The “Spirituality of Vulnerability” in Louis Joseph Lebret

This article explores the key pillars of the spirituality in Fr. Lebret’s work, which is far less well known than his ethical writings. To achieve this aim, the author’s ethical, socio-economic, and spiritual works; some of his unpublished writings; and existing bibliographical references of his work were examined. This article develops a conceptual biography that shows the extent to which his entire intellectual work had its origins in the suffering and questions of the people with whom Fr. Lebret became involved along his journey. Fr. Lebret was never a theorist of theology but rather of the practice of faith. Both his ethical and spiritual concepts and syntheses can be fully understood only when illuminated in the light of the concrete reality of each moment that he sought to transform. Moreover, the originality of Lebret’s spiritual thought lies less in his specific conceptual keys (divine mercy as a gift of vulnerability, the human person created in the image of God, solidarity as a political act of mercy, and resilient hope in the face of the difficulties of building the Kingdom of God) and more in the relationships between these and his essential ethical concepts, which are both the source and the goal of the believer’s life. One contribution of this article is the elucidation of this relationship between ethics and spirituality, in which Fr. Lebret takes the contemplata aliiis tradere of his Dominican tradition a step further. Indeed, he regards it as a circular rather than a linear relationship, in which the ethical commitment to suffering reality is not the ultimate end of contemplation but a spiritual act that is a continuation of the Eucharist. In addition, the latter is not only the source but also the goal of God’s mercy, which is verified as authentic only in acts of self-surrender and self-giving for the sake of one’s brothers and sisters. Finally, he highlights something that has not been sufficiently emphasised in the literature to date, namely the power of his spirituality to illuminate the path in the face of our own contemporary vulnerabilities. Without undertaking a systematic study of the generative digital revolution, some authors have already noted that, while not denying its many positive consequences, it does not seem to foster contemplation; spiritual growth; or, consequently, critical awareness, purpose, and meaning in contemporary life. Fr. Lebret’s spirituality, which is demonstrated by the repeated references to his spiritual works, not only shares the transformative intention of his entire body of work but also is considered by the author himself to be the very heart of that civilisation of solidarity that will make such a change possible. It is a spirituality which, through its four pillars, is intrinsically gratuitous, relational, committed to suffering, and intrinsically hopeful. Moreover, it is a spirituality of hope because it does not forget that it is in human vulnerability that the infinite power of God’s mercy is manifested in a privileged manner.