On 25 January 409 years ago, Vincent de Paul encountered the Risen Lord in the silence of a confession he had been called to hear while serving as tutor to the children of the Gondi family in Folleville.

I am reminded of the gentle breeze in which the prophet Elijah sensed the presence of God while fleeing from the wrath of those who held power and persecuted him because he was a true prophet (1 Kings 19:12).

Something similar happened to St. Vincent: in fact, for a priest, hearing confessions is something very common and private. It is beautiful to see how the Lord continues to manifest himself in the silence of everyday life.

Let us ask St. Vincent for the grace to be able to recognise the interventions of the Holy Spirit in this context. In this regard, I remember when the prophet Samuel went to Jesse because God had decided to anoint one of his sons as king of Israel, and Jesse responded to the prophet according to the criterion of appearance, which Samuel rejected.

We must be vigilant because the mistake made by Jesse is often repeated… (1 Sam. 16:1ff)

Four hundred and nine years ago, our adventure began. Today, we are an international reality that seeks to implement the charism: the evangelisation of the poor and the formation of the clergy, within the different cultures in which the Congregation lives.

In my opinion, we cannot expect uniformity within the Mission today, but I believe that Vincentian life should be lived in different cultures following the example of St Justin de Jacobis.

Each Province of the Congregation of the Mission should be light and salt in its own ecclesial context.

I hope that in many Mission Houses the community will be a refuge for diocesan priests: that they may find places of fraternity where they can experience the gratuitous love of the Father; places where the things to be done (Morning Prayer, Mass, Vespers and Meditation) are not repeated, but where what is lived is celebrated, and what is celebrated is lived.

May the diocesan priest experience in the Mission Houses brothers who live together as dear friends.

May the quality of our community life within the Church, which lives in different cultures, be an instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit to inspire vocations to the service of the Church.

I think this is one of the best ways to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of our Congregation: not so much to look at what we were, but to meditate on what we are and what we could be, for the service of the Church.

I am in one of the Provinces that lives in a society of affluence. It is not easy to evangelise in such a context because, when people have no economic problems and can afford a lot in the society in which they live, only a quality Christian life can challenge their lifestyle and save them from becoming slaves to it.

We must not forget that the Holy Spirit continues to call young people to take on different roles in the service of the Church. Only by doing the Father’s will can they be happy. How is it possible to do the Father’s will in a society of affluence, for young people whom God calls to follow him by living our charism? I think it is possible if they find a high quality of community life: to implement a way of life as dear friends. Unfortunately, this project cannot be generalised to an entire Province. For this reason, we could think of building communities where the project of dear friends is possible. We could start with one Mission House, then two, then three, and the fabric of a Province could be rebuilt, because we already have three places where young people can share our life. Could this be a path to offer to those whom the Spirit calls to live our charism? To avoid the first and greatest obstacle that a young person faces being precisely that of the daily life led by the Congregation to which they would like to belong?

By Fr. Giorgio Bontempi, CM