The Four Pillars of VMY: Spirituality – Formation - Community - Apostolate

Conference during the Advisors and Animators Encounter

Nitra, May 7, 2005.

0. Introduction

We are here today because we work for the same purpose: to make of VMY a big home, where the young and poor people feel at home and can become builders of the Kingdom. But to make this house strong where many people can live, it must have good, solid, firm and secure foundation… The apostle Paul told the Corinthians: “Now each one must be careful how he does the building. For nobody can lay down any other foundation than the one which is already there, namely Jesus Christ… and the fire itself will test the quality of each person’s work. The one who stands up to it will be given his wages.” (1 Cor 3: 10-11, 11-14)   There should be good foundations so that the work can withstand time and difficulties. But, what are the foundations over which the VMY Association will be built? I’ll try to explain it using an image.

The place which I longed to see most when I arrived Spain was the little city of Avila, place of birth of many saints. The first time I went there, a Daughter of Charity sister brought me there. And, before entering the city we stopped in a small hill, at the left side of the Adaia river. It is called “Los Cuatro Postes” (The Four Pillars.) On it is a small podium, with four Doric columns that support a wooden structure adorned with shields. Inside it, stands a simple cross made of granite. From there the best perspective of the city can be seen: one can admire the beauty of its city walls, the Roman and Gothic churches and the vast plain that seems to whisper “only God is enough”. Legend has it that in that same place, St. Therese of the Child Jesus (1515-1582) and her seven-year old brother Rodrigo were found  when they ran away towards Moorish lands searching for martyrdom (Cf. Life, I.2). I invite you to sit down in that beautiful place and to contemplate each one of the four pillars... because there are also four fundamental pillars wherein which VMY is established. I will try to make this journey from the young members’ point of view, taking a look at how a young boy or girl joins the Association.

 

1. First Pillar: A Community of Young People

 

Generally, how does a young person enter VMY? - Invited by a friend to participate in an activity and to meet other young people. VMY begins as a bridge between the young person (with his/her solitude and his/her problems, his/her search and longings…) and the other companions. Little by little, trust and friendship grow. The person feels welcomed and attended to and it starts to call his or her attention, not only what is being done within the group, but also how they relate with each other until the question comes spontaneously, what must I do to become one of you?… and the young person openly expresses his/ her desire to join the group. He / She enters because he/she wants to be with other people, walk with them and share their lives. This is what we call “pedagogy of encounter.” 

Many young people search to overcome consumerism, immediacy, individualism and tendency to opt for what is more comfortable and reject what is costly.  They wish to find a space for generosity, closeness, prayer and solidarity. As a response to a society that depersonalizes and favours individualism, VMY invites its members to live the experience of group-community, as a place where people share their life and faith; where one can grow as an individual with others; where we learn from each other how to overcome our own selves; where we experience our “being a Church” and commit ourselves to the cause of Jesus, trying to place our persons and capacities in the service of the poor. The life in group-community is the first pedagogical option in our Association. The group-community is for VMY a place of growth and maturity, of formation, of a faith experience of celebration and commitment.  It is a privileged means to:

-         initiation and maturation in faith,

-      confrontation of the reality with the Word of God,

-      conversion and Christian life experience,

-       progressive integration into a bigger Christian community,

-       Commitment to the Poor and the Mission, in the Vincentian style.

The whole group, gathered with religious objectives or otherwise, has its own evolution. It develops in a period of time in which it passes through successive stages, very similar to those of the growth o f human beings, from birth to death. When a group of JMV begins, it “is born” like any person, it is with difficulty. It needs a lot of special care from the animator or the advisor, since there always exists the peril of a premature death. The young member starts to feel the joy of being with others, of being with and feel part of a group, but there is no higher interpersonal knowledge yet; there are still unexpressed fears and expectations. One attends meetings to “see what happens…” As time goes by, in the “childhood” stage, the group begins to grow and the people that form it gain more trust in each other and they not only want to be together but also do something in common. That is why they draw out some objectives, because they want to know where they are heading to. Therefore, they begin to become a “secondary group,” that works to achieve concrete goals. It is the time of the first catechesis and also a time of imagination, of plans, of imitation and of extreme enthusiasm… Then, the stage of “adolescence” arrives and with it are the integration and authority crises, the search for “group sense” and its place in the reality. It is the time of doubts and definitions, of moving backward or forward, a moment in which many decide to withdraw. The group searches for its identity… before the crisis, it either affirms itself or it dissolves… If it surmounts the crisis, the group will be able to reach the “youth stage”, a more stable one, where human relations and faith are deepened. They also acquire more independence from the animator, assume commitments more seriously, begin to take options, and open to the reality that surrounds them. Their own maturity makes them choose a more communitarian sense, define their objectives in a more realistic way and require more specific and firm commitments from their members…Finally, a group is considered “adult” when it proposes to become an authentic youth community, with clear and defined objectives, a decision of sharing life-prayers-goods, profound levels of communication, that not only nourishes itself “inwardly” , but also commits itself “outwardly”, with the reality that surrounds it, serving and evangelizing the poor, and also establishing new groups. Not all the groups arrive to this point... but this is the ideal. A youth community can maintain itself more or less through time, with members who are already adults, especially when they continue working and living in the same area. But generally the groups end up dying, when the members have to leave their localities to do university studies, search for another job, get married, etc… But this does not mean “to die in order to disappear”, but “to die in order to give life.”  He who has belonged to VMY continues to commit to Jesus and the Church wherever he goes: he tries to begin new groups of VMY, becomes a member of adult groups of the Vincentian family (AIC, SSVP, AMM, MISEVI…) or in other movements, or he commits himself to his parish, trying to “give without charge as you received without charge.” (Mt 10:8).

 

As we can see, neither the human being nor the groups are born completely developed; everyone needs to take a long journey to reach maturity. In order that a VMY group becomes a real youth community, the members have to be taught continuously how to live with others, accepting and valuing each person, with their virtues and weaknesses, to be capable of giving up their personal wants in favour of others, to work as a team, to dialogue, to serve others and to project themselves in the world that surrounds them. The experience of the group is the starting point of opening up little by little to more profound and committed relationships.… The group is something like a Church experience but in a “smaller dimension”, that must help the big community of believers to continually discover what the Church is. Being an ecclesiastic community, every single VMY group dreams to make real the ideal of the Acts of the Apostles, “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, as everything they owned was held in common… they were all accorded with great respect. None of their members was ever in want because... it was then distributed to any who might be in need” (Acts 4: 32-35. Cfr. Acts 2: 42-47). This is the goal that we must reach, the main objective that each VMY animator or advisor has: to help the young member live-out the experience of group-community, to collaborate in common objectives, and to maintain a climate of brotherhood and dialogue that allows the group to mature until it becomes an authentic youth community”. The future of VMY will depend considerably on the depth of this communitarian dynamism; one that is well   oriented and well accompanied.

 

We ask ourselves: How does your group live the pedagogy of the encounter? How much attention are you giving the accompaniment of the group process?

Do the members of your group consider and feel VMY as a “home”, as a place of “encounter”, “growth”, and “commitment”

In what phase of the group processes is your group right now? Why?

Are we helping the young members to move from the experience of “group” to the experience of “youth community”?

 

2. Second Pillar: Spirituality

Once in the group, the young member not only meets with the other members, but also with the Other. He/ She discovers, like those disciples of Emmaus, that there is someone who has been accompanying him/ her since the beginning, who understands his worries and offers him a new sense to his life. In the group the young member discovers the person of Jesus Christ, his message and his mission. This is the second pillar that we must obtain: to offer the young member the opportunity of experiencing a personal encounter with the risen and living Christ such that he may be able to experience the truth of those words: “For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them” (Mt 18: 20). Because our groups are, above all, “groups of faith”, to be in VMY is to decide to follow Christ, learning how to be his disciples in the school of Mary of Nazareth and of Saint Vincent of Paul, patron saints of the Association. We, the members of VMY, want to contemplate Christ “with Mary and from Mary”. We want to contemplate “Christ in the poor and the poor in Christ”. So it may become an experience and not a beautiful slogan, we must take care especially of two important moments in the life of our groups:

a)     The times for prayer and reflection : In VMY we have to learn “to live and pray like Mary in simplicity and humility” (International Statutes 9.2), above all, by means of the personal and communitarian listening of the Word of God. An authentic pedagogy of prayer makes our members become familiar with the Holy Scriptures, find pleasure in the daily meditation of the Gospel, and want to deepen it more and more, so that, like Mary, we may be able to live it out. I do not know of a better way to grow in faith other than to put all the young members in direct contact with the Word. Teach the youth to make the “lectio divina”: to read, meditate, pray and contemplate the Word. And then, invite them to let this Word continue resonating in their minds throughout the whole day, by praying the rosary, and putting into practice the ancient spiritual motto: “To Jesus with Mary”. Our members will discover interiority if our groups become real schools of prayer; a prayer that is born from life and takes the members to commitment, to life… one that makes us “contemplatives in action”.

b) Times of celebration, especially the Eucharist: As the young member progresses in VMY, he feels the need to express and share his faith with others. That is why he discovers in the liturgy, above all in the Eucharist, the summit which is the aim of all the activities of VMY and at the same time the fountain which is the source of all its strength (Vatican Council II, SC 10). A Christian group could not be established if it is not rooted in the Eucharist; in it all the group spirit formation in faith must begin (Vatican Council II, PO 6.) In VMY we have a common style of celebrating faith: festive yet profound, very active and participative, wherein symbolism is valued much and wherein young members can express everything that they are through songs, dances, gestures, silence … It is very important to help the young members to break the routine and discover the value of the Eucharist, as the most important moment of encounter with the living Christ.

     Apart from being Christ-centred, the spirituality of VMY is also “Marian” and “Vincentian”. The meeting point of both dimensions is the contemplation of the Virgin of the Magnificat (Cf. Lk. 4: 18; Int. Stat. 2.9). Inspired by the song of the Virgin, we the members of VMY:

o       Make a clear option of God as the absolute one,

o       Want to live in joy and gratitude, because of the marvellous things that God does in us,

o       Want to live an incarnated and committed spirituality, working and defending the poor and the weak, to show them the “faithful love of our God” (Lk. 1:78.)

o       Assume a way of life, inspired by the four traditional virtues of the Association:

 

a.      Spirit of collaboration (humility): It makes us cultivate the value of  small contributions, working for the common good, overcoming individualist attitudes without fear of committing ourselves to great tasks and, recognizing that God works in us and with us.

b.      Search for God’s will (obedience): It makes us choose between the various options we have, in the light of the Word of God, and to accept the decisions taken by the group, paving the way to youth leadership.

c.      Solidarity with the poor (charity): It asks of us to engage our goods and personal qualities in the integral attention of the poor, abandoned and the outcasts of our society, without being dominated by consumerism and publicity.

d.      Transparency (purity): It helps us live honestly the affective-sexual maturity, integrating with joy in our lives the values of chastity and fidelity, without giving in to the hedonistic spirit that surrounds us.

          This is our own spirituality, our personal road towards sanctification. It is a complete program of life! To make possible for the experience of God to penetrate us, it is good to recommend to all our members to make their Personal Project of Life, in order to gather the Christian way of life that they want to assume and the concrete steps that they intend to take in order to achieve it. It is also good to recommend to them to have a spiritual companion, who helps them integrate, from the Personal Project, the different dimensions of their lives and to take firm steps to mature in their faith.

We ask ourselves:

Do the young members consider VMY a “school of prayer”?  When they are with the group, do they find Christ alive?

How could you develop in your group a pedagogy of prayer that leads the young members to become more familiar with the Written Word and celebrate the Eucharist even more happily?

What for you is the most important aspect of the “Magnificat Spirituality”? 

Are we using the “project of life” and “spiritual companionship” as means of growing in the VMY spirituality?

3. Third Pillar: Apostolate

 

When a young member has discovered Christ alive from an experience within a group-community, he searches almost instinctively, to share this great treasure with the ones that surround him; he becomes apostle and server. He gets to feel the same way as St. Paul: “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16). Or he says with St. Vincent: “It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him” (XI-4, 553). Apostolate is the third of the pillars which supports the life of our groups. Inspired by the four notes that identify us (Int. Stat. 5), VMY wants to make itself present in the world and in the Church as salt, light and yeast (Mt 5: 13-16).

 

§        As we are an ECCLESIAL Association, we continually integrate our groups in the diocesan and parochial life and projects, putting ourselves under the disposition of the Bishop and parish priests in order to collaborate actively in the pastoral work and in the animation of the Christian communities, through evangelization and catechesis,   liturgical animation, charitable services and social assistance. The parish constitutes for us the closer and most complete experience of Church, “community of communities and movements”. That is why the parish becomes an adult reference community for VMY. We do not have to be afraid of losing our identity; on the contrary we have to offer the richness of our Marian and Vincentian charism as a gift for our local Church, conserving our autonomy as an Association of the faithful. In spite of the difficulties that may arise at first, the parish priests and the Bishops will gladly accept VMY if we carry on with the plan of service and collaboration, with simplicity and humility. The future of VMY depends, among other things, on our capacity of integrating ourselves in the Dioceses and on founding new groups in the parishes.

§          Because of our MARIAN roots, we commit ourselves to make present in the Christian communities the request of the Virgin Mary, which invites us to ”do what Jesus asks us to do” (Jn 2:5) and to welcome her as Mother in our house (Jn. 19:27). That is why, aside from taking her as model of our spiritual life and of our apostolic activity, through different means, we spread the message of the Miraculous Medal and we try to celebrate her feast days with devotion, especially those with a more Vincentian flavour: the Immaculate Conception (8^th of December), the Annunciation (25^th of March) and the Visitation (31^st of May).

 

§        As VINCENTIANS, we are convinced that “to serve the poor is to serve Jesus Christ” (IX-1, 240. Cf. Mt. 25:40). And that “love is inventive unto infinity (XI-3,65). This perhaps is the note that we feel the most in our apostolate. From its origins, Mary entrusted the Association to the care of the spiritual family of St. Vincent in the persons of St. Catherine Laboure and Fr. John Mary Aladel. This fact makes implicit the adherence of the Vincentian charism. That is why, in VMY, we try to make the young members discover the unjust contrasts of this world in which we live in and with the light of faith, we try to make them commit to live out as leading characters and leaders, listen to the call of the poor and search together for creative answers with Mary at their side, building a young Church, servant of the poor.

§           We could say that “there is no misery that can be considered as foreign to a VMY member. That is why our groups organize or collaborate with organized and systematic service projects for the poorest of the poor, so that they may become active individuals of their own development (literacy campaigns, assistance at homes for the aged and the disabled, hospitals, attending the sick or abandoned families, etc.) It is very important that from the first moment they belong to the VMY, the young members come in personal contact with the poor so that they may learn to listen to them and to offer them their friendship, that they may become sensitive to the suffering of others and that they search for means to help them get out of their situation. Our Marian piety will be empty and fruitless if it does not end in a commitment with the poor in the Vincentian style.

         Aside from attention directed to the poor, there also exists another field proper to our apostolic work: the attention to the abandoned youth. In the XIX century, the Marian Congregations that existed then (of the Jesuits, or of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, etc) reduced their field of action to a selective and high social class. On the other hand, the Association that the Virgin requested from St. Catherine had an objective to evangelize, help, serve and promote young people of the working class and the mass. VMY was born fundamentally as a Christian response to the difficult situation that the young members of the least privileged had at that time. With St. Vincent, we can also say to the world of the marginalized young people or those in a risky situation that they should “make God known to the poor, announce Jesus Christ to them, tell them that the reign of God is near, and that the Kingdom is for the poor” (XI, 387)... That is another apostolate urgent and proper of the VMY.

      I think it is fair for us to pose the following question: How can we transmit the Vincentian charism to the young people of the XXI century? How can we make of them Good Samaritans, just like Saints Vincent of Paul and Louise de Marillac during their time? In the document “Role and Functions of Advisors in the JMV” there is a proposal for a pedagogy of a transformative service, which arouses in young members not only concrete attitudes and gestures of solidarity towards the poor but above all a permanent commitment to build a new model of society. What steps can we take within our groups to develop this pedagogy of transformative service? How do we help the young members take those steps already taken by the Good Samaritan? (Lk. 10: 25-37) such as to:

·        Train the sight: The Samaritan “arrived to his side and saw him.” He saw the reality of the poor, heard his clamour, and touched him with his hands. To know the world of the poor and of poverty is the first step to be taken by a young member to develop sensitivity within. The best service that the adult Vincentians can offer the younger ones is to offer us the opportunity of opening our eyes to the reality that the poor people live daily, to teach us how to look at it at its face value, to give it a name and to allow ourselves be cordially affected by it in the hope that this encounter will sow seeds of social transformation.

·        Educate the heart: “…and when he saw him, he was filled with compassion...” We have to teach the young people not only to see the reality but also to feel it, to live the compassion with the heart. It is something more than a mere feeling of compassion... it is more like a passion that leads us get closer with love to those who are suffering, involving ourselves in their suffering to the last consequences. Exactly the opposite is to act as if it did not concern us and just walk pass by it. We have to teach the young members to be sensitive, to have a heart made of flesh and blood, and not of stone and to live this spirit of solidarity like Jesus who  “was never indifferent in the face of human suffering” (Misal Romano, Plegaria Vb).

·        Educate the hands: “approaching, he bandaged his wounds”... To be a Samaritan you have to “get down from your horse” and get your hands dirty to bandage and heal. This demands a patient accompaniment of the young members who begin in the service, so that they do not only give us a hand with our work, but also link it to a process of permanent and gradual action-reflection. The inconstancy and the despondency, the fears and deficiency that the young member may experience, must be won by the testimony of the adult Vincentians who day after day and year after year, simply use their lives in the humble and joyful service of helping others.

·        Associate to others to transform the reality: “he took two coins and he gave it to the mason while saying: take care of him”... Finally, to be a good student in the school of St. Vincent, one must know that it is not enough to show solidarity individually with the curing of the brother, but that we should also involve others in this communitarian and social task; we should try to organize people to solve the problem from their root causes and together rebuild the road of Jerusalem to Jericho, so that never again would our brothers and sisters fall on the side of the road, victims of egoism of other men. The task is so big that no one can do it alone by himself. We must involve the young member and the groups within and outside the Church, in social welfare organizations, assistance agencies, those for human promotion, those that denounce injustice, those that try to change unjust structures, those that investigate and influence on the causes of poverty…. This must be the goal of the pedagogic itinerary that tries to make of the young members good Samaritans.

We ask ourselves:

How may we help our VMY groups to integrate themselves continually in the parish and diocesan life?

Do the young members find in VMY a “school of service”? When they are with the group, do they have direct contact with the poor and their reality?

 What is your group doing to attend to the abandoned youth or those who are in risky situations?

Which of the four steps of the pedagogy of transformative service does your group find more difficult? Why?

 

4. Fourth Pillar: Formation

 

Although I mention this pillar lastly, formation is not the least important in the process of VMY. Maybe it is that which we should give more attention to: catechesis, conferences and encounters, group experiences and retreats, materials, etc. At the beginning, however, its importance is not so evident to the young member. Only the young one who is anxious to advance in the process of integration to the group-community, in the experience of God and in the service to the poor, can experience formation as a need, as something that is almost imposed. The young person must discover that he needs to be formed, learn how to coexist with the others, get to know God better and learn how to pray in order learn how to serve others in a more efficient way. This discovery guarantees that the formation that we offer will not just be an exterior varnish that fades with time, but an experience that leaves a trace, because it is done in life and for life. As Fr. Benjamin Romo said, if we want our VMY groups to be agents of renewal within the Christian communities and that our members end up being the evangelizers and servers of the poor in the new millennium, “There is no greater challenge today than for you to reach out to these groups of young people and give them solid and concrete formation.”  (Opening the Door of the Third Millennium, p.74)

 

Formation is a permanent road of growth which the young member has already begun before entering VMY (in the family, school, parish, etc), whose finality is to form Christ in our hearts and in our lives, until we reach the level of a perfect human being, and become mature in Christ (Eph 4:13). Thus, formation is the act of engendering Jesus in others, or better yet, to engender others for Christ (St. Bernard, Sermon 51:9,567). In VMY, we want to offer a formation process that, starting from his particular situation, the young member shall become the subject of his own development, an author and actor of his project of life. The destination point or the goal that the young member must reach is: To mature as an individual person choosing Christ as fundamental reference and taking Mary as model of a believer, so that, from an adult Christian community, the young member commits himself to the transformation of the world from the commitment to the poorest of the poor.

     To be able to obtain such an ambitious goal, in VMY we opt for a pastoral process guided by a well-articulated formative project that does not content itself only with making various pastoral entertainment activities without any connection between them. Each country is responsible of creating and developing its own project, following an orderly sequence of phases or educational stages, based on age, and levels of maturity and commitment of the members. Each phase should be related with the different growth phases of the human being and with the objectives of our Association.

    The Association proposes that the formation projects and plans develop in these four dimensions which we deem fundamental:

The formation process must lead each member to discern and take vocational option, which is the vertex of all human and Christian growth (Cfr. J.P.II, Ch.L, 55-56.58).  When the moment of the vocational option arrives, each young member has to situate oneself and search for a stable way to continue living his option of Christian life and the Vincentian charism. In VMY, we call this special moment within the process as “endways.” There is no real pastoral formation among the young people unless we offer them a wide vocational orientation that develops within them an attitude of availability to the project of God in each one of them. We want to help the young people discover, through the gifts that each one has received, the specific place from which God invites them to realize the shared mission, for the service of the Kingdom. But, in VMY there is not just one “end way” of the formation process. We believe that all the experiences are always valid and enriching when they are supposed to be:  

o       A stable (adult) way of living the Christian life and the Vincentian charism.

o       A commitment to life within the Church.

o       An admission and acceptance that the call is personal.

     When the educational process is over, a VMY member has various options to be:

Ø      A layperson (married or single), whether within the VMY as animator or advisor or counsellor, or outside the VMY, in other lay groups of the Vincentian Family (AIC, SSVP, AMM, MISEVI).

Ø      A consecrated person (priest or religious),

Ø      In other associations or organizations, ecclesial or otherwise

Ø      A secular missionary...

Any “end way” is valid and acceptable, if it is done in the face of God and the poor. What is unthinkable is that a young person passes through VMY and goes out without a life commitment in the Church or in the world, without a clear option, without evangelical or Vincentian goals. This would be a sign that the process has been cut short or that it has not fulfilled its objectives satisfactorily. That is why the formation that we offer to our young members in VMY must have a wide vision of future.

We ask ourselves:

Do you think that in your country VMY has already chosen a pastoral guidance of the processes, or does it continue to supervise the activities?

Do you think that the formation that you offer the young members based on the life and specific situation of each one serves them in their life?

Which of the four dimensions of the formation process do you forget more often? What could you do to work better on it?

Are you offering the young members a wide vocational orientation that will guide them to the very best “end way”?

0. Conclusion

Dear Fathers, Sisters, and young people: if you ever go to Spain, I invite you not to fail to visit Avila. When you enter the city, stop by the “Los cuatro postes” (The Four Pillars) and you will have the most beautiful view of the city and the city walls. If you work in VMY, I urge you not to leave these four pillars unattended: the life of the group-community, Christian-Marian-Vincentian spirituality, apostolate among the poor and the young in risky situation, and integral formation. Only in this manner will you be able to answer the profound questions of the young people, in fidelity with the message that Mary gave as a gift to Catherine Laboure in 1830.

 

I make mine the Pope’s words: “In this month of May, dedicated in a special way to the Mother of the Lord, I invite you, dear young ones, to enter in the school of Mary to learn to love and follow Christ above all things. ” (Benedict XVI, 04-05-05)