Monsignor Louis Baunard, a biographer of Blessed Frédéric, once cited the Greatest Commandment to ask “is not all that the Rule, the work, and the end of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul?” [Baunard, 416] Indeed, when our Rule reminds us that we serve “for love alone”, it is in exactly the sense that Christ commands us to love God and neighbor with the same love; the very love that God gives us.

What does it mean, then, to love the neighbor with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength? To love with all our heart seems most natural. To see another person suffering tugs at our hearts, causing us to share in their suffering through our own tears and our own empathy. “We can’t see someone suffering without suffering along with him, or see someone cry without crying as well,” St Vincent said, “This is an act of love.” [CCD XII:221] It is an emotional connection, a connection with our very core, with the part of us that also feels the warmth of God’s love when we look at a sunset or count our blessings. To give the neighbor our hearts, through our empathy and our words, is to love.

To love with all our soul calls us to a deeper sharing with the neighbor and with God. This love calls us to recognize the mysterious connection of all those created in God’s image, to see one another not as individual competitors for scarce resources of food, shelter, or God’s grace, but as brothers and sisters, seated at the same table, united by the Holy Spirit, redeemed by the same Savior, and sharing in the abundance of our God’s providence. To love with all our soul is not to ask what help the neighbor “deserves” but rather to ask ourselves what is our own “second coat”.

To love with all our minds is to seek fully to apply our gift of reason to the challenges of poverty; to seek to understand the circumstances that cause the neighbor’s deprivation, which in turn may be separating him from community and from the hope of God’s promise. To love the neighbor with all our minds calls us to work creatively to build a community in which there is greater opportunity and greater love. To love with all our minds is not a simple calculation, but an ongoing dialog, a seeking of common ground, a commitment to accomplish the good that can be accomplished.

To love with all our strength calls us to do more than to feel, or to think, or to talk. To love with all our strength calls us to act. “All our reasons are fruitless,” St Vincent explained, “If they don’t go on to action.” [CCD XI:175] And so we Vincentians, in the model of our patron, and in the words of our founder, “go to the poor”, bringing them the comfort of our hearts, the solidarity of our souls, the understanding of our minds, and … a piece of bread, an hour of time, a listening ear, and a loving presence.

Contemplate

Does my heart, soul, and mind always accompany me on my visits to the neighbor?

By Timothy Williams,
Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development
Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA.