Also available in High Definition quality on YouTube

„Pan przychodzi aby władać ziemią. Prawo i sprawiedliwość podstawą Jego tronu” rozpoczyna swoje przesłanie na Boże Narodzenie dla całej Rodziny Wincentyńskiej, ks. Gregory Gay CM, Przełożony Generalny w prezentowanym wyżej filmie świątecznym. Do życzeń O. Generała przyłączają się Asystenci Generalni i inni członkowie wspólnoty Kurii Generalnej. Każdy z nich kieruje do nas swoje słowa w ojczystym języku co daje okazję nie tylko zobaczyć poszczególne osoby i je poznać, ale także posłuchać różnych języków, również egzotycznych. Film zawiera napisy po polsku i angielsku przy wszystkich wypowiedziach.

You may also watch this Christmas video in other languages following these links:

English only subtitles; French and  Spanish.

Watch also another Christmas video prepared by the personnel of the General Curia, both Vincentians and lay personnel. This is first ever such presentation. Warning! This video does not contain subtitles, except for two moments. Original languages only.

Watch this film: Christmas Greetings from Curia Personnel

We recommend you another video message from the Curia -
Christmas Message from the Superior General and the Curia

Click the thumbnail to read or download

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE 48th WORLD DAY
OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

Theme: “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church”

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on 15 May 2011, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, invites us to reflect on the theme: “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church”. Seventy years ago, Venerable Pius XII established the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations. Similar bodies, led by priests and members of the lay faithful, were subsequently established by Bishops in many dioceses as a response to the call of the Good Shepherd who, “when he saw the crowds, had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd”, and went on to say: “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest!” (Mt 9:36-38).

The work of carefully encouraging and supporting vocations finds a radiant source of inspiration in those places in the Gospel where Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and trains them with love and care. We should pay close attention to the way that Jesus called his closest associates to proclaim the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 10:9). In the first place, it is clear that the first thing he did was to pray for them: before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in prayer, listening to the will of the Father (cf. Lk 6:12) in a spirit of interior detachment from mundane concerns. It is Jesus’ intimate conversation with the Father which results in the calling of his disciples. Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life are first and foremost the fruit of constant contact with the living God and insistent prayer lifted up to the “Lord of the harvest”, whether in parish communities, in Christian families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations.

At the beginning of his public life, the Lord called some fishermen on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). He revealed his messianic mission to them by the many “signs” which showed his love for humanity and the gift of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and his way of life he prepared them to carry on his saving work. Finally, knowing “that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father” (Jn 13:1), he entrusted to them the memorial of his death and resurrection, and before ascending into heaven he sent them out to the whole world with the command: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).

It is a challenging and uplifting invitation that Jesus addresses to those to whom he says: “Follow me!”. He invites them to become his friends, to listen attentively to his word and to live with him. He teaches them complete commitment to God and to the extension of his kingdom in accordance with the law of the Gospel: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit ” (Jn 12:24). He invites them to leave behind their own narrow agenda and their notions of self-fulfilment in order to immerse themselves in another will, the will of God, and to be guided by it. He gives them an experience of fraternity, one born of that total openness to God (cf. Mt 12:49-50) which becomes the hallmark of the community of Jesus: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).

It is no less challenging to follow Christ today. It means learning to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to him, listening to his word and encountering him in the sacraments; it means learning to conform our will to his. This requires a genuine school of formation for all those who would prepare themselves for the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life under the guidance of the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not fail to call people at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve the Church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life. The Church is “called to safeguard this gift, to esteem it and love it. She is responsible for the birth and development of priestly vocations” (John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, 41). Particularly in these times, when the voice of the Lord seems to be drowned out by “other voices” and his invitation to follow him by the gift of one’s own life may seem too difficult, every Christian community, every member of the Church, needs consciously to feel responsibility for promoting vocations. It is important to encourage and support those who show clear signs of a call to priestly life and religious consecration, and to enable hem to feel the warmth of the whole community as they respond “yes” to God and the Church. I encourage them, in the same words which I addressed to those who have already chosen to enter the seminary: “You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life’s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity” (Letter to Seminarians, 18 October 2010).

It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and attentive to the pastoral care of vocations, helping children and young people in particular at every level of family, parish and associations – as Jesus did with his disciples – to grow into a genuine and affectionate friendship with the Lord, cultivated through personal and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity with the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen attentively and fruitfully to the word of God; to understand that entering into God’s will does not crush or destroy a person, but instead leads to the discovery of the deepest truth about ourselves; and finally to be generous and fraternal in relationships with others, since it is only in being open to the love of God that we discover true joy and the fulfilment of our aspirations. “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church” means having the courage, through an attentive and suitable concern for vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ which, because it is so rich in meaning, is capable of engaging the whole of one’s life.

I address a particular word to you, my dear brother Bishops. To ensure the continuity and growth of your saving mission in Christ, you should “foster priestly and religious vocations as much as possible, and should take a special interest in missionary vocations” (Christus Dominus, 15). The Lord needs you to cooperate with him in ensuring that his call reaches the hearts of those whom he has chosen. Choose carefully those who work in the Diocesan Vocations Office, that valuable means for the promotion and organization of the pastoral care of vocations and the prayer which sustains it and guarantees its effectiveness. I would also remind you, dear brother Bishops, of the concern of the universal Church for an equitable distribution of priests in the world. Your openness to the needs of dioceses experiencing a dearth of vocations will become a blessing from God for your communities and a sign to the faithful of a priestly service that generously considers the needs of the entire Church.

The Second Vatican Council explicitly reminded us that “the duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life” (Optatam Totius, 2). I wish, then, to say a special word of acknowledgment and encouragement to those who work closely in various ways with the priests in their parishes. In particular, I turn to those who can offer a specific contribution to the pastoral care of vocations: to priests, families, catechists and leaders of parish groups. I ask priests to testify to their communion with their bishop and their fellow priests, and thus to provide a rich soil for the seeds of a priestly vocation. May families be “animated by the spirit of faith and love and by the sense of duty” (Optatam Totius, 2) which is capable of helping children to welcome generously the call to priesthood and to religious life. May catechists and leaders of Catholic groups and ecclesial movements, convinced of their educational mission, seek to “guide the young people entrusted to them so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation” (ibid.).

Dear brothers and sisters, your commitment to the promotion and care of vocations becomes most significant and pastorally effective when carried out in the unity of the Church and in the service of communion. For this reason, every moment in the life of the Church community – catechesis, formation meetings, liturgical prayer, pilgrimages – can be a precious opportunity for awakening in the People of God, and in particular in children and young people, a sense of belonging to the Church and of responsibility for answering the call to priesthood and to religious life by a free and informed decision.

The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church. With trust and perseverance let us invoke the aid of the Virgin Mary, that by the example of her own acceptance of God’s saving plan and her powerful intercession, every community will be more and more open to saying “yes” to the Lord who is constantly calling new labourers to his harvest. With this hope, I cordially impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 15 November 2010

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Orędzie Benedykta XVI na XLVIII Światowy Tydzień Modlitw o Powołania

For the first time this Lenten Letter was brought to you in the number of methods which never happened before. You ca read the text online here ora download it for printing as PDF. You can view it as document in your browser on Scribd.com platform which enables you to view, copy, download in various formats and share among your friends, communities and social networks in very simple way. Finally, what is an innovation, the Letter can be downloaded or send to your mobile devices as E-Book (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle and more). It is also available in eight languages.

If you want learn more on how to get the letter in other languages and as E-book go to our previous post: New technology, media and languages for Superior General Lenten Letter

❒ view as document in your browser
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❒ download as E-book from mobile devices and readers

Ash Wednesday  9 March 2011

To all the Members of the Vincentian Family

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ fill your hearts now and forever!

As I write this Lenten Letter for 2011 I am very conscious of the fruits of the Jubilee Year that we celebrated, the 350^th anniversary of the deaths of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise.  Hopefully it was a year that we were able to deepen our relationship with God, with one another as a Vincentian Family, and particularly with our lords and masters the poor.

As we know, Lent is a time of intense scrutiny of our own relationships, ever conscious of our own limitations and faults.  Above all it is a time for us to reach out for healing, including to God, in order that our hearts might be filled once again to overflowing with His compassion.

Recently I participated in a special workshop that the Community of Sant’Egidio holds for Bishops and friends of Sant’Egidio. The founder of this wonderful lay movement, Andrea Riccardi, opened the gathering with a talk directed to all of its participants but particularly to the Bishops as pastors of the Church.  He used Pope John Paul II as a model for Bishops.  The main point of his sharing was the example that John Paul gave with regard to being a man of encounters, particularly his encounter with God and his encounter with the poor.  It is interesting that the Bishops present, in the comments made, were edified by this simple but profound reflection.  I myself was edified, but reflected on the fact that in essence it was nothing that we did not already know.  It is something that Jesus Christ himself has taught us; and as His followers we are called to imitate Him in this unique relationship with the Father as well as imitate His reaching out in meeting the marginalized of society.

Certainly our own founder Saint Vincent de Paul, calls us to this encounter with God saying “Give me a man of prayer and he will be capable of all things” (Coste XI, 67).  He calls us into that deep relationship with the Father that Jesus Himself had.  Saint Vincent also shares with us “that true religion we find among the poor” (Coste XII, 171); in other words, that deep encounter with God is also experienced in our encounter with the poor.  And as Saint Vincent clearly tells us, among them we find our salvation.  I ask that we, as members of the Vincentian Family, examine this two-fold relationship with God and with the poor in this Lenten season.

Recently I heard a song that is common among young people today which reflects on the need to bow our heads in prayer, especially as we look around and see the world of those who suffer today. A title of yet another  song is “Born This Way,” the latest single of Lady Gaga, which is an anthem for the marginalized.  One of the verses reads, “Whether life’s disabilities left you outcast, bullied or teased, rejoice and love yourself today, because baby you were born this way.” I am particularly touched to see how many young people focus their attention, rather than on themselves, on the needs of those who are poor as we too look closely at our world and all the different situations of suffering.

Let us focus especially on our relationship with the poor.  I would like to speak about a number of situations that I have observed in my visits as Superior General to the different places where the Vincentian Family is serving and evangelizing.  It struck me, and I have said this on a number of other occasions, that in every society there is a particular group singled out as what we call  “scapegoats.”  They are the ones most looked down upon; they are the outcasts from their own society.  I find this experience to be true in every continent.  In my most recent visit to Ethiopia, our Bishop confrere Markos spoke to me of a group of people that the confreres and Daughters of Charity minister to who are considered outcasts in the society of Ethiopia, who have a long-standing history of being looked down upon and discriminated against not only by those with whom they live day in and day out, but often by the authorities of the society.  I had this same experience in Vietnam, in India, in the Congo, and even in first-world countries, as here in Italy.  Just recently the whole Italian society’s eyes were opened to the horrible plight of the gypsies that abound in the city of Rome and live in situations that are inhuman.  Four children were burned to death because of the poor conditions in which they are forced to live.

During a memorial service that was held for these four children, Cardinal Vicario Agostina Vallini spoke strongly in favor of the poor and our need to open our eyes to their reality, especially the reality of the immigrant poor.  He challenged all present to examine their consciences, both individually and as a Christian community. Many times immigrant peoples obviously do not want to leave their homeland; but they do so as fugitives from war, from the violence that they experience, from hunger, searching desperately to live in peace and with dignity. There is no doubt that the presence of immigrants in any society creates new problems that oftentimes are complex and we can’t look at in a simplified manner. But as the Cardinal said, we are Christians and we cannot not love and get involved in the lives of those who live in poverty, who are considered among the least of our brothers who are marginalized from our society.

The Cardinal spoke of them as the real presence of Jesus Christ. When hearing that, how clearly I could see Saint Vincent saying the same thing to us as members of the Vincentian Family, seeing Christ in the poor, especially among the most abandoned poor.  Today my brothers and sisters, we are challenged to see and respond to these poor: the homeless, street children, prisoners, immigrants; those suffering from gender inequality, discrimination against women, the trafficking of women and children both for sex and for work purposes and children soldiers, which is a theme that at another time I would like to develop at greater length. For me it is incredible that our society uses young children to carry weapons, to continue the battles of people who seek only their own political interests and desires. What are we doing to defend the lives of these innocent children?  It is horrible to see them carrying weapons that weigh as much as they may weigh and that can take the lives of others as innocent as they are.  The Cardinal also said in his homily that before all types of poverty, whether they be old forms of poverty or new forms of poverty that we find that surrounds us in our cities, we should bend our knees and ask God for pardon, pardon of God and pardon of them for what we have not been able to do for them.

Many times in seeing the situation of marginalized people, the outcasts, which I have written about in previous letters, there is a joy that I feel in my heart to see that the Vincentian Family is in one way or another serving their needs and reaching out to them with the love God has placed in their hearts for the poor.  In this Lenten season, we need to raise the question: Are we doing all that we can for those who are cast out from our societies?

In the Final Document of the General Assembly of the Congregation of the Mission we state that “Seeing what the Lord has done and is doing through us, we, in the manner of Saint Vincent, would like to do and be more for the poor.” Would that this be a challenge for all of us of the Vincentian Family in this Lenten season – to do more and be more for the poor and with the poor.

I also ask us to focus on the poor in situations of desperation as victims in the midst of violence and mob destruction as we have witnessed in places throughout northern Africa recently: in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt among some of the  more significant situations.  It is the poor who have cried out to have their needs heard.  In the midst of the deafness of those responsible for caring for the common good, the suffering and the frustration, as well as the anger can no longer be contained and in “this bursting forth” God speaks. How do we, how can we, respond?

Another locus of where the poor are often found is in the conflicts that arise among religions, particularly when the expression of the religions is in its lowest fundamentalist form.  I think of the many so-called “religious” wars and how often in God’s name violence and destruction have been brought about.  Oftentimes it has been because of the inability of the human beings involved in these conflicts to sit down and dialog in an open way looking for peaceful solutions rather than resorting to conflict and violence and war.

In that encounter offered by Sant’Egidio, I had the opportunity to listen to a Muslim leader who spoke to us about the importance of living not just in a culture of tolerance of one of another, but the need to move beyond that to the development of a culture of acceptance, respecting one another for who we are, for the faith that we express, trying to understand clearly our own faith and the faith of others. It is something that is needed to be done on both sides of conflict situations.

It is all about building good  trusting relationships that can come about in and through dialog. As followers of Jesus Christ in this time of Lent we are called to reflect deeply on attitudes that oftentimes divide us.  Ignorance in itself is one of the root causes of fundamentalist attitudes where the search is many times for one’s own particular interests rather than for the common good of all.  A ready solution that the Christian world has offered to this ignorance is education. This Muslim speaker said very clearly that where Christians have provided good, human, value-oriented education, the relationships between peoples, both Muslims and Christians, is much better. Education is a key and those of the Vincentian Family who are involved in education should reflect deeply on this ministry that we are providing and in this time of Lent to see if it is an education that is doing its utmost to provide a formation that is integral, a formation that helps people to build values, values that bring people together in relationships of understanding and caring.

Besides ignorance, there is also the challenge of fear that many times paralyzes people, keeping them from moving out of the themselves toward others in good, healthy, harmonious relationships.  The gift of Jesus Christ in and through his death and resurrection that is at the heart of what Lent is about, gives us not only a sign, but the grace, the courage to be able to break down all fear.  It is God’s  love for His own Son that was able to conquer death and to break the paralyzing attitude of fear, enabling His Son to rise to new life in the Resurrection.  It is the same gift of the resurrection, the same gift of God’s love that was poured out upon His Son and which His Son poured out on the entire world, which gives us the courage to move forward and to build relationships.

My brothers and sisters, let me summarize by saying that the Lord speaks  loudly to us in the cries of those who are poor.  Can we do more? Can we be more? Let us examine our actions of solidarity with those who live in poverty.  Let us refresh and be creative in deepening our relationship with those who are poor,  walking with them as advocates for what is just and right.  Just as we are called to be one with the poor and in solidarity with all humanity as we work toward a world of peace, we are called at the same time to be one with God who is the source of all life and love. Let us ever be mindful that we are called to act with justice for peace and the integrity of all creation, motivated by that which is at the heart of our vocation as Vincentians, the charity of Christ crucified.   Let this gift that we have received through our Vincentian vocation, a gift which is a concrete expression of God’s love for all of us, be at the heart of what purifies us and reconciles us and makes us anew as we celebrate this Lenten season, culminating in the great gift of new life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let Alleluia be our song for we are an Easter people.

Your brother in Saint Vincent,

G. Gregory Gay, C.M.
Superior General

Below, you can find access to view the Lenten Letter in all of the languages from Scribd.com application widget. To view your language click on the title link in the widget frame. The document opens in full screen. You can read it, share in social networks, download it in various formats or send to you mobile device. You can get embed code and insert it into your website.

Popularity of smartphones, tablets and other advanced mobile devices is growing in recent years. Trying to meet that challenge we decided to share this Letter for Lent in – *. epub – format for mobile devices like iPhone, iPad, Android and ebook readers like Amazon’s Kindle. Right click on the link below you are interested in and save it on your desktop or copy the link and send to your device.

Both innovative solutions – Scribd.com and ebook were provided by Famvin.org team as response to recent letter of the Superior General on use of modern technology in Vincentian mission. We believe you will receive this solutions positively, and making the Lenten message more “mobile” and “networked” your ministry can be more effective and fruitful as well as your personal study and reflection.
Since it is an innovation and first time used Famvin.org welcomes all your comments and opinions on this solution. Your voice counts and helps improve the service. To leave comment and opinion simply use the comment form below or contact either Fr. John Freund CM or Toma’ by email.

LETTER OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL FOR LENT 2011
(eBook files to download for mobile devices)

❍ List na Wielki Post 2011 [polski]
❍ Letter for Lent 2011 [English]
❍ Lettre de Carême 2011 [française]
❍ Carta de Cuaresma 2011 [español]
❍ Carta da Quaresma 2011 [Português]
❍ Fastenzeit Brief 2011 [Deutsch]
❍ List pôstny 2011 [slovenčina]
❍ Lettera di Quaresima 2011 [Italiano]