Abstract
Aidan Rooney proposes a process for identifying Vincentian mission values. To do so, he says three acknowledgments must be made. We must realize “that our own perceptions are decidedly relative and constructed,” that traditional Vincentian values “accumulate meaning” over time and therefore have more meaning now than they did in the past, and that these values “are not simply contained in the writings or experiential histories” of the Vincentian Family. He gives specific definitions for values and mission values, and then defines Vincentian mission values as “those aspects of the ‘culture’ that we approach and our particular Vincentian culture which find resonance with the Gospel ways of being in the world.” Vincentian values exist in North American culture; the Vincentian virtues of simplicity, humility, and zeal can be used to find them. The Vincentian Family must interpret existing culture and “adapt the tools of . . . our tradition” to the present day. Obstacles to this process are discussed and questions for reflection are provided.
Recommended Citation
Rooney, Aidan C.M.
(1998)
"Wherever your treasure lies there also will your heart be,"
Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 19:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol19/iss1/10