A Lifelong Journey of Becoming
By Tim Williams, Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development
“When I am formed,” a frustrated young Frédéric Ozanam asked, “When will that be?” Many of us may share his confusion. We attend the Ozanam Orientation, which we know is formation, and then, satisfied that we have checked off our “formation” box we find ourselves instead constantly invited to more and more “formation”! So, what is formation, exactly?
The primary purpose of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is our own growth in holiness, our seeking to become, as Christ calls us to be, “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Attaining holiness, or perfection, is not the work of one seminar or workshop – it is a lifelong journey of becoming.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a true lay vocation, a special way of being Catholic, a special pathway for us to follow on our journey: the Vincentian Pathway. On this pathway, we are formed in four different dimensions.
- Our Human Formation is focused on our behavior, beginning with our virtues. We study and try to practice our Vincentian Virtues of simplicity, humility, gentleness, selflessness, and zeal, knowing that we may become by doing. Just as one becomes a builder by building, we may become humble by practicing humility. And all of these virtues in service of the greatest virtue of love, are practiced in our person-to-person service of the poor.
- Our Spiritual Formation, most importantly, is shared. No one is saved alone, as we are taught, and in turn, you cannot be a Vincentian without other Vincentians. We are created to live in communion, and to help lead each other to holiness. As our Rule puts it, we grow in holiness together. This growth is fed, informed, and enriched by our regular spiritual reflections at Conference meetings, by attending Mass together, and by our life of prayer, individual and shared.
- Our Intellectual Formation connects our minds and our hearts. It includes reading to help us learn more about our heritage and our traditions, and training to help us better understand the changing face of poverty and systemic change, and to be better servant leaders.
- Finally, our Ministerial Formation draws us to truly live this vocation, to make our service to the poor and to each other not merely a thing that we do, but a thing that we are. In our ministerial formation, we are open to all opportunities to serve, including servant leadership.
If you are perfect, your formation is complete! For the rest of us, the National Formation Committee, chaired by Marge McGinley, tries to provide a wide variety of resources to help each Council, each Conference, and each member to follow the path in a way that best suits their own calling, interests, and charisms.
A good starting point for all is the Vincentian Digital Pathway, introduced last year. Here, you can begin wherever you wish, and explore the documents, videos, pictures, and books collected there. You will find that the links will take you into other subject areas, sometimes areas you did not realize were so closely connected. In the Digital Pathway, you do not have to know what you are looking for – just jump in and find what speaks to you, without trying to “check every box”!
If you are brand new to the Society, or you haven’t been to an Ozanam Orientation in a while, you might want to start with the “Introduction to the Society” video. View it alone, or better yet, with other members so you can pause and discuss it.
Are you looking for an even deeper dive? For Servant Leaders, the Society offers a unique and very special retreat twice a year called Invitation for Renewal. For all members, you can take online course through the Ozanam Institute.
Each Region also has a formation team, and in turn each Council has one, too. In the Conference, it is the Spiritual Advisor who is primarily responsible for guiding (and sharing in) the formation of members. These teams of Formators and Spiritual Advisors put together workshops, training, retreats, formation plans, and more not acting as professors or priests, but as fellow Vincentians, walking the pathway alongside us, all of us growing in holiness together.
