INTRODUCTION:

St. Vincent de Paul never wrote a book about his spiritual teachings. But we find the living voice of the saint in his letters and conferences in which he trained his followers for the mission of service to the poor.

The two fundamental sources of his teaching are the GOSPEL and LIFE. He wanted his followers to put the whole of the Gospel into the whole of their lives, and he never wearied of deepening both with all the faith that God had put into his heart. That is why all that Vincent says to us has the simplicity of our everyday life and the penetrating strength of the Word of God.

The Vincentian Weekly Reflections are therefore offered to all who strive to serve the poor in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul. The prayer and reflections are based on the Sunday Gospel of the Liturgical Calendar, together with the feast days of some of the saints of our Vincentian Family. Each reflection offers a time for prayer, silence and discussion so that our everyday life, like Vincent, can become penetrated with the strength of the Word of God.

You may want to run copies for each member of your Conference so that they may take them home for personal reflection during the week.

The source of the Vincentians vocation is both human and divine. It is the anguish experienced in seeing the suffering of another human being, the spontaneous reaction of sympathy, even the fury that surges in the presence of injustices undergone by our brothers in humanity. It is also the attitude of the Christian impregnated with the Word of God, living in the hope which contains all the human brotherhood for those who suffer and carry their cross by faith in the mystery of the presence of Christ with the poor and the afflicted

Lord let us be inspired and motivated by the source of the Vincentians vocation.

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