Among the essential elements to our work and life as Vincentians there are, at least, three. The most obvious of these, in the public eye, is our ministry to the poor and vulnerable. This is the one that gets measured and reported on. It is also very easy for us to see the spiritual value attached to this ministry as when we read St. Matthew's gospel, chapter 25, about the judgement between the sheep and the goats when Jesus returns in glory as King. However, there are two other essential elements which we neglect at great risk to our very mission and ministry. I compare them to gasoline and oil in a motor car.
The first of the other two elements, which I compare to gasoline for a car, is our personal spiritual life - our connection with God our Father, with Christ our Lord, and with the Holy Spirit. This is the source of our power to minister to the poor. Without a spiritual life of regular prayer, Scripture and the sacraments our tank gets empty. You can only run on fumes for a very short while before you sputter and stop. Frederic Ozanam's spiritual life included daily reading and meditating on the Bible and regularly going to mass and communion. (His wife gives us this testimony: Despite his grave illness he never put aside his time of prayer. I have never seen him go to bed at night or rise in the morning without making the sign of the cross. In the morning he reads the Bible in Greek and meditates for half an hour. During the last days of his life he attended Mass on a daily basis and found support and consolation in doing this.)