Vincent de Paul initially pursued personal plans focused on obtaining ecclesiastical positions to help his family, but these plans led to unfulfilling situations and crises of faith. Between 1610-1617, Vincent underwent a conversion process where he shifted from living for his own plans to living for God's higher calling of serving the poor. He committed himself to evangelization and reform, finding true purpose and happiness through dedicating his life to those in need according to God's will rather than his own desires.

1. ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S
PLANS – VINCENT DE PAUL’S VOCATION
REFLECTION
Rolando Gutiérrez, CM Vice-Province of Costa Rica invites us to reflect

2. A TIME TO
UNDERSTAND
Jubilee Year on the
Occasion of the
400th Anniversary of
the Vincentian Charism

3. ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND
The opportunity to study was not a
given among the sons and
daughters of the Gascon’s. From
the time of his childhood, Vincent
had certainly been a fortunate
young man. Vincent’s parents
viewed his ingenuity as a hopeful
sign that would provide future
support to the family. Other
individuals would appear along
the way, persons who would
sponsor Vincent; such was the case
of M. de Comet (the first protector
of the young Vincent) and the Duc
d’Epernón (who attempted to
advance Vincent in the early years
of his priesthood).

4. If we read Vincent’s early letters that have
been handed down to us, we come to
understand that Vincent wanted to obtain an
ecclesiastical benefice that would enable him
to help his family. On February 17, 1610, he
wrote the following moving words to his
mother: Mother … it grieves me that I cannot
come to render you the services I owe you.
But I have such a trust in God’s grace, that he
will bless my efforts and will soon give me the
means of an honorable retirement so that I
might spend the rest of my days near you … I
should also like my brother to have one of my
nephews study. My misfortunes and the little
service that I have as yet been able to render
at home may make him unwilling to do so, but
let him reflect that the present misfortune
presupposes good luck in the future (CCD:I:
16).[1]
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND

5. We note that between the years
1600-1617 Vincent channeled all his
all youthful energy into the goal of
accomplishing his personal plans (an
ecclesiastical benefice, an honorable
retirement) … understandable and
even noble plans when viewed from a
merely human point of view, but
limited and selfish plans when viewed
from the perspective of living in
accord with the will of God (a theme
that Vincent would frequently preach
during his later years).
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND

6. Vincent’s plans would lead him into various
unfruitful and unproductive situations: his
attempts to be named the pastor of the parish
in Tilh, his search for an ecclesiastical career
(perhaps, a bishop), his studies in Toulouse
followed by his first stay in Rome, his arrival in
Paris (1608) and the unfulfilled promises of
Pietro Francesco Montorio (CCDD:I:9), his
ministry as chaplain to Marguerite de Valois
(wife of Henry IV), acquiring benefice attached
to the Abbey of Saint Leonard de Chaumes
(May 14, 1610). We should also mention some
of the tragedies that resulted from his desire to
achieve: his capture and enslavement (CCD:I:
3-10), the accusation of having stolen money
from a judge with whom he shared a room
(CCD:XI:305), the crisis of faith that he suffered
between 1611 and 1616 when he attempted to
help a famous doctor of theology who was also
a member of Queen Marguerite’s household.
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND

7. All of those various situations are a stark
contrast to the later life of the apostle of the
poor who walked through the streets of Paris
searching for the abandoned and forgotten
members of God’s family, who was a tireless
evangelizer as he preached popular missions
in the most abandoned areas of France, who
organized the confraternities of charity and
who was committed to the reform of the clergy.
It is clear that 1617 represents a “before” and
an “after” in the life of Vincent, a man who
pursued his own dreams and the dreams of his
family, but found only dissatisfaction and
emptiness and unhappiness as he turned his
back on God’s plans.
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND

8. Vincent’s process of conversion
which became accelerated
between the time of his crisis of
faith (1610) and the events of
Folleville and Chatillon (1617) as
well as his journey toward
holiness (years of humility,
gentleness and apostolic zeal)
reveal a shift from living in
accord with his own selfish plans
which were focused on seeking
his own happiness and that of a
select few family members to
living in accord with a higher
plan in which he committed
himself to live as a joyful pilgrim
in service of those men and
women who were in great need:
Let’s seek God alone, and he’ll
provide us with friends and with
everything else, so much so that
we’ll lack nothing. Do you want to
know why we won’t be successful
in a certain ministry? It’s because
we rely on ourselves. This
preacher, that Superior, or that
confessor relies too much on his
own prudence, knowledge, and
intelligence. And what does God
do? He withdraws from him and
leaves him on his own; and even
though he works, whatever he
does produces no fruit, in order to
make him aware of his own
uselessness and so that he’ll learn
from personal experience that,
whatever talent he may have, he
can do nothing without God
(CCD:XI:31).
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO UNDERSTAND

9. A TIME TO
CONTEMPLATE
Jubilee Year on the
Occasion of the
400th Anniversary of
the Vincentian Charism

10. What happens in our interior
movements as we become more
and more aware of Vincent’s
process of conversion? What do I
see in the person of Vincent
before 1617? Again, what
happens in our interior as we
reflect on Vincent’s radical option
to follow the will of God, and
making that option after having
tried for so long to realize his own
personal dreams?
Read Conference #27 (CCD:IX:
206).
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO CONTEMPLATE

11. A TIME TO
MEDITATE
Jubilee Year on the
Occasion of the
400th Anniversary of
the Vincentian Charism

12. During this time of meditation, it
would be good to reflect on the
following two questions and then
share your reflections with other:
‣ What are my personal plans, which
are in no way evil or bad, but which
do separate me from God’s plan?
What am I called to renounce?
‣ How am I to understand God’s plan
from the perspective of the
Vincentian charism to which I am
called? What mission is God
inviting me to accept?
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO MEDITATE

13. A TIME TO
COMMIT
Jubilee Year on the
Occasion of the
400th Anniversary of
the Vincentian Charism

14. Lent invites us to engage in the process of
conversion in a more intense manner, that is,
to engage in the process of clothing
ourselves anew in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
Thus, we need to practice fasting, prayer and
charity. [This Lent], we propose that every
Vincentian make a firm commitment to
prepare for the celebration of Easter through
the practice of those spiritual elements
(fasting, prayer and charity) that are also part
of Vincent’s spirituality:
‣ Fasting: the means to progress in the
spiritual life (CCD:X:319);
‣ Prayer, which is as necessary as the air we
breathe (CCD:X:459);
‣ Charity, as a match for temptation (CCD:IX:
274).
ONE’S PERSONAL PLANS VS. GOD’S PLANS ・ A TIME TO COMMIT

15. by Rolando Gutiérrez, CM Vice-Province of Costa Rica
Translated: Charles T. Plock, CM Eastern Province, USA
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