Rule of Life
Jesus Was A Vagabond.
We Seek To Imitate Him As Vagabond Missionaries.
“He emptied himself” and came into the world in poverty (Philippians 2:7). Like Jesus we will choose to embrace our poverties in life. Our hope is the person of Jesus Christ. The grace and mercy of God are our only true riches and we desire to share those riches with the lost and forgotten. We are committed to investing our personal gifts, finances, and lives to this mission.
Where Do We Go
We go out. The Good News compels us out of our comfort. Our desire is to be the physical presence of Christ and his Church to the neighborhoods and the kids the world has forgotten.
What We Do
Like Paul, “we [are] determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well” (1 Thessalonians 2:8). We commit to building authentic community through sharing the gospel and our lives.
The words of St. Teresa of Calcutta sum up our call and our spirituality:
“Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
Our Prayer
Daily, we commit to mental prayer, the examination of our conscience, and the reading of scripture.
Weekly, we participate in daily Mass at least three times a week and spend two hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
Monthly, we receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, participate in spiritual direction, and take a spiritual day of reflection to refocus our lives and mission on Jesus.
We are committed learners as we pray and study scripture and do spiritual reading. We strive to be attentive to God’s presence in ordinary, daily life.
We will seek the Holy Spirit in all things. He is the life that moves us. We entrust our ministry and our lives to Jesus through the hands of his mother, Mary.
Core Values
Driven To Mission
We are driven to serve the forgotten in the inner-city because of Christ’s invitation in the Gospel to go and transform the world. We seek to courageously and purely provide to all the truth of Christ regardless of the cost to ourselves, following as St. Isaac Jogues’ proclaimed before his martyrdom: “I do not fear death or torture. I do not know why you would kill me. I come here to confirm the peace and show you the way to Heaven.”
Self Starters
We move because Jesus moves within us. We don’t simply dream big. We take initiative like St. Pope John Paul II who exemplifies being a Catholic innovator. As St. Pope John Paul II addressed to the youth of the Church: “It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
Deep Prayer Life
Everything we do flows from our relationship with Christ. We do ministry out of a desire to quench Jesus’ thirst for souls from the cross, but we always start at his thirst for us. We desire to embrace the active contemplative spirituality St. Teresa of Calcutta so beautifully espoused, answering Christ’s cry of thirst for us.
Selfless And Serving Heart
We change the world by simple, yet selfless acts of love and service. Christ emptied himself and came into the world in humble poverty. Like Jesus, we choose to embrace our poverties in life. St. Benedict the Moor is an example of the selfless heart of the Vagabond. In humility, we accept the daily challenges to love and serve others.
Builders Of Community
We create community with teens, missionaries and mission partners. Through our positive language, we seek to build each other up and cultivate the Body of Christ. “The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate!” – Saint Josephine Bakhita
Fun
Sr. Thea Bowman was a great example of joy and fun that we seek to embrace as missionaries. Her joy, which was founded in Christ, brought about positive change in her life and those around her; we also focus on expressing our fun joy with positive and caring language. Our fun flourishes in our pursuit of temperance and chastity, especially under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We believe no saint, and no Vagabond missionary, is boring!