Juan BELLIDO
1. Introduction: A Challenge
Throughout the next few minutes I shall talk to you about a challenge.
It’s not anything new if I start saying that in any given period one can become a Vincentian.
To be a Vincentian in essence and content is eternal because the love of God for the poor and the marginalized is within the entrails of the Gospel itself, and that “love never comes to an end.” (1 Cor. 13) But it is also certain that for new realities and social challenges, one cannot continue applying the same customs and norms in order to continue being a Vincentian.
If what is being talked about are the young Vincentians, it may suffice perhaps, to do a more urgent updating of becoming faithful to the message of St. Vincent yet taking into consideration that the same fidelity compels us to become active witnesses of the present time and its challenges. I am going to discuss about the Spirituality of the Vincentian Marian Youth in the World Today. Or should I say, I am going to share with you a paradoxical challenge: the challenge to search for just interaction between the permanent, static and eternal on one hand; and the new, dynamic and oftentimes the more urgent one on the other.
The world is in constant transformation. Thus, for example, we know that more than ever the world is divided into two sectors: that of the rich which represents 17% of the total world population and the other wherein the rest of the 83% of the habitants live.
Aside from that, we also know that from these two sectors, 95% of the information that generates in the means of communication in the worldwide level speaks only of about 17% of the population, above all those who live in the rich areas. What is new: the means of communication and the flow of information; the old and the outdated which always speak about the same things and of themselves, of what is theirs, silencing on one part the voice of 83% and the conscience of the remaining 17%.
The paradox appears in inverting the terms with Vincentian eyes and that what is new will be the use of the means of communication as prophetic instruments and what is old will become wise and use these same means to rouse the conscience of the prosperous barrio and lift the voice of the rest.
We also know that this world is more “cabled” than ever. Today, August 9, 2005, the number of phone calls made is equal to the total of what was made for the whole year of 1983. But this does not prevent the fact that one half of the world population does not know what a telephone is. Come to think of the Island of Manhattan, a district in New York, USA – there are as many computers and telephones there as the whole African continent.
The new and the outdated, with Vincentian eyes: cabled does not mean communicated...
The world is in constant transformation. That is to say that today is not like when St. Vincent de Paul was 15 years old (in 1595) nor in 1645 when St. Louise de Marillac was still alive.
But, at the same time, in essence, the Vincentian reflection for the reason of permanence and age, does not cease to be valid. Thus, Vincent -allow me the familiarity, and that I omit the "saint"- when he was 15 years old is no different from some adolescents today. He himself wrote, “When I was just a boy each time my father brought me to the city, I recall how badly-dressed and limping he was. I was so ashamed going with him and owning him as my father…” until here, the same crisis of values may be present among the young boys and girls with whom we are working with in the pastoral area. Today, I do not know if we could still escape the gaze of conversion when he continues to write, “How miserable of me!”
What is the new one: Now, we know how to name these adolescent attitudes. At the same time we have - or we have to have - disciplined dispositions like pedagogy, psychology and others, and their applications to catechism and youth pastoral formation which may allow us to redirect evangelically and scientifically these ideas so that the apology, “How miserable of me!” will be derived.
What will not be tolerable is that we forget these disciplines and knowledge that they give us - the leaders of the movement especially- and lead us to the abandonment, with the new and at the same time defeatist sight, the cause of the young people who are embarrassed of their parents, the Church, their Christian condition and even their own selves.
Louise also - allow me to omit, for familiarity, "de Marillac" - in her 51 years, presented us a model of the rabid reality when she has to be doubly concerned of her human labors (that is how we call it today) and her wayward son, Michel. She already surmised the Company and lived in a community with young people "Servants of the Poor," and although she was able to resolve the difficulty of organizing anew the Church, yet she was left with searching the balance within herself and her maternal obligations.
From then on, there should be a new solution to resolve the problems of the sons and daughters: Louise and Vincent sought the young and reckless Michel a wife, but the essence is eternal and at the same time actual. One has to learn to harmonize familial life with commitment with the poorest of the poor, without allowing the first one to be an excuse not to do the second and vice-versa.
The old and the new… and the challenge to discern over it in line with the gospel reading, (...) And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine into fresh skins! (Mk, 2: 22-23)
2. To be a young Christian Marian - Vincentian layperson today:
One can become a Christian in any period. He/ she only has to read Tertuliano, first Christian writer in the Latin language and Father of the Church, when he wrote to the Christians then who lived like other men and women but with a new spirit: not with selfishness of the pagan world, but in the opening up to others the message of Jesus.
The new spirit that we as Vincentians are called to has its own identity in the womb of the Church:
2.1 Following the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth and the meaning it gave your earthly life
I define from this vision, life as a value which each one of us contributes to creation.
The world is yet to be built and each one of us is called to be builders at the same time the work. With this therefore, our brothers and sisters are also our work and our builders. This is the meaning that we should have been created by God. This is how I understand life whose equation is:
L= t x d
Wherein:
L= life = the value we contribute to creation
t= time that we exist in this planet. This is the time that we are truly alive.
d= density of making good use of time determined by the effort that we make so that this world may be more just and fuller of love; in other words something more similar to the world that God has designed for us.
We are confronted with the questions: What do you want to achieve? Why and what is worth fighting for? The responses are in Jesus and His message of New Humanity.
For me the New Humanity of Jesus is a dream and I know that in some occasions dreams claim the textures of reality with imperfections such as those which correspond to the nature of what truly exists. Thus the dreams of reconciliation with the brother whom we have offended, the restoration of the individual practice of prayer after some time without talking to Jesus and that of not forgetting that life is a gift which was given to us in order to be offered as a gift as well, are possible…
To continue, and in line with what was mentioned earlier, it is a sign of the identity of VMY that will continue to guide and help us achieve this dream.
2.2. Having Mary as a perfect model of the Lord's disciple:
VMY understands that it has to have Mary as its model to be emulated and of virtues. Her joyful impetus of passion for solidarity with her brothers and sisters under the mantle of passive veneration and prayer should not be silenced. From them, consider her hymn of praise, the Magnificat.
Since then, if I focus on the compatibility of her own story and with that of her Son, Mary is closer to the woman who has the capacity of denouncing and announcing, than that of the amiable, sweet and merciful image in the altars, almost forgetting the liberating tone of her Son.
Paul VI wrote in the Marialis Cultus, 19, “Mary of Nazareth, while completely devoted to the will of God, was far from being a timidly submissive woman or one whose piety was repellent to others; on the contrary, she was a woman who did not hesitate to proclaim that God vindicates the humble and the oppressed, and removes the powerful people of this world from their privileged positions (cf Lk. 1:51-53).” And continues, the figure of the Blessed Virgin is the perfect model of the disciple of the Lord: the disciple who builds up the earthly and temporal city while being a diligent pilgrim towards the heavenly and eternal city; the disciple who works for that justice which sets free the oppressed and for that charity which assists the needy.”
We Vincentians, turning Mary, to the depth of her faith expressed in the words of the Magnificat, are called to understand that the following of Jesus could not be separated from the manifestation of his preferential love for the poor and the humble.
The apostolic exhortations Marialis Cultus and Redemptoris Mater agree thus, in considering the line from the Magnificat, “He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty” (Lk.1: 51-53,) as a song of prophetic and liberating transformation.
I will now continue with the next sign of the identity of VMY. I understand that one has to drink from the source, interpreting the being and doing of St. Vincent, and place it in the context and apply its vision in the present.
2.3. Having St. Vincent de Paul as a model of daily practice of social justice
We know that we are far from having been given a type of society wherein everyone eats three times a day; the least one can ask for a society to be considered just. This is the principal and obvious concern that we can have as Vincentians.
I understand that there are two primary concerns that we have to work on in the Vincentian youth pastoral formation so that this priority can be taken with evangelical spirit:
* Fight against “aporophobia” (fear of the poor)
The root word “aporo” means “poor,” one who does not have any fortune, who is marginalized, and in some occasions, one who is almost invisible even by people of his kind.
“Phobias” refer to the insurmountable rejection that we feel for something.
Thus, “aporophobia” is rejecting someone who has nothing to offer us in return, neither economic nor personal worth.
The industrialized societies mark progress by the law of the market, where everything seems to be bought or sold. And, it also falls into the sin of assessing the “result” of the human beings wherein those who can offer more, from the economic and personal point of view, value more.
This vicious, unjust and alienating model of progress becomes globalized in all corners of the planet, forgetting and condemning the little ones and the voiceless. At the same time it kills the roots of the possibility of detecting charismatic leaders who help drive their own people to more just and gospel-like ways.
The strongest force that exists in the world is the smallest one: atomic force. Thus with this metaphor, I would like to invite you to think that the actions of the smaller ones are those that contribute to the emergence of a new model of progress.
For example, from the creativity of the student, Muhammad Yunus, the Graneen Bank of the poor was born at the start of the 80’s in Bangladesh, by lending 30 dollars to a woman who worked by making bamboo stools. With this money she was able to buy bamboo that allowed her to make her first products liberating her from the abusive money lenders who obliged her to sell the stool at a very cheap price. The idea was born from Yunus’ personal feeling of shame at the thought that he would not have lent 30 dollars to the woman, his neighbour, because she neither had any guarantee nor assurance of repaying him. Today the idea of a bank that loans small amounts of money to persons with neither guarantees nor assurances inspired similar institutions in more than 40 countries including USA, Malaysia, Philippines, Guatemala and Chile.
From my personal point of view and from within each one of us, this idea of “aporophobia” can come into our lives and will determine who our friends, partners, brothers and sisters of the community, recipients of our catechesis, etc. are, even without our noticing it… something that is really far from the teachings of St. Vincent. We have to establish itineraries that will allow young people to be formed with the critical spirit of constructing a new model for human promotion.
*To educate in order to count and not "discount" you:
I believe that the Vincentian spirit is born and developed from a laity capable of having as its priority the dignity of the human person, making us realize that men and women value for what they are and not for what they have.
It is therefore important that laypersons not only count us numerically but count, create and share opinions and ideas over topics such as:
* The family: understood as the main field of social commitment
* Charity: without separating it from justice
* To consider man and woman as the center of economic and social life: thinking globally and acting locally
* Evangelizing culture: especially through the means of communication
3. Mode of being a layperson today: relation with the rest of the members
of the Church
In a graphic structure, I will represent the model with which I understand how the young layperson must function in relation with the rest of the members of the Church: priests, religious, hierarchy, other brothers and sisters, etc.
These first two models are under those which throughout history, not at all times though, made us function as laypersons in relation with the ecclesial hierarchy and with "consecrated persons." It is a model applied to how it has distributed the theological knowledge and reflection over the Truth.
This structure is not what is desirable. I will restructure it basing from the own words of the then Professor Ratzinger in his book, "God's New People" (which in its original German version was published in 1969 and in Spanish was translated in 1972 Editorial Herder, Barcelona) wherein he tells us that the "Christian role" is not a heritage or a derivation from the priesthood of the old law but a derivation from Christ himself:
“Christ was not a priest but a layperson. He was considered from the Israelite’s point of view as someone who, legally, does not possess any profession. And yet, Christ himself did not understand the desires and hopes of humankind; something that is like a voice of the people, as his secret or public order. Neither did he understand his mission from below if we consider it in the democratic sense. Rather, he presented to men, under the “pursuits” or needs of the clearly outlined divine order, with authority and mission from above, like he whom the Father has sent.
This other structure is the model which, I think, is what the Church today demands from us. Its sole intention is not of sharing power but of assuming responsibilities and contributing creative solutions to endemic problems and many other issues over what we have to work on together in order to carry out the project of God.
This model poses serious questions on methodologies and depth as well. In order to illustrate the reflection, I will quote Ratzinger anew (in the same book) posing questions over what will be the attitude of the Christian before the Church: Should he/she be critical? (for the love of purity for the Church,) of silent obedience? (for the reason of his/her divine mission) or anything else…
“It is not by fate that the great saints did not only have to fight with the world but with the Church as well. With the temptation of the Church becoming the world, they have to suffer under and within the Church; a St. Francis of Assisi, an Ignatius of Loyola… He did not give up an ounce of his mission, nor his obedience to the Church… However, true obedience is not obedience to the flatterers (those who are qualified by the authentic prophets of the “OT,” by the “lying prophets,”) nor is it about those who avoid all clashes and place their intangible comfort above all things… What the Church needs today (and at all times) are not worshippers of what is existent, but men in whose humility and obedience are not lesser than their passion for truth; men who will give witness to the defiance of all ignorance and attacks; in one word, men who love the Church more than the comfort and intangibility of his own destiny. (p. 290)
To continue, I will present to you four educational challenges which I believe can help us bring to fruition what VMY will be integrating (dimensions described in our identity) throughout the formation process.
For this we should not lose sight of what we have to do in order to educate in faith the persons who live their faith in the collective or communitarian manner so that they may take free, coherent and individual decisions that will mark and define their way of living, (the value that they will contribute to Creation.)
4. Formative Challenges for VMY
*To educate for creativity
Let us make an experiment among those of us who are here. You have four seconds to do what I will tell you to draw. Everyone, be ready with a piece of paper and a pen. Remember that you only have four seconds to draw what I will tell you. Now start drawing in four seconds …"a flower"… Please pass your papers to me now…
Remember that one minute ago, I defined life as a value which we contribute to creation. Our new world needs new solutions or at least creative solutions.
Let us see what happened and what we can say about creativity, in relation to a sole idea…
I will explain through a story:
It was said that one morning a father brought his daughter to school for the first time. The happiness of starting a new period of her life could be seen in the child's face, (although, she could only guess what!) She was very happy and said, "Yipee! I'll go to school! I will see my classroom now."
Upon arrival at a school, a serious portress told her, "That is your class," pointing to a room with an index finger straighter than anything she has ever seen.
The child reached the door thinking, "Wow! Now there will be colored tables and I am going to sit down where I choose…"
And the teacher told her, “This is your writing desk."
The child attentively listened to the instructions of the teacher who said, "Let us now draw…"
And the mind of the child ran faster than her hearing and thought of drawing tigers, dragons, princesses, beautiful seas and plants of non-existent colors.
"Let us now draw a flower," continued the teacher.
"Yehey!!!" Spontaneously the child cheered imagining a flower with multiple colors and petals with geometrical forms which no human being has seen yet.
The teacher, with a tight-lipped expression, went near the child and without even giving her time to place the pencil upon the paper, told her kindly, "Look, this is how flowers are drawn."
And the child… never ever used her creativity to imagine flowers.
It is important that in VMY we educate without putting an end to creativity. And, it must be taken into consideration that these excesses drive upon a sole idea, the globalization of the only possible solutions and the death of the dissidence which makes possible the creative transformation of the world in the evangelical key.
As an example, some movements work with a number of marginalized people and use music, theater, circus, sports or the creation of a local paper as educative and associative vehicles and for reinsertion.
* To educate for proactive prayer and for contemplation in action
It is clear that only those who are capable of listening to the sobs of the world and interpret them as divine whispers can achieve the project of God for the world.
This is the definition of pro-active prayer. In other words, it is a prayer that incites one to do something which will carry out better the saving plan of God.
At the same time, we have to teach one to encounter God, taking into account that "God always speaks through men, his friends and at times through his enemies as well…" (Gspes 44:3) in his day-to-day tasks. Meaning to say, to see life with eyes of faith, as if to look at it with lenses and focus on what is important… until we become capable of forgetting what we have at stake.
This is the challenge of the union between action and prayerful reflection.
I am taking as an example my presence with you here today. I thought I have to accept the responsibility and the request of sharing to you my vision. But more than thinking, I prayed over it… so that each word that I am saying may not only be a fruit of my rationality, but rather and most especially of my spirituality. And in addition, we are not corporal beings with spirits but rather spirits with bodily clothing.
* To educate for associative belongingness
The associative presence of believers in the society is a great urgency in our movement, a reality that shall not be taken carelessly.
The Vincentian youth must have to have sufficient personal tools to understand, purify and participate with evangelical criteria and leadership in the social processes.
You have to continue educating so that believers may have an active presence and contribution in the massive problems of society.
This takes into consideration that one cannot serve God without serving men and that he can not present the Gospel in the society without passing through the conscience. Conscience and liberty are two poles that must guide a responsible action in facing the problems of the world as well as within the Church itself.
The Association multiplies the effect of individuality and makes possible the formula: 1+1=3
wherein the individual effort sums up the effect of collectivity.
With this example, I would like to comment on PSPD (People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy), an impartial and non-profit group whose motive is to contribute to the development of a democratic and legitimate society. Its founders in South Korea unite common intention with what is called the "voluntary civil spirit" in order to stop the abuses of the government and the business companies.
The underlying philosophy complemented with the limited functions of the NGOs that only distributed the harvest of the national resources of Korea in the 90's.
I believe that within this challenge of VMY, we have to use the collective potential that the Association has for the mere act of being one. For this, new technologies are without doubt a tool in the service of the gospel; one that is of great value.
*To educate in order to live faith as a "micro-Church"
Although what is ideal is to live Christianity within the womb of a community and in a social context in which one can naturally develop religious liberty, it is also certain that in a number of occasions and in many localities of the planet, this is not easy at all.
This is evident in those countries which suffer and are persecuted for religious reasons as well as in others wherein the lay society makes it difficult for one to openly declare his being a Christian or finds it difficult to encounter a Vincentian community of reference wherein faith lives. Being apart from the ecclesial community gathered around the table on Sunday makes it necessary to have a solid personal faith.
In any case, and in all contexts, VMY has to take individual decisions in the womb of its family, social environment. From them, the need to discern shall be taken, at times alone where God asks one to go. We also call this “micro- Church.”
This is the case, in the work place, in the school environment and in the context of families which oppose the beliefs of their children and many other situations where being a Christian supposes being a micro- Church.
I believe that it is important to educate as a micro-Church with the burning desire to share as a local and universal macro-Church.
May each Christian be considered as a micro-Church: meaning to say that the Gospel may be given to him as a grace, at the same time as a task for him to take charge of in order to sustain the Church in the world.
I will place as an example the incomprehensible decision that Sara Bandauf took upon leaving the directorship of the multinational Nokia and all the economic “benefits” and the power that were given her, and dedicate all her knowledge and experience to a non-profit foundation for education of young people. Or that of the Christian missionary in India who after losing her husband and her two sons in an assassination by members of the ethnic groups who usually seek help in the homes for the lepers, decided to continue working for the same poor people. Her silent dedication is considered today as an example of forgiveness and Christian compassion.
I already said that what is ideal is to have a community of reference but where the community is not present and in facing decisions alone, the training of our young people must be from our personal viewpoint of the micro-Church wherein the individual will have sufficient recourses to lend a hand to pro-active prayer that will move him to act conscientiously and with freedom of spirit in the fidelity of the saving message.
I’ll end just like how I started. In any given period one can become a Vincentian. And, I am going to add; besides all periods need it. This too!
Paris, August 9, 2005
