NUNTIA Newsletter of the Congregation of the Mission 2021 FEBRUARY WE HAVE BEEN LEFT WITHOUT CARNIVAL... Two years ago I participated in the quickly to needs and understand However, our gaze cannot remain Carnival in the north of Argentina. It that a simple virus can bring down only here. The Church gives us a was a party atmosphere with typical the entire world economy. time to rediscover ourselves in truth dresses and an environment full of The mask of “care of the planet” before the Lord, without masks, joy. People painted each other’s faces disappeared, as we could witness the without disguises, and perhaps with with colors and gradually formed true oxygenation of the world when the only mark we need on our faces – a mask so that it was difficult to human beings stopped invading all that of the ashes of conversion. recognize each other from so much spaces. This time invites us to rediscover paint or chalk. But, as usual, when the masks fall our true face, the one that marks This year, due to the well-known off, we can begin to see the faces, our identity as children of God, as pandemic, we have been left without which showed us, perhaps, those followers of Jesus Christ, Evangelizer carnival and in many places this who would have wanted to continue of the poor, as a missionary absence was felt. We are left without covering the faces of the poor, of community. He invites us to take off the music and joy of “Rio,” without those who were left with nothing, our costumes and put on the Spirit of the glamour of “Venice,” or even without even the possibility of Jesus Christ. without the dances and colors of our feeding their children; the face of We have the challenge to look at the own places. the sick, of those who were not face of those at whom no one looks, But thinking a little further, the “priority” left in the waiting with the poor, those who have no face for pandemic not only removed the their pain; the face of the elderly in society. The challenge is to remove masks of the carnival, but it also solitude, many of them spending the masks that cause so many social was able to remove so many years in this situation, bearing injustices, to bring God to those other masks from our societies. It silence and depression; the face empty hearts. removed the masks from the health of those who have died in extreme True, we are left without carnival, systems, where we have realized solitude, without a hand to sustain but not without joy. We are their precariousness in many of our their departure, like that of relatives witnesses and bearers of the true countries, and that health was not for who had to resign themselves with Joy of the Gospel. “all” but for a chosen few. just a few ashes between their It removed the masks from economic fingers without the possibility of models that could not respond saying goodbye. P. Hugo Marcelo Vera, CM The vocation of a brother in the CONGREGATION OF THE MISSION Narrow definitions of rich realities are live out the purpose and lifestyle of to testify that “they accepted a brief of often not helpful. They restrict our the Congregation in full equality with this kind and submitted themselves to understanding rather than amplify it. the priests and clerics, while doing so it.” The number of brothers who signed Here, rather than define, I will attempt in a lay manner. at Sant-Lazare over the course of a few a broad description of the vocation days was almost equal to the number of brothers in the Congregation of 2. In the footsteps of Christ, they vow of priests. Brothers made up 1/3 of the the Mission today, leaving room for to serve the poor for their whole lives, Congregation at that time. further developments in the future in community, and to live in chastity, just as there has been considerable poverty, and obedience. 3. They are committed to a life of daily evolution in the past. From the start, brothers in the prayer in common with the priests Below, I offer seven key elements in the Congregation, like the priests, and clerics of the Congregation. vocation of a Vincentian brother today pronounced vows. In fact, the brothers In his comments about brothers, and tomorrow. As is evident, some of showed up in force on October 22, Vincent spoke again and again about them were key elements in the past 1655, when Vincent asked the confreres their prayer. He told the priests, the too, even if with different nuances. to gather at the Motherhouse for a sisters and the seminarians how reading of the papal brief Ex Commissa impressed he was by it. Personally, 1. Brothers in the Congregation of Nobis, approving the four vows of the over the years, I have been struck by the Mission are lay men living in Congregation. It was quite a day! The the same phenomenon: some of the community, together with priests brief was read aloud in Latin and then, most prayerful confreres whom I have and clerics, following Christ the for the brothers, in French. Those ever known (as far as one can judge Evangelizer and Servant of the Poor. present was asked to sign a document externally) have been brothers. The emphasis here is on the lay vocation of brothers. While Vincent in his time strongly accented the lay aspect of the brothers’ vocation, he did so within a highly clericalized framework. For him, explicitly, the dignity of priesthood far outshone that of being a brother. Though Vincent treated the brothers well and most of the brothers loved him, they were often regarded as servants of the priests in the Congregation. In the twenty-first century, the dignity of the lay vocation has received a new emphasis, with particular stress on the universal call to mission, the universal call to holiness, and the universal call to create a civilization of love. Brothers are full members of the Congregation, called to embrace and On the bottom line, a life of prayer, service, and mutual friendship is what draws people to communities. As Vincent often noted: someone who prays can do everything; someone who does not pray is empty. In this context, Vincent’s statement that the brothers exercise the office of Martha clearly needs considerable nuancing. While brothers often joyfully assume Martha’s servant role in community, they also eagerly take on the listening/praying role of Mary. Today, I know brothers who bring of the Congregation. Mutuality is 4. In responding to the universal creative competence to setting indispensable. The formation process call to holiness, they strive, in their up websites and animating local for a candidate for brotherhood will lay vocation, to grow in the five communities through song and art. flow from this dialogue. characteristic Vincentian virtues of Brothers serve as treasurers, provincial simplicity, humility, gentleness, self- planners, heads of local comunidades 7. While the general outline of the denial, and zeal. de base, instructors in high schools Congregation’s formation of brothers Francis de Sales had an enormous and universities, translators, leaders is described in the Ratio Formationis, it influence on Vincent. Today, many say of prayer, catechists, presiders at must be creatively adapted to the age that Vincent was more “Salesian” than services of the Word of God, ministers and talents of candidates. “Bérullian.” Vincent often referred to to the sick in their homes and in As with all members of the Francis’ book The Introduction to a hospitals, and, directly or indirectly, as Congregation, formation for brothers Devout Life, where the universal call servants of the neediest. is a lifelong process. Here, however, to holiness is described in detail. let me offer a precision. Sometimes If the five virtues are central in the life 6. Their age of entry and their we think of ongoing formation as an of all members of the Congregation, educational level at the time of entry obligation to continue our formation they seem (if one may say this) all will vary. after the period of initial formation the more characteristic of the life As in St. Vincent’s time, much will has ended. Written from that of brothers, since so much of their depend on when a candidate hears perspective, the Ratio Formationis service is often humble and hidden. God’s call, on the gifts God has given treats ongoing formation in its eighth him, on his attraction to and ability to and last chapter. But it is really the 5. The scope of their service to the poor live the Vincentian vocation, and on other way around. Ongoing formation and to their Vincentian community is the discernment process into which should be first! Lifelong formation is extraordinarily broad. he will enter within the community. the basic, underlying obligation for It embraces “traditional” forms of In other words, there is no single type all of us. It is crucial for our growth manual labor that enrich daily life in of brother, no mold. This creates a and continued renewal. The various community, as well as a remarkably challenge. In the vocation of a brother, stages of formation (what we call broad variety of other services. perhaps even more than in the vocation “initial” and “ongoing”) should fit into Today, a huge number of ministries of a priest, reciprocal discernment a coherent lifelong process. Someone lie open to brothers. In my lifetime, about how a brother might best serve who at any time stops being formed I have known brothers who served is essential.