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04-09-2021 News Roundup
04-09-2021 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Vincentians across the United States and around the world are finding spiritual growth by providing 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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Contemplation – Being That Kind of Person
Contemplation – Being That Kind of Person 940 788 SVDP USA

Why does it sometimes seem difficult to withhold judgment when we visit our neighbors in need?

In his famous essay “The Undeserving Poor,” [Serving in Hope, Module IV] the late Bishop Kenneth Untener explains how easy it is to serve a poor child, because they can’t help it if they’re poor, and they haven’t the ability to work their way out of it.

They are not the ones that are difficult to serve – it’s the ones who seem to be the cause of their own problems; the ones we help up only to see them fall again. You know – those kind of people.

In his biography of Sister Stanislaus Malone, Nun with a Gun, biographer Eddie Doherty recounts the story of Sister Helen, an older nun who once told an alcoholic to leave and not come back, saying “it would be a waste” of time and resources to keep helping him when he would only start drinking again.

The man left, but not before reminding her that she did not know the temptations he had faced.

After he left, Sister Helen sobbed at her own failure of charity, saying, “What right had I to assume he would succumb again to the evils of drink? How many battles has he won? Nobody knows. I think only of the battles he has lost – and the battles I myself have won.”

It is easy to remember that time we beat temptation, or pulled ourselves out of difficulties by our bootstraps, and to let it color our judgment of the failures of others. We forgive and forget our own failures of will or of virtue, because deep inside we understand that our failures don’t define us; that however our own stumbles may be seen by others, we are “not that kind of person.”

It was because of this human fallibility that St. Vincent taught that we should “get in the habit of judging events and persons, always and in all circumstances, for the good. If an action has a hundred facets to it…always look at its best side… even though intelligence and human prudence tell us the contrary.” [CCD XI:638]

Perhaps this is part of Christ’s meaning when he commands us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” [Mt 22:39] Love is offering not only our assistance, but our understanding, our patience, and the benefit of the doubt.

Because we are all made in His image, and we are all “that kind of person.”

Contemplate

How can I better “see the good” in all circumstances?

Recommended Reading

Vincentian Meditation II – especially 10. Expecting and Seeing

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04-01-2021 News Roundup
04-01-2021 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Vincentians across the United States and around the world are finding spiritual growth by providing 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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04-01-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
04-01-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1920 2400 SVDP USA

The ultimate consequences of sin and death are perpetual solitude and eternal separation from God. To save us from all that, God sent His Son, born in our likeness, fully divine and fully human, to suffer and die on the cross. Through that astonishing sacrificial gift of self and the glory of the Resurrection, we are redeemed, forgiven and promised a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus leads us into an eternal relationship with the Father and bestows His own identity on us, as we become beloved children of God. These truths summarize the amazing good news of our Catholic faith.

We have all certainly tasted solitude and separation this past year. The impact of COVID has been far-reaching: hundreds of thousands of people facing sickness and death, massive unemployment, no public Masses for months, children not in school, elderly folks completely shut off from family and friends, spikes in depression and suicide. Vincentians have not been able to make Home Visits in a moment when they were needed the most.

Yet, in the midst of such tragedy and difficulty, people have responded with generosity and compassion. Telephone calls, Zoom sessions, curbside pick-ups of food, clothing, and medicine are practical and loving ways that Vincentians have superseded the obstacles of the pandemic. Priests, deacons, religious, and lay ministers have reached out, often heroically, to offer sacraments, prayer, blessings, and human comfort to our isolated and struggling brothers and sisters.

All of this compassionate and zealous effort is fruit of the Vincentian spirit which seeks to find and love our suffering brothers and sisters, to behold the face of Christ in them, and to serve their needs as we would literally treat Christ Himself. This putting the Gospel into living action is the heart of the Vincentian apostolate.

In His public ministry, Jesus ministered in His divine power, healing, preaching, forgiving, and feeding through His unique gifts as the Son of God. How shocking to behold the Lord on the cross, where He becomes the wounded, rejected, thirsty, suffering, and dying One, seemingly powerless and even abandoned by God. Yet, in that moment, Jesus was never more free and powerful, as He won salvation for us by embracing everything within us that was broken, sinful and dead. As we contemplate the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Christ this week, we ask the Lord to break open our hearts, to feel in a deeper way His tender mercy and to know ever more profoundly how we are loved.

Thank you for the good work you do as a Vincentian, giving witness by your words and deeds to the mighty compassion of Christ. Especially this past year with its unique difficulties and crosses, your radiant presence in the Church and the world makes a profound impact for the common good, especially those we are privileged to serve directly, as we touch Christ in His distressing disguise. On behalf of the bishops of the United States, I offer you our prayers, blessing, and thanks.

Yours in Christ,
Bishop Donald J. Hying
National Episcopal Advisor

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03-25-2021 News Roundup
03-25-2021 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Vincentians across the United States and around the world are finding spiritual growth by providing 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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03-25-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
03-25-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 410 382 SVDP USA

I am often asked if the National Council has grants available for local Vincentian use. The frequency of these requests has increased over the past year, as Conferences and Councils have endeavored to do more for people in need because of the pandemic and its consequences.

First, some perspective. As opposed to many “national” nonprofits, the bulk of the total worth of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul lies within its local Conferences, which is a good thing! As solidarity (or dues, if you prefer) rolls from Conference to District/Diocesan Councils and eventually to help fund the National and International Council, only a maximum of six-tenths of one percent of all Society revenues gets to the national office. By inference this means that 99.94 percent of the total stays local! This is preferred because our services are delivered very locally; therefore, as much of the resources to do so should stay there too.

However, as a national organization we look for way to leverage our collective strength. Sometimes this is in buying power, such as to get organizational discounts you can use to buy store supplies, background checks, hotel nights, and the other resources you use to serve our neighbors. The processes are based on total, expected national volumes. We also look at national program grants to develop new programs, training tools, communications, and staff management to help you learn and then operate a standardized program without your needing to reinvent the wheel each time.

In terms of actual grants, National Council has been blessed to work with some national partners – foundations and even individual donors – who want to make a national impact through our distribution of funds to our member Councils and Conferences. Examples include the recent Urban Farming grants, the Back2Work and IMMERSION programs, and of course the Friends of the Poor grants.

The Friends of the Poor (FOP) grants utilize dollars raised nationally to provide grants to Society Conferences for emergency needs of our friends and neighbors. A smaller but growing portion of the grants are used for larger Systemic Change programs operated by Councils as well as Conferences. These grants are limited to what we can raise each year and are distributed in four regional cycles annually plus a separate application period for Systemic Change.

A good deal of the FOP funds come from other Society groups! Some Councils and Conferences are blessed with more funds than they need today, or simply see the greater needs elsewhere, so they help us redistribute these blessings nationally. Other funds come from individuals who support the Society in other ways throughout the year. We raise several hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but this is less than one-third of the funds requested through this grant program.

Over the next two weeks, we will conduct an email campaign specifically for the Friends of the Poor program. You, or someone in your Conference, may receive an email from us asking for your support. I ask you to discern on this request, consider what you have and what you need locally, and see if you can help our brother and sister members somewhere else in our country through the Friends of the Poor process. Vincentian volunteers decide how to distribute these $5,000 grants (sometimes more for Systemic Change) by region.

If you don’t receive such an email, of course you can still participate! Simply send funds to the National Council marked Friends of the Poor. You can further specify how much you want to go toward emergency needs and how much to Systemic Change grants. Thank you!

We will also send emails to past National Council contributors. Everyone will be directed to a unique online giving page designed for the FOP program. This helps assure that the funds will go exactly where designated.

This year, we started the awards process with what we have on hand but we will have an additional “catch-up” round for added grants in our fourth quarter. Watch for details on this in future e-Gazette issues and blog posts.

In this pandemic, and hopefully soon post-pandemic year, we know that many of our neighbors will come to us asking for more support with rent, food and other basic needs. By all of us working together as Vincentians who care about the poor everywhere, we can leverage our strength to get Friends of the Poor grants to the neediest areas through our fellow Conferences. Thanks for your consideration!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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03-18-2021 News Roundup
03-18-2021 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Vincentians across the United States and around the world are finding spiritual growth by providing 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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03-18-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
03-18-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 600 685 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Two weeks ago, I saw a couple hundred of you on my computer screen as I sat at my desk. We were at our National Council Midyear Meeting, and it was good to see the faces of so many friends. Thank you to all our National Council staff and the many presenters who made this a successful virtual gathering.

Once again, we made the best of the situation. The workshops were great, and our Board and National Council met, passed resolutions and started the process of creating our next strategic plan. Many who participated appreciated the opportunity to attend the meeting without having to travel, while many others felt the loss of personal contact. As we move back to holding our meetings in person, I hope that we can continue to find ways to maintain this element of virtual attendance.

It was great to have more than 250 people attend our meeting. I am very aware, however, that as the months pass, our Zoom calls reveal more and more faces I have never met. I find I may not know your interests – or what motivates and excites you. I also may not know what bothers or worries you. We can get our business done virtually, but a network of friends requires fuller presence.

I am very hopeful that soon we can start meeting again in person. Likewise, I look forward to a return to in-person mode for our Home Visits. In my talks at the Midyear Meeting, I strongly encouraged us to begin to prepare for this reopening. If you haven’t already begun to do so, I urge you to start planning for how to revitalize your Conferences. We need new members, and we need to attract people with diverse backgrounds. Talk with pastors and bishops to let them know that we have been active during the past year but that we need their support to renew the Society in the months ahead.

At the National Council we are beginning to develop our next strategic plan, and revitalization will be an important element of it. During coming weeks, you may see a survey requesting your input for our plan. Please respond. Especially after this period of isolation, we need to take the temperature of the organization to help figure out what can happen next.

As I work with the Society on the international level, I recognize how fortunate we are in the United States to have COVID-19 vaccines available to so many of us. Some of the International Board members with whom I serve have no vaccines available in their country and do not expect them for many months.  These countries and their councils of the Society are struggling, and I appreciate those of you who have accepted my encouragement to begin Twinning with our Conferences around the world.

In Wisconsin we had a week of nice, warm weather, but it snowed again yesterday. Spring is close, but it is not here. That reminds me that we cannot assume we are finished with this pandemic. So please be patient, and continue to be cautious and safe. I want to see you in the months and years ahead.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
SVdP National President

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Contemplation – It Would Be Ungrateful Not to Hope
Contemplation – It Would Be Ungrateful Not to Hope 940 788 SVDP USA

To trust in Divine Providence is to seek the will of God. This trust does not come for free – we must invest in it our patience, humility, gratitude, and hope.

St. Louise advised the Daughters to “remain at peace until Divine Providence lets you know what It is asking of you.” [Sp. Wri., 249] Often filled with anxiety when things did not go according to her own plans, Louise had learned that abandonment to God’s will requires patience for God’s timing, even when we have already embarked on God’s work.

As Vincentians, we know that in serving the least among us, we are doing God’s will, because he very specifically, and explicitly told us to do exactly this! So, when we run into things that feel like obstacles in the course of our works, we must not be discouraged or anxious. “Having begun His work in us,” St. Vincent taught, “He will complete it.” [CCD XI:31]

If the money seems low in the treasury, but it is enough to help the needs before us now, then it is enough. God knows and will provide for our needs, now and next week, “particularly those which human prudence can neither foresee nor meet,” as St. Louise put it. [Sp. Wri., 174]

As Frédéric put it, we should remain “content to see the stone on which we should step without wanting to discover all at once and completely the windings of the road.” [Letter 136]

Or to use an old cowboy saying, “Dance with the one that brung ya.”

It takes great humility to set aside our own prudence and foresight, earned over many years of worldly experience, with faith that God will provide. At the same time, it is an act of profound gratitude.

If we are thankful, as we pray at every Conference meeting, for the many blessings he has already bestowed on us, then as St. Louise explained “we would be the greatest ingrates in the world” if at the first obstacle we were to abandon our trust in the Providence which has so far given us all that we need. [Sp. Wri., 174]

Trust in Providence is not only for the work of our Conferences, but for every part of our lives. For each time we set aside our anxieties, for each day we let the day’s own troubles suffice, we will be reassured once again of God’s abundance and love, which we receive that we might share.

And in time we will say with Bl. Frédéric that Providence “has for some time granted me so many favors that I would be ungrateful not to hope.” [Letter 365]

Contemplate

Do I sometimes let pride in my own wisdom override my trust in Providence?

Recommended Reading

15 Days of Prayer with Bl. Frédéric Ozanam (especially 14 – Providence)

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03-11-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
03-11-2021 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 275 287 SVDP USA

After five years of driving through my neighborhood, I thought I knew it pretty well. But when my wife worked briefly for the U.S. Census, she would point out small shops I had never realized were nearby. She could show me the home with an insane number of people living in it, and which were rentals or owned residences. The neighborhood took on a completely different perspective because she had walked the streets instead of driving while focused on traffic lights, bikes, and pedestrians.

This, my friends, is why the Society conducts Home Visits.

During the pandemic period, many Conferences adjusted to not visiting homes with counter-top services and phone interviews. Most Vincentians will quickly tell you that they miss the stronger relationship of a true visit in someone’s home or even visiting with them in a nearby public place. You see different things, and people often share a bit more not only about their specific problem, but also about their family and their life. There is understanding and empathy, not just a transaction.

It is also difficult to understand poverty until you at least see it, if not experience it yourself. In many ”rich” neighborhoods, we drive by and see the opulent lawns and large homes, assuming easily that everyone in that neighborhood must be wealthy. If you spent real time there, however, you would see that so many neighbors bought much more house than they could afford. The homes are often empty of furniture and the owners have trouble paying their bills. They tried to buy status through their house or their fancy car. The neighborhood’s true millionaires often have the used car and a modest home, but also money in the bank and a lot less stress.

Likewise, people in poverty live in or around these homes. They may have service jobs for the wealthy, or they operate the small businesses sprinkled around the opulent neighborhoods. They are often the invisible underclass that keeps our economy going, the working but underemployed families that we encounter in our Vincentian service.

During the past year we changed our service delivery as needed to be safe and legal. It was not usually our choice, but we did this because of our love for those we serve. We did not want to deny them whatever we could bring to demonstrate our, and God’s, love in these tough times.

We have all heard about not understanding someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. As Vincentians, we know that we don’t understand someone until we at least walk through their neighborhood. As Springtime comes, and pandemic restrictions slowly lift, let’s take that walk. Let’s get to know our neighborhoods, and our neighbors, once again as we venture together out of the darkness.

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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