By Sr. Consuelo Tovar, DC, Associate Director of Vincentian Formation
There are many resources and tools available to use as you facilitate spiritual reflections in your Conference meeting, but the tool is not the reflection. How can I use the reading, video, or other resource to encourage the sharing that leads to our shared growth in holiness?
Below are two models for reflections based on A Model to Follow, a Vincentian Contemplation written by Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Vincentian Formation.
First Model Reflection:
Call to Prayer and Reflection: (quieting down and becoming aware of God’s Presence)
In the name of the Father…
When we were called to this vocation, we were already called to servant leadership, and we can all have confidence, when it is our turn to serve, that “God gives sufficient graces to those He calls to it.” [CCD IX:526]
Designated reader(s):
“Leader? Servant Leader? Who me? Spiritual Advisor? Holy and in charge!”
We think: “No Way! Not me!”
When we hear the word “leader” we naturally think of the great American archetype: a charismatic, confident, inspiring leader. In short, “a leader who is large and in charge.”
For most of us, this is an image that would be difficult to live up to. So, when the Council or Conference announces an upcoming election for a new president, or appointing a Spiritual Advisor, we remain quiet and look the other way. And even if invited directly to serve, we pull back. “Large and in charge,” we think, “That just isn’t me.”
Perhaps instead we should first consider that it is not merely our fellow Vincentians suggesting that we consider serving as leaders. After all, we are taught to discern God’s will for us in the people and events in our lives. It was God who called us here, and God who calls us now. If God asks us, through others, to consider leading the Conference, or to serve as Spiritual Advisor, we ought to take the time to seriously discern that call.
In discerning, Vincentians consider also the nature of leadership – servant leadership. Our model is not the commander, the ruler, or the boss. Our model is the master and teacher who knelt down and washed the feet of His disciples. “I have given you,” He said, “A model to follow.” Our model of a leader, then, is not the greatest, but the least, not the master but the servant. In short, a Vincentian servant leader is not “large and in charge,” but small, and for all.
Spiritual Advisor introduces the Reflection Questions with (2-3 mins.) time for quiet reflection; and invites Members to share with one other Vincentian their reflection:
- What people or events led me to join the Society in the first place? Who invited us in?
- Have I truly listened to and answered God’s call to lead?
Closing Prayer: Prayer of Gratitude for God’s call to Servant Leadership
Recommended Readings and resources on Servant Leadership
- Vincentian Discernment by Hugh O’Donnell, CM
- Vincentian Formation Foundation Document (Sections 6 and 7 of Spiritual Advisor Handbook)
- Section II Objectives & Roles of Leadership & Service for Vincentian Service pgs.13
- Part VII Formation Guidelines (page 16 Conference Spiritual Advisor)
Second Model Reflection (drawn from the same Contemplation):
What are we looking for in a Servant Leader??
Theme: My style of leadership
Title: I can lead, but not sure if I know or have the gifts to be “servant leader”.
You say that you simply haven’t the knowledge or the gifts to lead? “Don’t think,” St. Vincent de Paul once explained, “that responsible positions are always given to the most capable or virtuous.” [CCD IX: 526] Servant leadership is part of our calling, part of our vocation, and it is precisely the humility that makes us reluctant to take on a leadership role that makes us better suited to do so. Trust in providence, in this case, means trusting that “when God calls us to it … either He sees in us the proper dispositions or has determined to give them to us.” [CCD XI:128]
Our Cultural Beliefs remind us that “as Vincentians we are committed to… develop ourselves and others to become Servant Leaders.” [Rule, Part III, St. 2]
Reflection Question:
What “Vincentian Characteristics of a Servant Leader” do my Vincentian Friends see in me?
Additional References in the Vincentian Pathway Toolbox:
Characteristics of a Servant Leader and we work up additional Vincentian Reflections that Spiritual Advisors can use at regular meetings.
