Rev. Jaros ł aw Lawrenz CM CONCERN FOR THE FIDELITY TO THE VINCENTIAN VOCATION „Be mature with the maturity of the faith, and strong with the strenght of the spirit”(Bl. John Paul II, V ienna, December 09,1983) Part II DIRECTIONS FOR LIVING VINCENTIAN VOCATION IN THE NEW ENGLAND PROVINCE 2011 1!
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Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM
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8/3/2019 Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM
"My Savior! You know my unworthiness and my lack of faithfulness in responding to
your calling. I ask You for mercy and compassion. Do not let my sins contribute to
the loss of sanctity of the Congregation, which you yourself are the creator and
founder. Remember, Lord, about the tasks you have entrusted to this Congregation.You yourself summoned it to serve you in the poor. Let me see any one in need of
assistance. Let me see Your face in everyone. Lord, I ask You for this grace through
the merits of your Blessed Mother.” (St. Vincent de Paul)
Jubilee Year, I mean the anniversary of death of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de
Marillac, inclined us, I hope, to a personal reflection on our Vincentian vocation and to this
very narrow look at ourselves, and in the Community: the Province; the Congregation, as
present in the modern world. Return to the sources is certainly not intended to marvel at
the past, but "the history of magistra vitae". The official fruit of the discussions within the
community about the Congregation were included in the final documents of the Provincial
Assembly of 2009 and the General Assembly in Paris 2010.
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8/3/2019 Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM
We need to honestly admit that we are not always invited to such a reflection, and our discussion assumes the form of an elite, that is, we are talking about it with a small group
of friends and brothers in our community. Or worse, conspiracy - making of ourselves
martyrs of "missed" decisions made by those in power. So I want to thank you for giving
me this opportunity to share my hopes for the future. Even though, I am aware of my
limitations of knowledge of the history of our Province and the whole richness of
transformation process to the current state. Please forgive me, if ignorance of this matter
will be visible in the further development of thought.
1. Charism
This is the key word to understanding the mystery of my vocation and becoming a member
of the Congregation of the Mission. The fact that one day I found myself at Stradom in
Krakow was clearly dictated by the specific charism of the Congregation. And what's
interesting, in my life when I met with people of different congregations (female or male)
and I witnessed the insistent search for identity of their communities. I never had any
doubt as to the question: what is our charism? The question that was lost in response: how
best to realize this charism? And even more specifically, I was perplexed when the
situation of the country in which I found myself in, or the local church expected of me the
attitude of missionary activity.
There is a Polish proverb about catching all the magpies by their tails. Not to be trapped by
this term, a pastoral project of the Province and the community came to aid. It also helped
to prevent me from too individualistic tendencies.
I am convinced that ultimately the existence and development of the Province of New
England is linked to the missionary ministry of the Polish Immigration in the United States.
Fr. Edward Gicewicz right from the beginning of the first paragraph of his "History of the
Province," underlines this specificity, associating it with the God’s blessing and Hisinspiration, and though confreres working in the mission of the Province came from
different parts of the world such as Poland, China, Brazil, as well as those born in the USA
with the same ethnic roots. And, although it was necessary to undertake the effort of
learning the English language by some, or the Polish language by others, the goal of this
effort was one: to serve Polish Immigration in the U.S. in the best and most
comprehensive way. They organized the pastoral life, ensured education opportunities,
organized popular missions and ministry of the Word of God in the so-called „Forties” [forty
hours devotions], helped dioceses experiencing crisis of vocations; provided chaplain
ministry in hospitals and nursing homes, spiritual direction for local clergy, and also therewas a time of supporting the mission ad gentes when confreres were sent out to other
countries.
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8/3/2019 Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM
No doubt the size and location of various Polish communities had changed radically. But,
does this fact puts into question the meaning of our peculiarity? Is this the time „wind down
the sails”? Does the honesty to the history of this Province, and thus to Confreres who
gave their talents and life to this ministry, allows us to move away from the Polonia
charism?
My personal vision is the desire to open a window on the contemporary situation and give
a "freshness" to continue the special character of the Province of New England. I propose
to enclose the reflection, so as not to blur the "wishful thinking" in the structure: Faith,
Hope, Love.
2. Faith
"In working for the salvation of souls be always guided by the light of faith"
(St. Vincent de Paul)
This is what protects us from losing meaningfulness of our lives. It is the faith in Jesus
Christ that protects us from the fear of the continued existence 1 . Saint Vincent de Paul
made Him a key justifying the rule of the Congregation. It is worth noting that theConstitutions of our Congregation make us sensitive to the very important nature of our
mission, that mission to prepare the Vincentian community for apostolic activities, her
constant nurturing and support. (cf. C 19) Clearly this shows that our communities are to
be evangelizing, caring for the poor and missionary.
As Fr. Santiago Azcarate CM stated in the article, "the Vincentian communities exist not
only, for the mission, but also are animated by the missions 2 ." We cannot live only
through the memories of our Congregation’s missionary history, losing sight of our future.
We must constantly be aware of the reality in which we live. We need to learn, analyze,
and love. Therefore, honest discussion in communities about the form of action, themission, will allow us to answer the question: how to be a witness of Jesus today? How to
get in his footsteps to the poor?
Therefore, we must ensure that:
• Province encourages each Confrere to develop his spiritual life: with participation in
retreats, days of formation, pastoral meetings, contacting Confreres from other U.S.
Provinces and the world, good use of sabbatical time.
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1 cf. Lines of Action 2010-2016, Vincentiana, vol.54, no. 3, p. 402-403
2 cf. Santiago Azcarate CM, Vincentian Community, Community for the Mission, Vincentiana,
2001-06-09
8/3/2019 Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM
"The essence of our vocation is to work for the salvation of the poor villagers,
everything else is subsidiary. We preach a retreat for candidates for ordination,conduct seminaries, because we are convinced that it is useful to preserve the
stability of fruits of the mission. We imitate these great conquerors who on the
occupied territories establish garrisons, because they fear not to lose the gained
with such effort lands. What a luck, that we to participate in the mission of Jesus
Christ. For who better to imitate Christ, than those who preach the gospel to the
poor?" (St. Vincent de Paul)
We are not the beginning and I hope, we will not "turn off the last light" of the Province. I
am convinced, it is important to conduct discussions between us about our "status quo".Should we continue as an independent province? Could it be better for us to get the status
of the Region of the Eastern Province, or the Province of Poland?
But, I’m afraid discussion on this topic is connected with fear of the future, thereby
removing the "punch line". As Saint Vincent de Paul pointed it out, we must have a
constant belief that Christ is the Lord of Salvation, and He chose us to implement it. We
create the history of the next generation of this Province. Therefore, we must take care of
the "sustainability of the fruits of the mission." And this is the most important. Respect
for the missionary work of the past generations and "aggiornamento" of our present.
General Assembly emphasized very clearly the need to revise our legal norms to help us
with fidelity to the vocation, but also the works carried out by the Congregation of the
Mission (specifically by individual provinces)11. Reliable analysis of our situation must take
into account the dynamics of development and changes in the world, and consequently,
changing forms of human poverty.
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11 cf. Lines of Action 2010-2016, p. 400-402
8/3/2019 Directions of Actions of the New England Province by Rev. Jaroslaw Lawrenz CM