New Year’s

Calling Your “Best Self”

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While only a simple turn of a calendar page from one month to the next, the beginning of a new year offers a conspicuous invitation to begin again with renewed vigor on the path to become the people we aspire to be. It is a convenient opportunity to re-commit to growth, healing, goodness, hope, and possibility.

I have often found inspiration in a line that’s apparently common in Zen Buddhist circles, which simply states, “This is it!” This moment. This situation. Now. Here. All of it. Because I am so prone to “fast-forwarding” in my imagination to an ideal future, this line reminds me to stay present to the reality before me. As a person of faith, I view the present as exactly where God has placed me to do the work entrusted to me. The present is a place to grow into the person I am called to become.

One of the frequent reminders we can take from the words and example of Saint Vincent de Paul echoes this insight. For Vincent, the calling and presence of God, that is, the movement of what he often named “Providence,” emerges in the circumstances of daily life. Vincent looked for this. He tried to pay attention to life events, to relationships, and to the challenges and opportunities before him because he understood that this was exactly where God was leading him. Vincent was also a lover of putting his ideals and values into practice in concrete ways—what he understood to be the practice of virtue.

We might say then that the “most Vincentian thing” for us to do as we begin this new year is to bring forth our “best selves” as we face the realities that surround us. To create spaces for the goodness in us and in others to come to the light of day, to be nourished and cultivated, shared, and put into practice in concrete ways. To begin again to work with energy and zeal toward the vision of life and community that reflects what we most value, and to leave behind all that works against it.

Let’s do this together for the benefit of all and for the flourishing of our DePaul community. And let me/us know in Mission and Ministry how we can work with you to do so!

Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Associate Vice President, Mission and Ministry

Happy New Year, DePaul!

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Usually, when sitting down to compose a Mission Monday reflection, I try to find something … topical … to write on. A matter that is, I trust, of relevance or interest to at least a portion of the DePaul community. Once I have selected a topic, I search for a Vincentian quote to apply, a nugget of wisdom from our institutional legacy that I think sheds light on the chosen subject, provides hope or even connects the challenges of today with the ones faced by our Vincentian forebears. The result, ideally, is a piece that engages readers in a meaningful way with our Vincentian heritage as well as with their own lived experience and insight. At least, that is what I hope happens!

Given the freshness of the year 2023, today’s chosen topic is … new year’s resolutions. I admit that I am hesitant to make new year’s resolutions this year, despite doing so most of my life, considering all we have been through personally and as a community over these recent months and years. Why would I voluntarily invite more tests of my character when those already present seem to be ample enough?! However, old habits die hard, and I am not willing to forgo tradition before asking what Vincent de Paul might have to say about the matter. What wisdom might this man of action, who lived through great upheavals all the while exhibiting faith and common sense, have to say about new year’s resolutions? After digging around, not surprisingly, I found a little something.

At a conference he was giving in November of 1656 for members of the Congregation of the Mission (whom we know as the Vincentian priests), Vincent was discussing their growing in virtue by living out the Rules of their Company. His message to them was pragmatic, encouraging, and reasonable. Vincent did not set unrealistic expectations. He did not expect success all at once. He had this to say: “[I]f today, for example, someone practices one degree of an act of virtue, tomorrow he [sic] will practice it to the second, then the third degree of perfection, and that’s how we grow little by little.”[1]

Little by little. Change, growth, success do not happen suddenly. Progress, not perfection, is the goal. Patience and dedication toward our goals is the key. With the support of community, reasonable efforts on our part, and faith in something larger than ourselves, Vincent believed we would experience this progress. Little by little.

I like that. It makes modest new year’s resolutions like watching what I eat, sending a note to a friend, saying yes to a community service opportunity, or completing compliance training in a timelier manner seem … doable. Making progress “little by little” gives me hope. To be sure, it does not absolve me, or our community, of taking on the larger, systemic problems that we know need urgent attention. Those larger needs should always have some of our attention and energy. But accomplishing small tasks inevitably equips us to better take on the bigger issues. Being mindful of Vincent’s practical wisdom, committing to even simple new year’s resolutions gives me confidence that personally, and communally, we can make progress and that the year 2023 can be a year of growth and peace for each of us, for DePaul and for our beautiful, challenged world.

Invitation for Reflection:

As the year 2023 begins, take a moment to close your eyes, breathe deep, and lift up a hope for greater love, justice, and flourishing throughout the world in the coming year.

Is there a new year’s resolution that you would like to make, perhaps one that is modest and makes you feel hopeful?

Is there someone in your network, perhaps a co-worker at DePaul or a family member, with whom you could share your new year’s resolution and who could support you along the way? Perhaps you could do the same for them too.

Reflection by: Tom Judge, Assistant Director and Chaplain, Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry

[1] Conference 162, “Repetition of Prayer,” November 19, 1656, CCD, 11:346. Available online at https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/37/.

Be a Community Builder in 2022!

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“What a blessing to be a member of a Community because each individual shares in the good that is done by all!” — Vincent de Paul[1]

When we pause to consider all that the world needs as we begin the year 2022, many would agree that, among other things, we certainly could use more people who are motivated and able to act as community builders. This holds true not only for broader society and in our neighborhoods and families, but also within our DePaul community. The challenges of the past 20+ months of the pandemic, including our increasingly virtual and remote existence, have frayed the relational fabric of our communal life. If we at DePaul are to continue as a “community gathered together for the sake of the mission,” then we need community builders to help weave together new bonds of connection that ultimately benefit us all.

Among your New Year’s resolutions, I invite you to ask yourself: What can I do in the days and year ahead to build or rebuild relationships, bridges, bonds, shared memories and experiences, shared understanding, a greater sense of belonging, and a common purpose among my DePaul colleagues?

A strong sense of community among us creates a healthier and more vibrant workplace and an educational environment that better serves students. In our broader society and in our neighborhoods and families, a little bit of intentionality in connecting with others and weaving relational bonds improves the quality of life for all.

Vincent de Paul recognized that the mission he envisioned was only possible through a community. It was not something he could do on his own. The same is true of the Vincentian mission we envision at DePaul—and perhaps also of the big-picture vision you have for your own life and work. We need others to join us, support us, and challenge us in positive ways if we are to succeed. This is made possible largely through and because of the relationships we have taken the time to cultivate and sustain.

Make it your New Year’s resolution to be a community builder in some concrete ways. Here are ten suggestions. Just pick one and do it, or come up with your own!

  1. Serve as a hospitable, cheerful, welcoming host to a newcomer or simply to people who have been away for a while and whom you haven’t had the chance to see in person.
  2. Affirm or give thanks to a colleague for something they have done or just because of who they are and what they mean to you.
  3. Connect to other people across departments/divisions/silos during or through meetings, a coffee or lunch gathering, a handwritten card, or a simple phone call or email offering a random hello or “thinking of you.”
  4. Make note of the significant life events of others and follow up with them later to see how they went.
  5. If you are feeling irritated or out of sorts, make a commitment to hold your tongue and consider possible constructive solutions and words first, rather than bitter or harmful ones.
  6. Make more of a conscious effort to stop what you are doing and truly listen when interacting with a colleague or neighbor.
  7. Follow through on an idea that emerges for you regarding how you might show compassion and care toward another.
  8. Just simply show up for the life events, programs, presentations, or celebrations that are important to others and for which your presence would be a show of support.
  9. Find ways to share fun and laughter with friends and colleagues.
  10. Read and share a meaningful quote, article, or book with another person.

None of these alone will “build community” once and for all. They are clearly not shared as a panacea or solution to some of the complex societal and institutional challenges and structural problems that we face collectively. However, if we follow these ideas, they will put us all in a better position to work together to do “what must be done.”

Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Associate VP, Division of Mission and Ministry

[1] Conference 1, “Explanation of the Regulations,” July 31, 1634, CCD, 9:2. Available at https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/34/.

When Shadows Give Way to Light

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“I remain the daily subject of that boundless Mercy. The mists of Night and darkness dispersed, and if even at the Eleventh hour, Yet permitted to share in the Vineyard and gather the fruits of Eternal Life. Glory, glory, glory forever, forever, and forever.”1

As we begin the new calendar year, we celebrate the Feast Day of one of the recognized saints in the Vincentian tradition, Elizabeth Ann Seton (née Bayley). She is the namesake of DePaul University’s residence hall, Seton Hall.

Born August 28, 1774, Elizabeth was a daughter of Colonial New York. Married to William Magee Seton, a Manhattan businessman, Elizabeth had five children and helped start the first charitable association managed by women in New York City, the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children. However, Elizabeth was shortly to undergo great hardships. The Seton family business went bankrupt, and then, in 1803, her husband died while on a visit to Italy. It was there that Elizabeth was introduced to Catholicism, which she converted to in 1805. In 1809 Elizabeth moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s, the first society of religious women established in the United States. Soon thereafter she became known as Mother Seton.

Mother Seton modeled the society’s foundation on the Daughters of Charity, begun two centuries earlier in France by Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac. She became a pioneer in Catholic education for young women from impoverished families. In establishing St. Joseph’s Academy and Free School, she made tuition-free education accessible for poor girls in rural Maryland. Mother Seton died at Emmitsburg two hundred years ago this week, January 4, 1821. Remembered for always seeking to know and do the will of God, in 1975, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first native-born North American canonized by the Catholic Church.

Today, as we contemplate the year ahead, and undoubtedly utter a sigh of relief as we leave 2020 behind us, how might the life of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton offer us some seeds of wisdom?

Clearly, Elizabeth endured trials, loss, and much suffering during her lifetime. One can only imagine the enormity of being widowed and left alone to raise five children at the young age of 29 and in the wake of the failure of the family business. What fears and concerns might Elizabeth have experienced in that moment as she confronted the precariousness of her family’s situation and the uncertainty of their future? How was she able to find enough light amidst the overwhelming shadows to begin to map a pathway ahead?

Elizabeth weathered such storms by relying on her endurance and faith, which clearly played an integral role in shaping her future path. Over time, Elizabeth was able to find her way out of the shadows through her mission to open new doors of opportunity for young women on the margins, doors that had previously remained firmly shut. Enabling access and attainment of quality education for those in need meant that their dreams could become reality. Elizabeth’s legacy continues today in a vast network of Setonian schools that share the spirit our Vincentian mission.

At the dawn of this New Year, as we continue to wrestle with the impact of the pandemic, where do you find glimmers of light amidst the shadows? What opportunities do these glimmers of light reveal to you about the pathway ahead? In what ways, might the darkness of last year be preparing you to embrace the promise of today?

1 4.55, Spiritual Journal to Cecilia Seton, August 10 to October 16, 1807, Collected Writings, 1:475.

 

Reflection by:    Siobhan O’Donoghue, Director of Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry

For more on St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, see the following:

Resolutions for the New Year

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Vincent de Paul suggested that we focus our resolutions on those that help us acquire the spirit of the mission entrusted to us.

“Let’s take renewed resolutions to acquire this spirit, which is our spirit; for the spirit of the Mission is a spirit of simplicity, humility, gentleness, mortification, and zeal. Do we have it or don’t we?” (CCD, 12:251.)

Mortification doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, and today, humility and gentleness may not be the virtues to which we aspire above all others. However, Vincent’s wisdom may serve us well as we face the New Year, and perhaps as we commit to renewed resolutions for the time ahead. Vincent suggested that our lived values should be those that ultimately enable us to serve a bigger mission or purpose, our calling, or that which we are seeking to fulfill. He believed that his commitment to serve those who were in need required an imitation of the virtues he recognized in Jesus. A contemporary translation of Vincent’s characteristic virtues suggests that we must strive to be honest, approachable, self-disciplined, realistic, and hard working.

As you pause to consider your own personal sense of mission and the mission entrusted to us here at DePaul, what do you believe are the primary values essential for us to make real in our daily decisions and actions during the year to come?

We will be focusing Mission Monday reflections on these Vincentian virtues in the coming weeks as we begin the New Year. For more on a contemporary interpretation of the virtues, see “Our Good Will and Honest Efforts,” by Edward R. Udovic, C.M.:

Article: https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=vhj

Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YG1viPqRnw

 

Reflection by:

Mark Laboe, Associate Vice President, Mission and Ministry