Words of the Representative of the Superior General
Fr. Jaime Reyes Mendoza March 17, 2015
[These words were addressed to the representatives who gathered together in Guatemala (March 17-22, 2015) to participate in the VII Encounter of the Vincentian Family in Latin America]
Brothers and Sisters: A heartfelt greeting to all of you. It is a joy to be with you here and I bring with me an embrace from the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity and the International Animator of the Vincentian Family who accompanies us with his prayers. May this Latin American Encounter of the Vincentian Family be a fruitful time as we share the joys and the difficulties of our journey as Vincentians, as we deepen the bonds of friendship and as we point out the present challenges and possibilities that will enable us to grow in our common vocation as servants of the poor!
We have gathered together from many different countries and from the distinct branches of the Vincentian family. We have gathered together in joy under the theme: Vincentian Missionaries, Witnesses of Faith and Charity and under the motto: Vincentian Missionaries in Charity. Let us go to the Poor. I congratulate the organizers of this gathering for the opportune selection of this theme and motto. Those words express the core of the heritage that we have received from Saint Vincent: Christ, evangelizer and servant of the poor, committed to a life of service in the mission and in charity on behalf of the poor. To love and serve the poor in Christ and to love Christ in the poor is the original and innovative principle that unites us together as members of the Vincentian Family … it is the reason for our existence and for our mission.
The missionary charity of Christ in the poor is our vocation; it is the gift that the Spirit has given to the Church through Saint Vincent and our Founders. What happiness, Messieurs, what happiness! To do what Our Lord came from heaven to earth to do, and by means of which we will go from earth to heaven to continue the work of God (CCD:XII:4). May this encounter be a time when we live anew the gift of the charism and the spiritual elements that constitute our Vincentian identity! May we be missionaries who are clothed anew in the spirit of Christ, evangelizer of the poor! May we live our vocation in a prophetic, creative and renewed manner! Finally, may this encounter renew our witness with regard to the mission and charity and in light of the present cries of the poor may we develop significant, dynamic and transforming actions.
Pope Francis refers to a Church that goes out to others, a Church that accepts the mission as a paradigm for all its activity, a Church that abandons the complacent attitude that says: “We have always done it this way”, a Church that develops in a creative manner the process of evangelization, a Church that is poor and that is at the service of those who are poor (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, #20-33). In this regard Vincent stated: Set out, you Missioners, set out! Quoi! You're still here, and there are poor souls waiting for you! (CCD:XI:121). This biblical dynamic of placing ourselves in a state of “going out”, a state of “exodus” reveals the need to accept the newness of the Spirit, to cultivate an attitude of availability and creativity for new ways of serving those who poor. With the Church and as Church let us be a family that goes out to others! Let us courageously search for new attitudes and activities that will reconfigure ourselves as persons, that will reconfigure our distinct branch of the Vincentian Family, and that will generate justice and unity through a process of evangelization that will transform sin and social exclusion.
The references of the writings of Saint Vincent are taken from: VINCENT DE PAUL, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, translators: Helen Marie Law, DC (Vol. 1), Marie Poole, DC (Vol. 1-14), James King, CM (Vol. 1-2), Francis Germovnik, CM (Vol. 1-8, 13a-13b [Latin]), Esther Cavanagh, DC (Vol. 2), Ann Mary Dougherty, DC (Vol. 12); Evelyne Franc, DC (Vol. 13a-13b), Thomas Davitt, CM (Vol. 13a-13b [Latin]), Glennon E. Figge, CM (Vol. 13a-13b [Latin]), John G. Nugent, CM (Vol. 13a-13b [Latin]), Andrew Spellman, CM (Vol. 13a-13b [Latin]); edited: Jacqueline Kilar, DC (Vol. 1-2), Marie Poole, DC (Vol. 2-14), Julia Denton, DC [editor-in-chief] (Vol. 3-10, 13a-13b), Paule Freeburg, DC (Vol. 3), Mirian Hamway, DC (Vol. 3), Elinor Hartman, DC (Vol. 4-10, 13a-13b), Ellen Van Zandt, DC (Vol. 9-13b), Ann Mary Dougherty (Vol. 11, 12 and 14); annotated: John W. Carven, CM (Vol. 1-14); New City Press, Brooklyn and Hyde Park, 1985-2014.
Translated: Charles T. Plock, CM
