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A Week in Prayers January 9 – January 13
A Week in Prayers January 9 – January 13 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, January 9

In Your name, Lord Jesus
I offer my prayers
For Your sake
I offer my love
In the neighbor, Lord Jesus
I see Your face
And together we share
Your hope
Amen

Tuesday, January 10

Each day, Lord, is Your gift to me
Refreshed in body and spirit
May I offer in Your name
All of my work,
All of my words,
All of my effort,
All of my thanks,
All of my day,
Each day.
Amen

Wednesday, January 11

Your love is upon me, O Lord,
Like the warmth of a summer sun,
Or a cloak around my shoulders
In the chill of night.
Your presence, Lord, is within me.
Help me to share Your warmth.
Amen

Thursday, January 12

Speak to me, Lord, without words
In the silence of my soul.
I await, O Lord, in patience,
Silent and open to You.
Amen

Friday, January 13

Lord in heaven, look down upon me.
You have made me in Your image,
Worthy of the love and blessings
That I know are mine only to share
With all people, with each person,
Created in Your image,
Unique and unrepeatable.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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Disaster Services Update on California Severe Weather
Disaster Services Update on California Severe Weather 900 900 SVDP USA

This past week, much of California has been impacted by heavy storms that continues to cause extensive wind damage and flooding. California’s Governor Newsom has proclaimed a State of Emergency and a Presidential Emergency Declaration has been approved by President Biden to support response and recovery efforts. There continues to be a potential for more widespread power loss, fallen trees, and downed power lines.

Californian residents are encouraged to obtain the most up-to-date information on the rapidly changing road conditions, please check here for more information. Follow the Cal OES Twitter page for updates and tips on staying safe in the storm. Also, please check with local authorities for evacuation information and to sign up for emergency notifications. To sign up for your county’s emergency alerts, please check Cal Alerts to find your county.

Disaster Services Corporation, SVDP-USA remains engaged with the state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, local partner agencies on the ground, and is providing support to the SVdP Diocesan Council of Sacramento. DSC is actively monitoring weather activity and will make plans to travel to the state once the all-clear is given and first responder agencies have departed.

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Poverty Awareness Month
Poverty Awareness Month 940 788 SVDP USA

Written by: Bobby Kinkela, Voice of the Poor Representative for the Mideast Region

January is homeless awareness month. Homelessness in Michigan is difficult this time of year in the cold and the snow. There are friends in need who are living out of their cars. The trick here, I’ve heard, is figuring out how much gas money it will take to keep the phone charged and the heater on enough so you can’t see your breath. Yet most cars and vans are not meant for living and the car batteries often fry out. Our Conference helped a friend experiencing homelessness purchase a deep cycle car battery to replace her broken car battery. This allowed her to run her household items without quickly burning out her battery. Yet in the state of Michigan, the department of health and human services considers this woman “housed” because she has a van which is considered “shelter,” and so she is not entitled to additional homeless state money. She instead has to save up for move-in expenses.

There are some neighbors in need that take to outdoor camps in tents, even in the snow and cold. I wondered how it’s possible to live in the elements. One neighbor in need shows me how she keeps warm using a personal heater she made. The heater is a metal coffee cup filled with a mixture of hand sanitizer and alcohol lit with a flame. The flame is kept inside a metal boiling pan, so even if the mixture spills, her tent will not catch on fire.

The ingenuity of people and the desire to survive is a very human trait instilled in us by our Creator. Let us admire the ingenuity of people struggling to survive in a state of homelessness, while at the same time try to improve things so that they will not have to.

Reflection:
Written by: Fr. Wayne Biernat of St. Michael’s Parish in East Longmeadow, MA

When we look into the eyes of the poor, do we see the face of Jesus Christ? Do we feel and understand how truly lucky we are to encounter and experience the heart of Jesus Christ in that holy moment? Every time we embrace the gift and the grace of loving and serving the poor, we are given the blessing of encountering the divine. Being present and attentive to their needs is an invitation from God to truly love.  Love changes and blesses the human heart. Love is what we all yearn for in our humanity. The poor are experiencing an absence of love in a profound and life changing manner. When our basic needs are not provided for, we can feel an emptiness within our human heart that is deafening. We are all blessed with the power and strength to bless that emptiness for one another. How will we answer that knock on the door of the heart from God today?

 

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1-12-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
1-12-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Mom passed away years ago, but she left each of us a cookbook of family recipes. Over the Christmas break, I prepared to bake her blue ribbon-winning coconut pound cake for one night’s dessert.  I laid out all of the contents in front of me, followed the directions and eventually had the cake batter ready to put into the oven. That’s when I noticed that I had left out one ingredient – the flaked coconut!

I had used some coconut extract, which is a great invention if you otherwise would need to squeeze actual coconuts, so there was some flavor. And it was still a pound cake. If needed I could have explained that “generic pound cake” was the original intent, not the county fair recipe, but Mom might have struck me down with a spiritual rolling pin! Fortunately, there was still time to add in the flakes, re-stir, and pop it into the oven. Dessert and many calories ensued.

How often do we start on a project, have something change on us, and then we just “make do?” As Society members, we get a great idea, and lay out all of the plans and “ingredients.” Then real life happens, and we no longer have the time, talent or funds we originally envisioned. Or we get so excited about one of the specifics that it changes the nature of the original project. The result is still good, and maybe even very good. What it might not be, however, is Vincentian.

The omission or change of one detail may have had us drift from the parameters of our charism or our Rule. That event may still be an excellent service project, but it became one that any social service agency or nonprofit could have conducted. Sometimes we leave out, or forget, one of our Essential Elements of Spirituality, Friendship, and Service. Yes, it’s a committee meeting, for example, but if it doesn’t have all three Elements, it isn’t a Vincentian meeting.

Fortunately, we have a Society of St. Vincent de Paul recipe and all the basic ingredients right in front of us. It’s called our Mission Statement. Check off the ingredients with me: A network of friends. Gospel Values inspiration.  Growth in Holiness. Build a more just world. Personal relationships. Service to people in need. These are all just as vital as flour and eggs are to a cake batter.

Need some extra flavorings? Look no further than our Society’s seven Cultural Beliefs, and sprinkle as many of them as possible liberally throughout your recipe.

Maybe you are the Bobby Flay of Society activities and don’t need a written recipe. Most of us, however, aren’t master chefs as much as we are technicians who (usually) are good at following directions such as a recipe. We refer as needed to the wisdom and successes of our founders and others who have come before us to create, or re-create, what still works in today’s many local neighborhood “kitchens.” There is always room for new innovations, but we agree as members to stick to our Rule just as bakers rely on their basic formulas to make bread rise. We hope to rise, too!

Just as mom left us her family cookbook so that her descendants could enjoy the fruits – and meats and veggies and desserts – of her labors, trials, and errors over a lifetime, our Society founders and other leaders wrote down for all of us members today what they learned, experienced and envisioned. In my case I can’t remember mom’s recipes, nor can I recite our Rule. I can, however, tell you where it is all written down for me to review when I need it.

When I pulled mom’s cookbook off the kitchen shelf, I could not help but remember her and smile. When I quite regularly pull the Society’s Rule off my office shelf to look up a particular Statute, I smile in memory of Blessed Frederic and all the others who have left us such a rich and powerful legacy of good governance and Vincentian values. Neither are just books; they are blessings!

May your Conference cook up something wonderful, and wonderfully Vincentian, in 2023!

Yours in Christ,

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Contemplation — A Simple Aspiration
Contemplation — A Simple Aspiration 1080 1080 SVDP USA

We celebrate the great vision of our primary founder, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam who, along with six others, started that first Conference which has since grown to literally encircle the world, as he had envisioned. [Rule, Part I, 2.4] Lest we confuse vision with ambition, though, Frédéric’s oft-stated goals for himself and the Society were simply to become better, and to do a little good. On its face, this may seem to be a contradiction. After all, how does one reconcile a vision of charity and justice sweeping across France and the world, restoring the church, and making the world better with the humble personal aspiration simply to do a little good, or to become better?

In Frédéric’s estimation, the Society’s rapid growth was not the work of its members, least of all himself, but had grown so rapidly only through Divine Providence, through which it also had “been allowed to do a little good”. [Letter 141, to Ballofet, 1837] He understood, exactly as St Vincent had repeatedly taught, that any success we may have, or that our Society may have, is entirely the work of God, not ourselves. Indeed, the whole point of the work is not the earthly result, but our own growth in holiness; our “becoming better.”

While their works, as Frédéric hoped, may indeed “[erase] little by little the old divisions of political parties” and “make it a moral country”, it won’t because of a grand strategy, but because the members seek “to become better themselves in order to make others happier”. [Letter 290, to Amélie, 1841]

Remember, we seek “to help relieve suffering for love alone, without thinking of any reward or advantage for [ourselves]”. [Rule, Part I, 2.2] If the world changes, it changes – that’s up to God. We’re called to serve selflessly, to “do all the good we can, and trust to God for the rest.” [Baunard, 81] To become better, then, is not a matter of earning accolades; it is something we do for others, and for God.

Indeed, as Frédéric once advised his friend Ernest Falconnet, “it would be a thousand times better to languish in obscurity for half a century, edifying others with a spirit of resignation and doing some little good, than to be intoxicated for a few brief months with worldly pleasure”. [Baunard, 349]

Ours is “a vocation for every moment of our lives”. [Rule, Part I, 2.6] We seek to do a little good, to become better, because, as Frédéric wrote, as “a Christian, a believer in God, in humanity, in country, in family, never forget that your life belongs to them, not to yourself”. [Baunard, 349]

It may seem a simple aspiration, to become better, but simple does not necessarily mean easy. We grow in holiness together, each of us and all of us, seeking to fulfill God’s will by doing a little good, and there can be no greater aspiration than that.

Contemplate

How can I become better, and do a little good, today?

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Apostle in a Top Hat

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SVdP News Roundup December 31 – January 6
SVdP News Roundup December 31 – January 6 3600 3600 SVDP USA

With 100,000 Vincentians across the United States and nearly 800,000 around the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering. Read some of their stories here:

INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

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A Week in Prayers January 2 – January 6
A Week in Prayers January 2 – January 6 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Tuesday, January 3

My Lord and my God,
You are my strength for the journey,
The light on my path,
The voice that speaks
To my innermost heart.
You lift me when I have fallen,
O Lord, and I am Yours.
Amen

Wednesday, January 4

Jesus Christ, Savior,
I seek only to follow Your way;
With love for the neighbor,
With hope for new life,
With faith in the Father above.
Amen

Thursday, January 5

Give rest to my heart, O God,
As I lift my eyes towards You.
Grant me the peace
Of knowing Your love
And of loving You in return.
Amen

Friday, January 6

Lord Jesus,
You clothed Yourself in our humanity,
Sharing our burdens as Your own
So that we might share in Your divinity.
Help me to share the burdens
Of all those separated from You
By poverty or sorrow
So that they may feel Your love,
See Your light,
And share Your hope.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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SVdP Stores Corner
SVdP Stores Corner 1200 628 SVDP USA

The Stores Corner was added to the e-Gazette in 2022 to be a helpful resource on various topics for all SVdP Thrift Stores staff and volunteers.

This edition of the Stores Corner is to explain the purpose of the National Stores Committee and to list the volunteer committee members by region.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Thrift Store Committee is dedicated to helping our Thrift Store personnel (both paid and unpaid), to develop and maintain successful Thrift Stores to support the Society’s mission most effectively.

The Thrift Stores Committee members are a group of individuals who generously volunteer their time to be of service to other SVdP store personnel throughout the country.

Most of the Thrift Stores Committee members are women and men who work full-time in jobs helping to run successful stores in their own region.

Stores committee members represent single store locations and multi-store locations.

Committee members are here to serve you.

You might have questions about Point of Sale (POS) systems, how to increase donations, cash handling processes, volunteer/staff recruitment, on-line sales, social media, human resource topics, etc.

Please reach out to a committee member if you have questions. If they don’t have an answer for you, they will reach out to another resource to get the answer for you.

If you have a topic you’d like to see in a future Stores Corner article, please email your request to National Stores Director, Jeff Beamguard at jbeamguard@svdpusa.org.

Thank you!

Committee members are listed below by region:

West
Diocesan Council of Phoenix: Mike McClanahan
mmcclanahan@svdpaz.org

Contra Costa County of California: Dominick Scibilia
dscibilia04@gmail.com

North Central
District Council of Madison: Brooke Trick
btrick@svdpmadison.org

Cabrini Conference, Wausau, WI: Kim Kuske
Kkuske@svdpwausau.org

Midwest
Council of St. Louis: John Walters
waltjlbt@aol.com

South Central
Archdiocesan Council of Galveston-Houston: Marie Schwartz
Marie.schwartz@svdphouston.org

Stores Director Austin: Rick Bologna
Rick.bologna@ssvdp.org

Southeast
Diocese of Palm Beach: Don Schiffgens
DSchiffgen@aol.com

Mideast
Council of Lansing: John Thelen
JThelen@svdpmideastregion.org

East
Council of Greensburg: Ed Markiewicz
esmarkiewicz@gmail.com

Northeast
Council of Rockville Centre: Joe Lazarich
JLazarich@SvdpLi.org

Archdiocese of Boston: Lori Malcom
LMalcom@svdpboston.org

 

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Poverty Awareness Month: We Are Pilgrims — We Are Not Tourists
Poverty Awareness Month: We Are Pilgrims — We Are Not Tourists 940 788 SVDP USA

Written by: Pam Matambanadzo, National Board Member and Chair of the Multicultural and Diversity Committee

In his homily on Sunday, Fr. Jim Prehn, S.J. from Loyola University Chicago (a visiting priest at Saint Mary of the Lake/Our Lady of Lourdes Chicago) reminded us that we are all called and that we should look to the blessed Mother on what to do when called. He continued to say that all too often as Christians we tend to take the approach of tourists: viewing things from a safe distance; taking notes before moving onto the next thing.  We tend to seek what is comfortable.

He beckoned us to view our calling as would a pilgrim, whereby we do not know what is to come, but rather we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Tourists tend to set agendas on what sites to visit and how long they will be there – everything is predictable. Pilgrimage, on the other hand, beckons us to a journey of spiritual focus that is sometimes uncomfortable. How are we truly to encounter the suffering Christ if we turn away from the challenges that come with speaking for the vulnerable?

As many of you may know, January is Poverty Awareness Month, and this year the Voice of the Poor Committee is inviting all Vincentians to journey with us as we reflect and discern our role in the plight of those experiencing Homelessness, or those simply unhoused in one form or another. Each week we will invite a fellow Vincentian to share with us how their community is tackling the challenges they encounter.

We will also be inviting clergy from different parts of the country to help us as we reflect. What is Catholic Social Teaching?  Is advocating for the vulnerable part and parcel of living out one’s gospel values? The U.S. Catholic Bishops say, “We are called to shape a constituency of conscience, measuring every policy by how it touches the least, the lost, and the left-out among us.”

The Voice of the Poor Committee is working on updating our Position Statement on Homelessness. The current version was approved by the National Council on August 31, 2007.  Please take time to review the statement along with all the others. Consider reaching out to your regional VOP Representative for more information on how to become more informed and active as we strive to go beyond the charity of feeding the poor to also seek justice for them and defend the life and dignity of neighbors living in poverty.

It is our pilgrimage – together we can make a difference.

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1-5-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
1-5-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

The holidays are always a mixed blessing for those of us who value our “alone time.” My wife has to drag me to parties, but then I usually have fun when I attend.  During the pandemic it was a small blessing for us introverts to see these parties go into hibernation. Alas, they have returned this year, often with a vengeance to catch up in their revelry, size, noise and meaningless chatter. It’s not really the parties I don’t enjoy, it’s only some of the people attending!

It appears that I am not, uh, alone. According to the Census Bureau American Time Use Study, which apparently is a real thing we pay the government to do, we have all been spending more time alone since way back in 2014! The pandemic just made it more socially acceptable. In 2019, Americans already spent only four hours a week with friends, a decline of 37 percent in just five years.

We should pause to note that cell phone market penetration crossed 50 percent in 2014. Add some polarization to make us fearful of political discourse, and is it any wonder that we spend less time with others?

This trend includes all age groups (though exacerbated in younger generations), racial, urban/rural, married/unmarried, and parent/non-parent groups.

The trend reversed but just slightly post-pandemic, but we are still behind the 2019 levels. We don’t know yet how much we have each changed permanently due to the pandemic, and a Pew Research Center study found that 35 percent of Americans say that large gatherings, going out and socializing have become less important since COVID. Every day we can see that more of us now have our meals and groceries delivered. We stream movies at home. And most distressing, we don’t go to church as often and maybe not at all. Even putting faith aside, this can’t be a healthy outcome.

Our Society’s Mission Statement, coincidentally revised before the pandemic, starts with the words “A network of friends…” Through attention to these words perhaps we can start to reverse this trend.

Friendship has always been one of our Society’s Essential Elements, along with Spirituality and Service. We know as well that the Society was created by a group of college friends and an adviser. At times, some Conferences gloss over the importance of friends meeting together in their rush to serve and seek holiness. In trying to satisfy our mission, we may be forgetting that making and maintaining friendships, as well as relationships with those we serve, is our mission!

As we come out of the holidays, we hopefully renewed some friendships at all those darn parties we were dragged to, I mean invited to attend. Let’s keep those relationships going and with some Vincentian zeal. Let’s also think of who we didn’t see at those holiday gatherings and seek them out. Maybe they aren’t well, or afraid to gather, or like me, they just may need an extra nudge to be sociable sometimes. You have my blessing, in fact my fervent wish, that you be that nudge!

Good friends are hard to find, so let’s not lose some due to carelessness and unintentional neglect. Just like with customers, it is easier to keep a current friend than to make a new one. We know too that many hands make light work, and that many minds create better solutions to serve people in need. We also recognize that we all benefit from praying and serving as friends more than coming together as acquaintances now and then for a service project. The continuity of friendships was modeled for us by Christ’s Apostles, and we continue this tradition of serving as a faith-based team of friends in deed and spirit.

We speak often about making new friends and inviting them into our beloved Society. Let’s take stock of our Vincentian relationships, and then start 2023 right by adding to our network of friends. You might even find an occasion to throw a party!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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