; no one was waiting for him. Today, that is different … today there is a community of brothers and sisters there. Folleville is much larger and today Saint Vincent is waiting for us!!
Fr. Tomaz Mavrič, CM tells us:
Approaching then the church, Vincent saw the church from, at the beginning, far away and then, all of a sudden, he is there in front of the entrance, at the door. What could he have felt coming in, a cold place? It was winter. How many people? Probably he was not really very much interested on how many he will see there. And then, approaching the altar, slowly getting towards the pulpit, experiencing that, that moment, those minutes, seconds getting up the stairs to get to the place from where he started to speak. And, in fact, it was not Vincent any more. It was God. It was Jesus speaking through him. What he felt, so experienced, after his sermon was a miracle. He started to understand that God works through people. He started to understand that one needs to be a tool in God’s hands. And miracles started happening. Conversions started happening, 400 years ago.
But here we are today, looking into our own Folleville. In our Follevilles around the world, we as Vincentian Family, we as followers of the Vincentian charism, are encouraged to, first of all, re-experience that moment again and then share it with the world.
How many people are waiting? How many people are in need of spiritual help, of physical help, material help? We need to take the person as a whole, not just one part, but as a whole. This is what Vincent got to understand. He again understood that Jesus is calling him to take the person who is in need in all its totality. Let’s go to our Follevilles around the world and again revive our own fire, revive the charism within our own, within ourselves and then encourage others to follow in Vincent’s steps, which is the step of Jesus in the gospel. We need to do something beautiful. We are called to do something beautiful for God. And here we are. This year, it’s our beautiful chance and gift to do so.
Video link in other languages:
- English – https://youtu.be/KpIWVx830xw
- Español – https://youtu.be/oW_RjagkZOo
- Français – https://youtu.be/v-92JAmoQDg
- Português – https://youtu.be/u2ZRl5MUQWQ
- Polski – https://youtu.be/kf9uCqaLRBM
- Italiano – https://youtu.be/T9UONIu31nQ
- Slovenčina – https://youtu.be/U8uwOkTyYX8
- Slovenščina – https://youtu.be/aaVif1sKoQQ
- magyar – https://youtu.be/l839Jn8Kjms
- український – https://youtu.be/l9UP6yVsDW8
- русский – https://youtu.be/L8xVu9ofSmA
Questions for dialogue:
After watching this video together, we can discuss with these suggestions:
- Am I aware that God wants to act — and He does, in fact — through me and my brothers in the Faith? What does it mean for me to be an instrument of God?
- What people are waiting for us? What people today, in our environment, need our spiritual, physical, material aid?
- For a follower of St. Vincent de Paul, is preaching the gospel the same as serving the poor? How do we integrate these two sides of our charism in this twenty-first century? How can we renew our service with a new vigor, from this 400 anniversary on?
Video courtesy of CMglobal YouTube Channel, based on an idea by Fr. Luigi Mezzadri, CM, and directed by Piotr Dziubak.
Excellent and moving presentation