Summing it all up...

Our tour included so many wonderful places, it is hard to find the discipline to document them all. Having returned yesterday, there are a few images that capture the "essence" of the trip for me.

The image to the left comes from the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere in Lyon. Having been spared by the Germans in the Franco-Prussan war, the citizens of Lyon preferred that Christ look more like a Homeric god than the servant who washes feet (see earlier post). It was a stark reminder of the great theological diversity in the Christian tradition. Vincent's Servant Christ operates under a very different logic.

"Love is inventive to infinity" - one of my favorite quotes. This image came  from his birthplace, Berceau de St Vincent de Paul. 

Every autobiography has an organizing theme that shapes the narrative trajectory of the story. It provides the rationale for including some characters or events and excluding others. For St. Augustine's Confessions the organizing theme is "our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." Unfortunately, Vincent never wrote a spiritual autobiography. If he did write one, however, I think "love is inventive to infinity" would be his organizing theme. Inventive love for the poor and marginalized seems to be the driving, creative force behind Vincent's life story.

   

                                                 

Our tour offered a great snapshot of Vincent's life and times. The picture above denotes where St. Lazare used to be. Originally established as a leprosarium, St. Lazare had gradually lost its sense of purpose in a time that saw relatively few lepers.  Vincent eventually accepted the large endowment that accompanied the hospital and focused St Lazare's resources on other, more pressing needs of the time. Nothing of the original building remains; today it is a park where the homeless sleep. Honoring Vincent's work naturally leads to the Vincentian question, "what must be done" today? 

As the tour comes to a close, the Vincentian question is all the more evident: "what needs are we to address with our resources"? Beyond his status as a revered figure in Catholic or French history, Vincent's most important legacy seems to be his profound belief that love is infinitely inventive when it responds to the most vexing social problems.