Spirituality and

Theology for
The Vincentian
Family
Part I
Richard Benson, C.M.
Vincentian Spirituality and
Theology
 Vincentian Spirituality
Is there such a thing as a specifically
Vincentian spirituality?
Take 15 minutes and describe the unique
characteristics of Vincentian spirituality.
Four Themes in the Spirituality of
St. John Gabriel Perboyre

Devotion to
Providence
Love for the Mission
Love for the
Community
Devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Vincent and Louise
Persons of:
Faith incarnate
Prayer
Action
Tradition
The Church
WHAT OTHER IDENTIFIERS CAN WE USE TO
CHARACTERIZE THEIR CHARISM?
The Vincentian Vision
Vincentian Christ:
Brings good news to the poor
Vincentian Anthropology
Imago Dei
Vincentian Ecclesiology
The People of God on pilgrimage
Vincentian Morality
Love covers a multitude of sins 1 Pt 4: 8
What is Evangelization?
Take 15 minutes and describe
Evangelization.
Evangelization
Evangelizare: To
bring the Good News
Jesus Christ has a
Mission
The Mission of Christ
has a Church, the
Church does not
have a mission.
Two Essential Elements of
Authentic Vincentian Faith
Gaudium
JOY
Spes
HOPE
Authentic Vincentians
Are marked with:
Hope and Joy
Jesus Mandate
Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you; and Lo, I
am with you always, until the close of the
age. Mt 28: 19-20
Vatican II
Having been divinely sent to the nations
that she might be the universal
sacrament of salvation, the Church, in
obedience to the command of her
founder and because it is demanded by
her own essential universality, strives to
preach the Gospel to all. Ad Gentes, 1
Purpose of the Churchs Mission

The ultimate purpose of evangelization

is none other than to make all people
share in the communion between the
Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.
John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, 23
Motivation for Evangelization

It is from Gods love for all people that

the Church in every age receives both
the obligation and the vigor of her
missionary dynamism, for the love of
Christ urges us on.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 851
Evangelization through Time
This mission continues and, in the course of
history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was
sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church,
urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the
road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty
and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice
even to death, a death from which he emerged
victorious by his resurrection. Ad Gentes, 5
Vincentian Evangelization
To bring the Good
News to the Poor!
Vincentian
Spirituality

Part II
New Evangelization?
Today more than ever the Word of God will be
unable to be proclaimed and heard unless it is
accompanied by the witness of the power of
the Holy Spirit, working within the action of
Christians in the service of their brothers and
sisters, at the points in which their existence
and their future are at stake. Paul VI,
Octogesima Adveniens, 51
 The term the new
Evangelization
Coined by Paul VI, 1975: Evangelii
Nuntiandi:
A renewed emphasis and enthusiasm in
preaching the gospel to non-Christians
A new response to the new challenges to
the Churchs mission created by
contemporary culture
E.G. New Responses to New Questions
 The New Evangelization and
John Paul II
Called for a new evangelization that
would be new in ardor, new in methods,
and new in expression. Ecclesia in
America, 6, 66
Under JP II, evangelization moves from
ad gentes (classical evangelization) to
completing the mission of Christ
Classical Evangelization
Making converts
Baptizing non-believers
Teach the catechism
Learn about Jesus
Instruction about
doctrines and
devotions
Baptism completes the
goal of evangelization
The New Evangelization
Not a matter of merely passing on
doctrine, but rather of a personal and
profound meeting with the savior. JP II,
1991
One cannot be an Evangelizer without a
continuing encounter with Christ. RBcm,
2007
 8 Characteristics of the New
Evangelization
1. Participates in 5. Re-evangelization of
completing the mission Christian cultures.
of Christ. 6. New methods, e.g.
2. Our own deeper witness, new technology
conversion 7. Focus on the laity,
3. Focus on those who evangelization is the
are marginal members mission of every
of the Church. baptized Christian.
4. Focus on those who 8. Parallel to but distinct
have left the Church from classical
evangelization.
Pope John Paul II:
The need for a new
evangelization helps the
Church to understand
that today more than
ever the Churchs social
message will gain
credibility more
immediately from the
witness of action than as
a result of its internal
logic and consistency,
Centesimus Annus, 57
How is new evangelization
new?
New Old
Encounter with Encounter with the
Christ Catechism
Relational Rule centered
Begins with self Begins with others
Is Church centered Targets unbaptized
 The New Evangelization and
the Vincentian Family
Spend 15 minutes to
develop one strategy
for New
Evangelization and
the Vincentian
Family.