In our common discussions we often take the word “radical” to mean extreme or drastic; protesters from either end of the political spectrum are often described as radicals. New and unorthodox ideas are termed radical. In pursuing our vocations, professions, or other interests, then, we don’t aspire to be radical. Yet, stemming from the Latin radix, meaning “root,” the word radical does not mean extreme at all – it means fundamental, essential.

To be essential is to both animate and express one’s nature. For the Society, friendship, service, and spirituality form our essence; they are our Essential Elements. We could just as well call them our Radical Elements, so deeply ingrained they are into everything that we do, and everything that we are as Vincentians. For Vincent, for Frédéric, indeed, for Christ Himself, a complete dedication to servanthood was perhaps their most fundamental commitment. Indeed, Christ explained that He had come not to be served, but to serve. He repeated this example often, always accompanied by His exhortation that we, like He, should serve one another humbly.

While both Vincent and Frédéric spoke often of our duty and privilege of serving the poor, their own commitment to servanthood was much more fundamental – radical – than that, and always included serving their friends, followers, students, coworkers, and families. Perhaps the most common expression of this commitment is that both of them signed nearly every letter they wrote as “your servant,” “your humble servant,” “your obedient servant,” and many other expressions of servitude.

Acknowledging, in our humility, the truth that we are unworthy does not exempt us from our duty to imitate Christ in our servanthood. As Frédéric said, “unworthy servants though we all may be, we are not allowed to be idle servants. Woe to us if we do not cooperate in all the great works that can be done without us!” [173, to Lallier, 1836]

The call to servanthood is the call to the homes of the poor. As God put on the cloak of humanity, coming to our home on earth in order to accompany and serve us, so Vincent implored the Daughters to “seek out poor persons in their homes, which until now has never been done.” [CCD IX:467] Two hundred years later, Frédéric would echo this same commitment to servanthood, igniting the Society’s founding, and citing Christ’s example as he declared, “let us go to the poor!” [Baunard, 65]

In Christ’s time, there was a fine line between servant and slave. To be a servant was to be the lowliest, to be committed always to the needs of others. This is our commitment to Christ, to the poor, and to each other; our most fundamental commitment, our radical servanthood.

Contemplate

Am I radically committed to serving the poor and my fellow Vincentians?

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