The season of Pentecost invites us to Behold the Spirit making all things new for the early Christian disciples, for the church, and for the Vincentian Family!

As we reflect upon the radical revelation of the Spirit poured forth upon Jesus’ disciples, we can also contemplate the indwelling of the Spirit in the Lumiere of St. Louise de Marillac.   Like the followers of Jesus, Louise was liberated from human doubt and spiritual darkness. The Light of the Spirit freed her for her family, for the church, and for humanity.

Louise defines the working of the Spirit in three critical movements:

I was advised…, I understood…, I was assured…

These movements were sufficient enough to quell her fears and anxieties even to the point of trusting in the timing and the designs of God.

Today, we can behold the Spirit awakening the Vincentian Family in our recent convocation in Rome, where we experienced the same critical movements:

We were advised…, We understood…, We were assured…

Through our synodal dialogues we were advised by the Spirit as we came to understand necessary ways to revitalize the Vincentian charism. We were also assured of the resilience of our charism with a future full of hope.

We share some of these specific revelations with you, as together we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, and we invite you during this season to read, reflect upon, and pray with the Convocation document, “Keeping the Fire Burning to Be Pilgrims of Hope”.  As we do this individually and with our congregations, we can proclaim a message of renewal, justice, and hope while confronting manifold realities of poverty at all levels.

Behold the Spirit

We were advised….

• as to where and how we are being led in our relationship with humanity and the church
• to examine our current structures for needed changes, especially to include the prophetic voice of our youth in leadership.
• to identify specific strategies for building our capacity and promoting our sustainability
• to give priority to strengthening our global response to the sufferings of humanity and the planet, especially through advocacy and systemic change

We understood…

• new ways to embody the charism
• the absolute need for collaboration and partnerships
• the need to continually discern how to invest our resources
• that our charism demands the utmost respect for the people with whom we work, especially those we serve
• the need to facilitate education for social transformation

We were assured…

• that we carry in our hearts an unstoppable force of revitalization and transformation
• that we witness to the resilience of solidarity
• that we can positively impact social needs with global initiatives such as the “13 Houses Campaign”
• that our culture of vocations can build vocational bridges within the Vincentian Family and within the Church
• that God’s providence will guide us even in the most challenging times

In this season of Pentecost, let us be sure, absolutely certain, that the “Spirit of God, the one who continually renews the face of the earth, is inviting us to keep our eyes and ears open wide to be able to respond to the signs of the times as did Vincent and Louise”. (Chapter I of “Keeping the Fire Burning to Be Pilgrims of Hope”)

For the full text of the Convocation Document in multiple languages, please click here.

“Keeping the Fire Burning to Be Pilgrims of Hope”: Document of the Second Convocation of the Vincentian Family