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SVdP Director of Formation Published in Vincentian Heritage Journal
SVdP Director of Formation Published in Vincentian Heritage Journal 1200 628 SVDP USA

National Director of Formation Tim Williams is a featured author in the latest e-book edition of Vincentian Heritage.

Titled “2020 and Beyond: DePaul University’s Community Responds to Crises,” the edition focuses on the watershed issues faced by the United States in 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and a highly divisive presidential campaign.

The issue features 14 perspectives on the Vincentian response to the crises that enveloped us in 2020, whose effects can still be felt today. Tim’s piece, titled “Learning Not to Despair of Our Own Age”: The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in This Time of Pandemic”, tells of how the Society used 2020 as a time of reflection and re-imagination, looking back on the Society’s past to inspire its future.

Article Abstract

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul marked the 175th anniversary of its founding in the United States. The Society’s usual works are described. Timothy Williams explains how the organization adapted to continue them during the pandemic, and particularly how it substituted for the home visits that have been the Society’s signature work since its founding. The Vincentian Family and the Society were created in times of political strife, widespread illness, and economic catastrophe, so the words and actions of their founders can inspire and comfort us now. The Society took special action in response to George Floyd’s murder. As Williams writes, “Our response began with self-examination, grounded in our spirituality and in our obligations to each other as Christians. To understand the faults we perceive in society, we must have the humility to examine and accept our own faults.” A webinar series allowed members to share their stories related to social issues, such as economic discrimination, crime, and violence. After the webinars, paired groups of members of different races shared more of their experiences. This strengthened their understanding of each other and equipped them to better serve their neighbors.

Read the Article

Click here to read Tim’s article, or click here to find the entire issue of Vincentian Heritage.

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Contemplation – Those Irritating Questions
Contemplation – Those Irritating Questions 940 788 SVDP USA

The introduction to the original Rule in 1835 reminded members, following the model of St. Vincent, to “banish political discussions forever from our meetings” avoiding “those irritating questions which divide mankind” so that we can remain united in the ministry of charity. The Society, it declared, “is all charity; politics are wholly foreign to it.” [Rule, Intro, 20-22]

It is a reassuring reminder that however we may feel politics divides people today, it has always been so, but the example of our forebears in the Vincentian family shows us the way to be uniters, not only within our Conferences, but in our society at large.

In Frédéric and Rosalie’s time, “divisiveness” in politics meant a great deal more than memes, podcasts, and insults. Often, politics meant taking up arms, manning the barricades, and overthrowing the government. In the midst of revolution, it was perhaps easier for them to see how picking a side could only shut them off from caring for people in great need.

Bl. Rosalie made this clear, declaring, on threat of arrest for aiding the wrong side of the revolution, “I am a Daughter of Charity. I do not have a flag. I go to the aid of the unfortunate wherever I encounter them … I promise you, if ever you, yourself, are being pursued and you ask me for help, it would not be refused you.” [Sr. Rosalie, Sullivan, 168]

To be sure, both our church and our Rule encourage us as individuals to be involved in politics, and to “bring Christian values to political matters.” Indeed, Frédéric himself served in the National Guard and once ran for a seat in the legislature. But the Society itself does not identify with any political party, nor discriminate among those in need based on political opinions. [Rule, Part I, 7.8 & 2.4]

As a “voice for the voiceless,” we advocate not for a party, but for justice; as Vincentians, we seek “to make charity accomplish what justice alone cannot do.” [Letter 136, to Lallier, 1836]

Our commitment to an apolitical approach to works of charity requires both courage and humility; the acceptance that no matter how strong our personal feelings may be, we are called first to render unto God what belongs to God.

Contemplate

Are there “irritating questions” I need to let go in my Vincentian relationships and works?

Recommended Reading

The Frédéric Ozanam Story

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News Roundup 2-19 to 2-25
News Roundup 2-19 to 2-25 1200 1200 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

Help us share the good news of the good work being done in your local Conference or Council! Email us at info@svdpusa.org with the subject line Good News.

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Daily Prayers Week of February 21
Daily Prayers Week of February 21 940 788 SVDP USA

Monday, February 21:

Father, receive me,
Broken and small
Hear the words of my prayer
Father, forgive me
Make me whole
Bring me to new life in You
Amen

Tuesday, February 22:

St. Peter, pray for us
That our faith may be a rock
Upon which we stand
Our works bearing witness
To Christ’s church in the world
And the love of the Father for all
Amen

Wednesday, February 23:

Help me, Father, to hear the cries
Of the lonely and deprived
Give me strength and give me time
To serve them as You have served me
Send me, if it is Your will
Amen

Thursday, February 24:

Lord, awaken me
With Your whispered words,
Open my eyes
To Your gentle light.
Refresh me, renew me,
Give me Your strength.
Bring me from night
Into day.
Amen

Friday, February 25:

Lord hear our prayer
For Your children in Ukraine
At war or in the shadow of war.
Protect them from harm,
Especially the unarmed,
The weak, the small, the helpless.
Protect your children from fear
With the light of Your eternal hope.
Bring peace to their hearts,
And if it is Your will,
Bring peace in Ukraine.
Amen
Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director. 
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02-24-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
02-24-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1363 1363 SVDP USA

It’s been too long since I have seen a cockroach.

Lying on a resort beach chair while on a mini-vacation a few days ago,  I thought about how much my life has changed since growing up fairly poor. Some people will tell you that they were poor as children but didn’t know it. I remember it vividly!

In a divorced home as the oldest of four children, I watched my mother scramble for rent, school clothes, and even food. We lived in a meager apartment, a roof over our heads, but not much more. Roaches are common in apartments, though they were not, and are not, value judgements. You could have an immaculate home but whenever a neighbor moved out, their pests lost a food supply, so they migrated to you until you beat them back. I remember being mortified when on a rare occasion I would invite a friend to our place and a cockroach appeared. By necessity I learned the art of misdirection! Living with roaches was a constant battle that the roaches always inevitably seemed to win.

In my 60s now, education, the values Mom and others taught me, and income have taken me far away from those meager times. It would be fairly easy now not to see poverty in others — one could spend your way out, right?

Not really. Poverty, like roaches, is all around us whether or not we choose to see it. It’s in the cashier we paid to buy our coffee, who is working her second, or third, job to make ends meet. Its in the apartments just behind the shopping center that house the workers in the shops and office who can’t otherwise afford to live where they work. Its the frail, elderly grandmother we see in the grocery store, buying food for her extended family because her adult child is ill or in prison. You would likely be surprised to know how many children in your local elementary school are on a free breakfast and lunch program. It will break your Vincentian heart.

Those of us who grew up poor rarely thank God directly for the experience. Instead we thank Him for helping us to have the persistence, providential breaks, and the loving hearts of others who helped us escape poverty and “graduate” to the middle class or above. We also thank God for Saints Vincent and Louise, Blesseds Frédéric and Rosalie, and others who both set examples of serving the less fortunate and who educated others not to judge people’s character by their surroundings, misfortune, and  current circumstances.  As Vincentians today, we carry on these examples and works. We choose not to be blind to the poverty surrounding us, and then to do something positive about it, even if it helps just one person.

Everything created by God has a purpose. Maybe God created the humble cockroach not as a symbol of those who are poor, but to remind us of poverty itself. No matter how hard we fight it, poverty will still be with us. Perhaps we can’t totally eradicate it, but neither should we approve of living with it, either. What can we do ourselves, and how can we enlist others to see what we see and then to act?

Your in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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SVdP National Council Welcomes New Director of Philanthropy
SVdP National Council Welcomes New Director of Philanthropy 238 240 SVDP USA

The National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul is excited to welcome Donald Dowdell as its new Director of Philanthropy. Don will work alongside Dennis Kempf to increase the Society’s visibility and fundraising success on a national level

Don will work alongside Dennis Kempf to increase the Society’s visibility and fundraising success on a national level.

Don has served in a variety of roles throughout over two decades working in Development. He has worked for the following prestigious consulting firms Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners; Changing Our World, Inc.; Cornerstone Fundraising, and Trinity Consulting.

His knowledge and experience includes years of development leadership in overseeing major campaigns and development strategies for hospitals, churches, schools, retirement institutions, nursing facilities, performing arts centers, museums, and social service organizations throughout the United States.

More than half of Don’s clients have been in the Catholic Community, from parish campaigns to diocesan efforts and religious orders. Fundraising efforts have been for capital campaigns, general operations, endowments, catholic schools, stewardship programs, increased offertory, ministry needs, support of religious vocations, retirement, and health care needs of the clergy, and support of laity initiatives and their growing role in the Catholic community.

In his personal life Don was active with music and youth ministries, taught religious education at his parish for elementary and middle-school students, a cantor at his parish, and was a founding member of Creative Ministries, a group that used music and theater to reach out to the community in a different way to relay the Good News.

Don shares his love of the outdoors and nature with his children and grandkids.

Welcome Don!

If you would like to contact Don, you can email him at ddowdell@svdpusa.org or call him at (314) 576-3993 ext. 227.

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Disaster Services Update
Disaster Services Update 940 788 SVDP USA

Last week, SVdP’s Disaster Services Corporation conducted a customized training on DSC’s Programs for over 25 Vincentians within the SVdP Denver Metro Council and associated Conferences. The training focused on how Councils and Conferences can leverage DSC’s grants and programs to build capacity for the local Vincentian response to the devastating wildfires that recently swept across Colorado. In addition, DSC spent a large portion of the training focusing on how Vincentians can provide Disaster Case Management services to wildfire survivors.

Vincentians from St. Michael the Archangel Parish Conference joined other northern Colorado Vincentians in directly assisting Marshall fire survivors. We partnered with Catholic Charities representatives operating out of the Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) in Lafayette last month. Officials say that over 900 homes were destroyed and at least another 300 were damaged in the Marshall fire.

Survivors needed housing, food, and clothing assistance. A few were from the St. Louis Parish, the church that was undamaged but located in Louisville where many houses were lost. We met Deacon Dan from St. Louis Parish who said that the church was saved but that he lost his home to the fire. He did not lose his sense of humor as he explained that he is working both sides of the table.

There was little or no warning for most people due to rapid spread of the fire. One couple who had their dog with them said they had no warning and just got their pet and sped off. A woman told us she was on a recurring IV treatment in the Louisville hospital when the hospital evacuation started. Her house was lost.

SVdP activities in Denver began in 1876. Fr. Terry Kissell initiated the formation of the Conference in April 2011. The Conference was aggregated in 2014 in Paris, France. St. Michael the Archangel is one of 28 Conferences that make up the Denver Metro Council. They work closely and often with the Denver Metro Council and other parish Conferences.

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Meet Us in St. Louis for the 2022 Midyear Meeting!
Meet Us in St. Louis for the 2022 Midyear Meeting! 750 450 SVDP USA

Meet us in St. Louis the for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s 2022 Midyear Business Meeting, March 16 – 19, 2022 at the Hilton at the Ballpark in St. Louis, Missouri! The agenda is packed with education, spirituality, and informative information about the Society and helping those in need.

Highlights include: Spiritual Retreat, Committee Meetings, Regional Meetings, and our Midyear Business Meeting. We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

Registration Information

  • Registration Fee: $300 per person thru March 1
  • Late Registration Fee: $325 after March 1
  • One Day Attendance (Regional, Formation, Stores, etc.): $150 per person, per day
  • Spouse/Guest Attendee: $150 per person (includes meals & social functions)
  • Register Now

Hotel Information

Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark
(314)421-17761

The Hilton Ballpark room rate for Midyear is $147.00. Room rate cut-off date is February 21, 2022.

Reserve Now. If you need assistance, please contact Michele Schurk

Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, March 16
  • 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM          Morning Mass Available Daily at Old Cathedral (On Your Own)
  • 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM             Governance Committee Meeting
  • 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM           Afternoon Hospitality – Exhibitor Showcase
  • 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM          Registration & Exhibitor Tables Open – Grand/Archview Foyer
Thursday, March 17
  • 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM          Registration & Exhibitor Tables Open
  • 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    • National Board of Directors Meeting
    • Stores Committee Meeting with Executive Directors
    • Formation Committee Meeting
    • Hispanic Latino Task Force
    • Housing Task Force
    • Reentry Task Force
  • 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM          Vincentian Group Lunch
  • 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM              Opening Session with President Ralph Middlecamp
  • 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM            Regional Meetings
  • 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
    • Growth & Revitalization Committee
    • Voice of the Poor Committee
    • Executive Directors Meeting
  • 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM            Welcome Reception (Cash Bar) – Grand Foyer
Friday, March 18
  • 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM           Registration & Exhibitor Tables Open – Grand/Archview Foyer
  • 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM         Spiritual Retreat – Tim Williams
  • 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM          Keynote Address – Grand Ballroom
  • 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
    • Vincentian Group Lunch
    • Youth Committee (Working Lunch)
  • 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM             National Business Meeting (Part I) – Grand Ballroom
  • 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM             Vincentian Mass & Recommitment Ceremony – Old Cathedral
  • 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM            Enjoy dinner on your own (Opportunity for Regional Dinners)
Saturday, March 19
  • 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM           National Business Meeting (Part II) – Grand Ballroom
  • 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM            Vincentian Group Lunch – Archview Ballroom
  • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM             Vigil Mass Available at Old Cathedral (On Your Own)

Daily Mass

Daily Mass will be offered at the Old Cathedral at 7:00 AM
Additional Information

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Contemplation – Better Things To Do
Contemplation – Better Things To Do 940 788 SVDP USA

“I’m too busy” is a thing we sometimes say when we really mean that this activity or that person is just not important enough to us. As Vincentians, we have come to learn that this can never be the answer when we are interrupted by a call from the neighbor.

It’s a lesson many learn as parents. We might enjoy nothing more than to watch our favorite team play on TV, but if it conflicts with the ballet recital or the Little League game, well…we can check the score later.

It’s never really a matter of time; it’s a matter of priorities.

Like parenthood, our calling as Vincentians is “a vocation for every moment of our lives.” [Rule, Part I, 2.7] Our moments, and how we spend them, are driven by love, not by the schedules we’d planned. That’s easy to remember when it is your child tugging at your sleeve, but it sometimes slips our minds when it is a neighbor in need interrupting dinner.

This was the exact point St. Vincent made when replying to one of the missioners who had apologized for sharing his troubles. “Brother,” Vincent replied, “have no fear that you’re bothering me. You should realize that someone appointed by God to serve others is no more put out by the demands made on him than a father would be in regard to his children.” [CCD XII:392]

It is not that we view the neighbor as a child, but rather that we always remember we were called first by God, and that He calls us from time to time in the person of the neighbor in need. We don’t have to make time for our neighbors, because being Christ to us, the time is already theirs.

None of this is to say that we are not allowed to get tired! St. Vincent constantly reminded his followers not to allow their zeal to make them do more than they were able. [CCD II:375] More importantly, as he once told St. Louise, we must rest to regain our strength, because even if we don’t need it, the neighbor in need does. [CCD I:392]

In our memories, the joy of the ballet recital or the Little League game entirely wash away whatever else we thought was important at the time. We can clearly see that there were no better things to do; that we received a greater gift than we ever could have given.

In a similar way, we thank God for the blessings we receive from those whom we visit. In the fullness of time, in union with Christ and with each other, we will rejoice in the memory of every interruption.

Contemplate

Where is the neighbor in my list of daily priorities?

Recommended Reading

Faces of Holiness (especially Vincent, Father of the Poor)

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News Roundup Feb. 12 – Feb. 18
News Roundup Feb. 12 – Feb. 18 1200 1200 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

Help us share the good news of the good work being done in your local Conference or Council! Email us at info@svdpusa.org with the subject line Good News.

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