Though I could not identify the source of these aphorisms without some quick research, they come to mind easily enough when I think about beginnings. “Well begun is half done,” offers the guidance of Aristotle in the pursuit of the Socratic Method.  “Begin at the beginning” is an instruction that one finds in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” It is the advice given to the White Rabbit at his trial. Lao Tzu is the source of the oft quoted “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As I admitted, I would not be able to point to the origins of these statements without some study, but the statements themselves are very familiar to me as to you.  They capture something of the importance that we assign to good beginnings.

When we celebrate the foundation of the Vincentian community on January 25th, we can be attentive to the fact that it occurs on the Solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul.  Both events direct our attention to important beginnings and I like to think of them together.

One can easily imagine Paul driven to the ground on the way to Damascus as the Risen Lord reveals himself to him (Acts 9:1-9).  The powerful identification and instruction presented to Paul change his life. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? . . . I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  I envision Paul, shaken, getting up from the road with his head spinning and his mind searching to give a new form to his beliefs: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  Yes, that first step in obedience and service to the Lord Jesus would be followed by countless more and would certainly anticipate the thousand miles of his missionary journeys. Our celebration of January 25th reminds us of this start to a ministry that would only end with his death on behalf of the persecuted and crucified one.

The experience of Vincent with the serf in Gannes gives him pause as he begins to think more deeply about the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation and the need of so many people for this service.  When Vincent ascends the pulpit in Folleville on January 25th, he gives voice to his awareness and summons people to a repentance and an acceptance of the forgiveness that the Lord so eagerly desires to give.  Yes, Vincent describes this as the first sermon of the mission.  His experience and the reaction to his words began his awareness of the direction that he must pursue and the kind of community that he needed to draw together to offer the Gospel and the sacraments to a needy people. Yes, “Well begun is half done.” The first preaching of the mission set the direction for further service and an invitation to respond within the situations of the “Lords and Masters.”

When we tell the stories of Paul and Vincent, we need to “Begin at the beginning.”  At the outset, they learned literally and figuratively the direction that their ministries must take. Their responses to the Lord’s call needed: to engage word and action; to address all people—rich and poor, Jew and gentile; to spread near and far. Both came to know “what must be done.”  Both maintained the importance of preaching and writing in the exercise of their missions.

We can find encouragement for our service in how these models of our faith began their journeys.  How we begin is important for each task, each time, and each relationship.  We ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us to the right path as we begin our ministries so as to put the correct foot forward.