During this season of Lent, I have had the opportunity to read daily reflections from two different books. One that was particularly striking to me was from Give Us This Day, and was written by Sr. Irene Nowell, OSB. She talked about the courage it takes to truly ask for a clean heart (Psalm 51: v. 10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.) She says that we are asking to be made… “new, and start from the very center of my being.” She talks about it as total surrender to God. “We beg, ‘Make me new!’” she writes.
As we all continue to recover from a global pandemic, MISEVI International is no exception. Like most organizations, MISEVI has been challenged in our ability to meet in person and to personally support one another from a global perspective. Additionally, we are among the youngest members of the Vincentian Family, and we are continually discovering our identity as an organization. Perhaps we, MISEVI, are asking God to create in us a clean heart, to be made new by starting from the very center of our being.
The center of our being can be named in our mission statement, which is expressed in our Spiritual Formation Document: The mission of MISEVI is to guide, animate, and support the missionary presence of the laity, especially in those countries and missions connected to the Vincentian Family.
Guiding, animating and supporting the missionary presence of the laity is the core of MISEVI. What we have discovered is that Vincentian lay people are “missioned” in so many different ways throughout the 18 different countries where we are officially present. For all, it is an opportunity to be formed in the Vincentian charism, sometimes preparing to be an international missionary in a country far from home, and at other times preparing for local community mission work. In some countries, there is a partnership with a nearby ministry in another country. In others, the focus is more of a popular mission for the people in their home community. Some countries focus more on young adults while others have a wider range of ages involved in the local MISEVI. Some National MISEVI’s evolved from Vincentian Marian Youth, while others have been created in collaboration with other Vincentians in the area, e.g. Daughters of Charity, Sisters of Charity, Vincentian Priests and Brothers, etc.
All of MISEVI is focused on being called to mission, very much in the spirit that Pope Francis talked about as being missionary disciples. In his Apostolic Letter Evangelium Gaudium #120, Pope Francis says, “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19)…Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries,’ but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples’.”
We, MISEVI, ask for your ongoing prayers as we ask God to continually create a clean heart and to renew God’s spirit within. As we prepare for a General Assembly in 2024, please pray that we are renewed with God’s spirit starting from the very center of our being. Pray that we continue our mission of inviting lay people to respond to the call to be missionary disciples.
So good to read your message, Mary Frances. I have such fond memories of Denver and the great gift you were to the young Vincentians. You are a gift to the whole family.