The Gift of Community

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it myself!”  This short comment, ended by an exclamation point, is often said, in my experience, not in a calm or serene tone of voice, but in a spirit of exasperation!  (There it is again).  It’s often the last words out of one’s mouth when all else fails.  It speaks of the human reality that working with other humans is not always easy, not always what I want it to be.  And it makes me realize that just being human is not always easy.  In time, we’re taught and we maybe even learn on our own that life’s not supposed to be easy.  No one can promise us it’ll be easy.  We learn that being human is filled with ups and downs.  And so because none of us is perfect and none of us is without fault, in this lifetime, it will always be this way.  Maybe doing without others, maybe doing it alone is the one solution that just might work.  But over time, even that just isn’t much of an option.  And so considering this alternative, being a lone ranger (even the Lone Ranger had a partner) comes to be a dead end!  (my final exclamation point).

And maybe when we’re trying out our lone ranger phase, we take notice of folks who seem to be winning this battle of living with and around others.  They sure look ordinary and human like me, but they’re often are surrounded by other two-legged animals and together they’re getting things done.  And I even notice that together, at times, they even seem happy.  (I could have used an exclamation point here but I promised I wouldn’t).   Not only are they OK being together, being in groups, being in communities with others, they have even often invited me to join.  

Our Christian Call to Serve Others Together

If this is beginning to sound familiar, I suspect that’s because as a God Minute reader, you’re a Christian following the teachings of Jesus, and maybe even familiar with the teachings and life of a saint like Vincent dePaul.  Throughout the teachings of Jesus, you find in the Gospels, Jesus is constantly gathering people and speaking with these groups about the importance of loving other people, about forgiving other people, about feeding and caring for other people.  He even went so far as to proclaim that loving God and loving our neighbor is one and the same commandment.  And he taught throughout his life that in dying on the cross, he would be shedding his blood for the forgiveness of all people.  All the people.  

As for Vincent dePaul, a 17^th-century saint born and raised in France, he too sought to follow these teachings of Jesus.  He went so far as to become a priest, but his intentions weren’t fully mindful to helping others as much as helping himself and his family, since being a priest allowed him to make a good buck as a priest in a rich and very Catholic country like 17^th century France.   But in time, noticing many poor people all around him, he decided to devote his time in helping these many poor.  But as he got more serious in helping the poor, he got more serious in realizing he couldn’t do it all alone.  He learned from reading the Bible and seeing that even Jesus, the very Son of God, needed others, called disciples in his day, to follow him and do as he would do.  He then handpicked twelve followers from his many disciples, and these became known as the twelve apostles because they would be sent out filled with the Holy Spirit to do as Jesus did, to preach, to heal, and to call others to follow them in following Jesus.  And in time, from first being called The Way, to being called Christians, to being called Church, at the heart of it all was people coming together as a community, a Royal Priesthood, a people set apart who relied on one another for strength and courage to continue even in the face of trials and persecution.   

St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac

With Jesus as his teacher, Vincent followed this same pattern, first calling women and men within parishes, just as Jesus who called ordinary people like fishermen.  He called even the poor and the very wealthy to be part of this venture.  And realizing that if this Church was to be strong in its faith and leadership, Vincent invited a handful of priests to join him and live in community so they could mirror this love of Jesus for the poor and guide the faithful in doing the same.  At the same time, he began to

search for a way of bringing this same love to the towns and villages and very streets of Paris.  He searched for another new group who, through the strength of their arms and the sweat of their brows, might be able to make visible this love of Jesus.   And with the help of another faith-filled believer, a woman named Louise, Vincent began to gather and assist peasant girls and women to form a community of love and service.  

Thus, with laymen and women at the parish, wealthy women forming groups to assist with necessary and needed resources, priests and brothers serving in their ministry through the church, and hard-working women living in community and extending their service to all in need,  the vision of Vincent dePaul would become a living and active community of service existing at the time of his death in 1660.  But the vision would not end or dissipate even after his death.  A college professor in Paris years later in the 1800s, would recognize that the laity could serve the poor not only through the parish structure, but as an independent community within the Church reaching out and caring for the poor.  

Thus, the Parish Charities, the Ladies of Charity, the Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, and the St. Vincent dePaul Society continue this very day,  known simply as the Vincentian Family! (ah come’on, had to use just one here).  And at the core always, a community of faith, a community of service, a Vincentian Family that continues throughout the world.  All of this is possible only because the gift of community embraced by men and women throughout the world, has been experienced as a gift, and not a burden.  Reflect please on this African proverb as you continue to seek ways of helping others:  If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.