Vincent’s Spirit – Food for a Journey – Fr. Joe Foley, CM
If someone were thinking about being a Vincentian in any of our Communities and asked any of us in this room to say something about who we are, perhaps we would say:
We are a Community with a commitment to a contemplative approach to life
· that gives joyful witness to love
· that stands on the side of people who live in poverty
· that seeks to understand the causes of and the solutions to poverty and violence
· and that addresses unjust structures.
We would probably add that:
empowered by the Spirit of God and enriched by the lives of our partners, we stand in the fire of gospel values, and, we respond to a world wounded by violence and stripped of hope.
In simplicity, humility and love, we engage in mission of Jesus, cherishing our partners, and, energized and empowered by the spirit of Vincent de Paul. [SC’s]
Thinking along these lines makes me proud to be a Vincentian, especially, at a time when it isn’t so easy to be at home as a Catholic, in a Church whose witness is so severely compromised by scandal; or a USA citizen looking every day at the at the television pictures of victims of a bombing war in Afghanistan while at the same time the elected government is openly planning for an aggressive war against Iraq that is widely considered to be illegal, unjustified and reckless.
For the remainder of the talk visit
http://www.vincentians.ie/justice_seminar.htm#FrFoley
Tags: Advocacy
