Vincentians

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06-06-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
06-06-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Over the last year, you have heard me speak and write often about the ‘Encounter.’ Regrettably, some people are uncomfortable about my use of that term, as they seem to feel that it takes away from the traditional emphasis of the Society on the term ‘Home Visit’ as what they perceive as the heart and soul of our Vincentian calling.

So, I think that it’s important to explore the term Encounter and hopefully put any concerns to rest. Let’s first look at The Rule.

In Part I of The Rule, under the first major heading “Purpose and Scope of Our Service,” Section 1.2, it is stated “Members show their commitment through person-to-person contact.’ Section 1.3 is titled “Any form of personal help.”

The third major heading under Section 1 of Part 1 of Our Rule is titled “Our Personal Encounters with the Poor.” Part I, Section 1.7 is titled “Prayer before Encounters or Visits.”

So, we’ve established from The Rule that our Founders envisioned an inclusive network of charity. (Hey, sounds like Frédéric!) We don’t see the restriction of “Home Visit” anywhere. Encounters are certainly visits, and visits are clearly a preferred way of meeting the poor, but Encounter can be more than a Home Visit, and a visit can take place anyplace — not just a home! The type of Encounters and the types of visits we are called to make are not defined in The Rule because the Founders were smart enough to realize that the face of poverty was constantly changing — and how we had to address poverty had to change, too.

Just look at Part 1, Section 1.6, Adaptation to a Changing World: “…new types of poverty that might be identified or anticipated.” Our Founders weren’t about to say you had to do X, Y, or Z to do Vincentian work’ because they didn’t know if things would be completely changed in the next 10 years — or even the next year.

That is why we must stop talking, judging, and labeling each other in language that is exclusive. We must start using language that is inclusive and true to the intent of the foundation of the Society. We need to stop saying that our ministry is rooted in the Home Visit. It is not. It is rooted in the Encounter.

Did Frédéric and the Founders do Home Visits? Yes! Were those Home Visits critical to their formation and the creation of the Society? Yes! Does that mean you can’t undergo formation as a Vincentian without doing a Home Visit? No!

But does that mean you can undergo formation as a Vincentian without a Christ-centered, human-to-human interaction? Without Encounter with our Neighbors in need? NO! NO! NO!

Let’s go back to The Rule.

The Vincentian vocation is to follow Christ through service to those in need and so bear witness to His compassionate and liberating love. Members show their commitment through person-to-person contact. Vincentians serve in hope.

We have to understand that Encounter — the Christ-centered, person-to-person contact that is our vocation — can be conducted in many ways. There are many ways to conduct visits in different places. What characterizes a visit? Spirituality, friendship, listening, caring, support.

In today’s Society in the United States, Encounters can occur in someone’s home, in a special work, at a Parish, at SVdP offices, in a homeless shelter, and other places. But the need for valid, Vincentian, personal contact must be part of the Encounter for it to be appropriate.

Lining people up at the Parish in front of a table and collecting utility bills that the Conference is going to pay is not Encounter. That kind of interaction is degrading people in need.

Talking to people from behind glass walls is not Encounter, it is bureaucracy. Handing out a food bag without a private conversation and discussion of a neighbor’s situation and need is not Encounter, it is simply just another agency. Giving out clothes in the Thrift Stores is not Encounter; understanding why the person needs the clothes and what we can do to help them not need them next time is.

The most important thing that we must all remember is that we serve people — and our service to people is based on respect, love, and our knowledge that Christ sits in the middle of any relationship we have with another human being. Our Encounters with those we serve, and those we serve with, must always be based on those understandings.

Let’s lose the old language of exclusion and start using the new language of inclusion. But when we do, let’s make sure that we are using it to describe the true Vincentian Encounter that is our vocation, not a modern-day corruption of the beauty of the Christ-centered person-to-person Encounter that is the real heart and soul of our Vincentian calling.

Peace and God’s blessings,
John

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Contemplation: A Culture of Encounter
Contemplation: A Culture of Encounter 800 800 SVDP USA

By Tim Williams, Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Home Visit both were formed when Frédéric Ozanam declared in 1833 that “we must do what Our Lord Jesus Christ did” and “go to the poor.” [Baunard, 65] The very first Rule in 1835 enshrined “the object of this Conference” as first, to grow in faith and spirit, and second, “to visit the poor at their dwellings.” [Rule, Intro, 1835] One hundred and ninety-one years later, the Home Visit remains the core, the very heart and soul, of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

At first, Home Visits were not merely the central work, but the only work of the Society, whose young members guided by Bl. Rosalie and the Daughters of Charity “adopted” poor families and visited them regularly to bring food, firewood, clothing and other assistance. But more importantly, they formed true relationships, “relationships based on trust and friendship” as today’s Rule says. [Rule, Part I, 1.9]

It was personal relationships formed on Home Visits that led the first members towards what we now call systemic change. They didn’t start from an abstract vision of what society ought to be, but from a practical understanding of the real lives of their friends and neighbors, from “climbing the stairs to the poor man’s garret, sitting by his bed side, feeling the same cold that pierces him, sharing the secret of his lonely heart and troubled mind.” [Baunard, 279] That’s why, in its first year, the first Conference created an apprenticeship program for young men. It’s why, three years later, the new Conference in Lyon began a library and school for soldiers. It is also why, as Frédéric said, “home visits to the poor have still remained our principal work.”[1369, Rpt. to Gen.l Assembly, 1837]  The Home Visit inspires us to other works, and so the same Rule which declared Home Visits the “object” of the Conference, also insisted that “no work of charity should be regarded as foreign to the Society.” [1835 Rule, Art. 2]

Yet, even more important than this practical benefit of Home Visits is that they are our primary path to our growth in holiness. That is why our Rule still considers “home visitation reports” an essential part of the Conference Meeting. [Rule, Part III, St. 7] Sharing and meditating on our work leads us to “internal spiritual knowledge of [ourselves], others, and the goodness of God.” [Rule, Part I, 2.2]

We are called to see the face of Christ in the poor. When Christ calls us, we don’t ask Him to come to us, take a number, and fill out a form. We go to Him, we seek to encounter Him, wherever He lives – in a house, on the street, in prison, in assisted living, or in a hospital. The Home Visit is not our central work only for practical and historical reasons, but because it is an encounter that changes us.

Each visit is a holy encounter, and we make it with the deep understanding that “one does not live by bread alone,” that our assistance is only temporary, but that the love of God which sends us is eternal.

Contemplate

When was my last Home Visit?

Recommended Reading

Serving in Hope Module VII: Our Vincentian Home Visit

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05-29-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
05-29-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Dear brother and sister Vincentians, greetings from Anchorage, Alaska!

I am delighted to introduce myself as Andrew Bellisario, C.M., the new National Episcopal Advisor for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This year, I celebrate 40 years as a Vincentian priest. Next year commemorates the 50th anniversary of my entry into the Congregation of the Mission, founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1625. More importantly, next year also marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation of the Mission.

I was born and raised in Alhambra, California, near Pasadena, of Rose Parade and Rose Bowl fame. I attended Vincentian seminaries from 1971 until my ordination in 1984. After ordination, I had the privilege of serving in Vincentian parishes, working with local Conferences of the Society, serving as provincial superior of the Vincentians in the western United States, and being the director of the Daughters of Charity. In 2015, my superiors sent me to Alaska to join the Vincentian International Mission, which serves Spanish-speaking people. To my surprise, Pope Francis appointed me the Bishop of Juneau, Alaska, in 2017 and then, the Archbishop of the newly constituted Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau in 2020.

Our president, John Berry, journeyed to Alaska last year to invite me to serve as the National Episcopal Advisor. Initially, I hesitated due to the distance from what we call “the Lower 48.” However, the Vincentian Family’s call is undeniable. I am here, filled with joy and eagerness, ready to serve you and the Society to the best of my abilities. I eagerly anticipate meeting many of you at the National Assembly in August and was pleased to meet some of you at the Mid-Year Meeting in March.

From Easter to Pentecost, it was my honor to visit numerous parishes in my archdiocese to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. Traveling in Alaska can be challenging because of limited roads, accessibility, vast areas, and inclement weather. Outside the road system, boats, ferries, and planes of varying sizes are the norm for transportation. Everywhere travels took me this Easter season, I met parishioners excited and ready to “be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Whether it was a parish in Anchorage and Juneau or our many parishes and missions in smaller towns and villages across 125,000 square miles, our people were ready to allow the Spirit to transform their lives as fully initiated Catholics.

We just celebrated the Solemnity of Pentecost. Reading the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles fills my heart with excitement. The powerful images of Pentecost remain with us to inspire us and give us hope: a strong driving wind, tongues as of fire, and bold preaching in many languages. The Holy Spirit transforms the once-frightened disciples into bold evangelizing preachers. What a difference the Holy Spirit makes!

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the divine gift of God’s love, not only guides us but also compels us to act. God’s love urges us to protect the lives of the unborn, children, the vulnerable, and all people. God’s love urges us to expose injustice and strive for justice vigorously. And as we know so well, God’s love compels us to see the face of our Lord in each person who suffers from poverty.

Working for justice in the service of persons who are poor may seem overwhelming. Still, the patroness of the missions and Alaska, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, knew that the love of Christ is our motivation and the answer to our woes. St. Thérèse reminds us: “You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”

When we love and serve our masters who are poor, we are following Christ the way Blessed Frédéric, Blessed Rosalie, Saint Vincent, and Saint Louise followed Christ. Our Founders were on fire with the Holy Spirit like those early apostles. May we, too, be on fire, and our flames burn forever intensely with love for Christ in his poor.

Many Blessings,
Archbishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M.

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Contemplation: With All Our Strength
Contemplation: With All Our Strength 800 800 SVDP USA

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development

As Vincentians, we understand this to be a calling, a vocation. Each of is called to serve God as a member of the Society, seeing Christ in the neighbor, and growing in holiness through our service. While the meetings and the works of the Society demand much from us, our Rule tells us that our vocation asks much more than that; that it is a “vocation for every moment of our lives.” [Rule, Part I, 2.6]

How could it be otherwise? Our Vincentian vocation is simply our specific way of living the universal vocation of all Christians, to seek holiness, to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This is not a call to be perfect only at Sunday Mass, or Monday Conference meetings, or on home visits. It is a call to be reborn, to be transformed, to be like Christ, fully united with God in eternal life.

So how do we seek holiness in “every moment?” How do we live our vocation, for example, at work? In Christifidelis Laici, Pope Saint John Paul II explained that “in discovering and living their proper vocation and mission, the lay faithful must be formed according to the union which exists from their being members of the Church and citizens of human society.” [CF, 59] In other words, we seek to be in the world, but not of it, as Jesus prayed.

We need look no farther than Blessed Frédéric to find a model to follow. For Frédéric there was no demarcation between Sunday and the rest of the week, no boundary between his prayer and his action, no separation between the secular and the spiritual life. In his teaching, he saw it as his duty to serve the university, but always to serve God in doing so. “I belong both to the church and the university,” he explained, “I believe that I have partly succeeded when, in a public lecture to an audience of every belief and party, I profess Christian teaching with simplicity.” [475, To M Soulacroix, 1843]

While he “proudly professed our faith and refuted contrary systems, striving to fulfill our vocation as professors in a Christian manner and to serve God in serving wholesome teaching,” he also believed it important “that our lectures not be looked upon by our colleagues as provocations demanding a reply and that, if some are strangers to the faith, they not be made its enemies.” [516, to Foisset,1843]

He prayed before every lecture for the Holy Spirit to guide him, and his dedication to his students was total. Hearing of criticism for missing too many classes during his illness, he was unoffended. Instead, he literally arose from his deathbed, and walking into the classroom with assistance, began his lecture saying “Gentlemen, our age is charged with selfishness, and professors are stated to be affected with the general complaint. Yet, it is here that we wear out our health, and use up our strength. I do not complain, our life is yours; we owe it to you to the last breath, and you shall have it. As for me, if I die, it will be in your service.” [Baunard, 358-359] He loved his students as he loved God, with all his strength. It was his last lecture, and perhaps his finest.

Contemplate

Do I seek to serve God in all that I do?

Recommended Reading

Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam

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05-23-24 Servant Leader: The Most Political Thing We Can Do as Vincentians
05-23-24 Servant Leader: The Most Political Thing We Can Do as Vincentians 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Former National CEO and beloved friend and mentor to many, Roger Playwin passed away on May 10. Ever the servant leader, he submitted the letter below shortly before his death.  May we continue to draw inspiration from a man who taught us all so much.

Recently I read an article by Steven P. Millies, a professor of public theology and director of The Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and professor at DePaul University in the same city.

He asks his students to consider that the truest meaning of the word “politics” does not convey a sense of partisanship or division, corruption or competition. He suggests that in its first and best and most useful sense, politics means “our shared life,” the life of the community. “When conflicts arise, politics means addressing them through discussion and law rather than division and violence. Politics means valuing our shared life together more than we value winning any argument-and bearing witness to that value in our commitment to dialogue with one another.”

Millies suggests that our homes, classroom, churches, place of work, and in our case, as members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, our Conferences are a place for discerning together. He identifies accurately that these are places where we can dialogue come to discernment and understanding because none of us comes to understanding alone, and because we value coming to a better understanding together, we also come to value our community of relationship.

In this sense, our Conferences are our ecclesia, the conference community that is called together to bear witness together to what we claim we believe. This may a seem strange and unfamiliar way to think about politics, but it just might hold some answers for us.

We need to find a way to recover the word “politics” from the ways that we as humans abuse it. The word really should mean something greater than division. It should be a word that has special meaning in our private and public lives. A word that calls us to hold each other in special reverence. It’s clear that the way we use the word today is not helpful and does not seem to be helping to improve our shared community’s. Time to try something different together so that as friends, we make the circle wider and more inclusive and more like the community He calls us to be.

Roger T. Playwin
2024

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Disaster Services Success Story: Rest for the Weary
Disaster Services Success Story: Rest for the Weary 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentians,

We are all familiar with the startling and isolating dread that can overwhelm us when the unthinkable happens, and our Vincentian principles call us to action. In the wake of a Midwestern tornado, Vincentian friendship and service shines in the story of a neighbor in need of a place to rest.

As an aging member of the Seminole tribe, living alone in a rented house in Shawnee, Oklahoma on a fixed income, Jane was getting by. But disaster struck in 2023, when a spring tornado blew out her bedroom window, bringing devastating damage to the house and everything inside.

Although her landlord repaired the damage to the house itself, Jane had no renter’s insurance, so she couldn’t replace the furniture and personal items destroyed by the tornado. With FEMA funds exhausted on temporary housing and personal funds spent on other clean up, Jane had no way to obtain a new mattress, and she was left sleeping fretfully on her couch.

Thanks to support from donors like you, and a collaboration between an SVdP Disaster Representative, the Oklahoma City Archdiocesan Council, and disaster case managers at Oklahoma City Catholic Charities, Jane connected with the St. Andrew Conference in Moore, Oklahoma. The OKC Council purchased a new mattress using funds from a SVdP Long-Term Disaster Recovery Grant and mobilized St. Andrew Vincentians to deliver the mattress to their neighbor in need.

Jane was delighted to receive the final item necessary to put her home back in order and comfortably rest again, thanks to the help of dutiful Vincentians in collaboration with their community partners.

Identifying and fostering relationships with other local organizations empowers your Conference to better serve your neighbors when disaster strikes. Who do you know in your area involved in emergency management? Where are the gaps in community response that your Conference can help fill?

When Vincentians pursue these collaborative relationships, we strengthen our community bonds to the benefit of our Conferences, our neighbors, and our community partners.

In Christ,
The SVdP USA Disaster Services Corporation Team

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Contemplation: A Model To Follow
Contemplation: A Model To Follow 1080 1080 SVDP USA

By Tim Williams, Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development

When we hear the word “leader” we naturally think of a great general, a head of state, one of those celebrity CEOs, or even a star athlete leading a team to victory. The great leader is an American archetype: charismatic, confident, inspiring; a leader, in short, is “large and in charge.”

For most of us, this is an image that would be difficult to live up to, so when the Council or Conference announces an upcoming election for a new president, we remain quiet, and even if invited directly to serve, we demur. “Large and in charge,” we think, “That just isn’t me.”

Perhaps instead we should first consider that it is not merely our fellow Vincentians suggesting that we consider serving as leaders. After all, we are taught to discern God’s will for us in the people and events in our lives. What people or events led us to join the Society in the first place? Surely, we didn’t come up with that idea on our own. Indeed, St. Vincent de Paul was quite clear that not a single one of his works was ultimately his own idea, all of it came from God. It was God who called us here, and God who calls us now. If He asks us, through others, to consider leading the Conference, we ought to take the time to seriously discern that call.

And in discerning, we consider also the nature of Vincentian leadership – servant leadership. Our model is not the commander, the ruler, or the boss. Our model is the master and teacher who nevertheless knelt down and washed the feet of His disciples. “I have given you,” He said, “A model to follow.” Our model of a leader, then, is not the greatest, but the least; not the master but the servant. In short, a Vincentian servant leader is not “large and in charge,” but small, and for all.

But you say that you simply haven’t the knowledge or the gifts to lead? “Don’t think,” St. Vincent de Paul once explained, “that responsible positions are always given to the most capable or virtuous.” [CCD IX: 526] Servant leadership is part of our calling, part of our vocation, and it is precisely the humility that makes us reluctant to take on a leadership role that makes us better suited to do so. Trust in providence, in this case, means trusting that “when God calls us to it … either He sees in us the proper dispositions or has determined to give them to us.” [CCD XI:128]

Our Cultural Beliefs remind us that “as Vincentians we are committed to… develop ourselves and others to become Servant Leaders.” [Rule, Part III, St. 2] When we were called to this vocation we were already called to servant leadership, and we can all have confidence, when it is our turn to serve, that “God gives sufficient graces to those He calls to it.” [CCD IX:526]

Contemplate

Have I truly listened to and answered God’s call to lead?

Recommended Reading

Praying with Vincent de Paul

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05-16-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
05-16-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

On Monday of this week, I spent the day in meetings at the Vatican in Rome. Working alongside Juan Manuel Gomez, the President General International of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and CGI Board Member Sebastian Gramajo from Argentina, we had three meetings: first with Monsignor Luis Marin de San Martin, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, then with Maria Lia Zervino, Institutional Director of World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, and lastly with The Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, and Fr. Patrio Salgat of that office.

Each of these meetings was vitally important to the work of the Society, both here in the United States as well as globally. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was established by Pope Francis in August 2016. The work of the Dicastery, as directed by Pope Francis, is to express the Holy See’s concern for issues of justice and peace, including those related to migration, health, charitable works, and the care of creation.

The Dicastery promotes integral human development in the light of the Gospel and in the tradition of the Church’s social teachings. The Dicastery also expresses the Holy Father’s care for suffering humanity, including the needy, the sick and the excluded, and pays special attention to the needs and issues of those who are forced to flee their homeland, the stateless, the marginalized, victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters, the imprisoned, the unemployed, victims of contemporary forms of slavery and torture, and others whose dignity is endangered.

That mission certainly sounds a lot like what we do as members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, doesn’t it?

This meeting was important in helping us understand how we can work more closely with the Church and the Bishops in supporting the work of the Holy See in areas such as Integral Human Development.

Similarly, our meeting with the Office of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations was very informative, as we learned about the work of the Church in helping to empower and lift women out of poverty across the world. SVdP USA does an incredible amount of Twinning and project support overseas, and it was good to hear about project work being done through the Vatican. Additionally, the Vatican is looking for our support in some of the work they want to do in the United States, especially around poverty, women, single mothers, and other areas. We will be honored to help!

The meeting with the General Secretariat of the Synod was very interesting and enlightening. We had a wonderful discussion about VisionSVdP, and team at the Vatican were thrilled to hear about what we are doing! They had a lot of questions about our reasons for launching the effort, and were excited that we were modeling our efforts on the theme of Adapting to a Changing World.

One of the things that Msgr. San Martin kept emphasizing was the changing technology of the modern world and how we must adapt not only our processes and procedures, but also our approaches, to ensure we do not lose the spiritual closeness in the drive to technical efficiency and the electronic world. He was speaking my language! He was saying what I have been saying since I first put myself forward as a candidate for National President.

While we can, should, and will change and adapt our systems and our technology to make ourselves more effective and efficient as an operating organization, we cannot, must not, and will not ever lose the human-to-human, Christ-centered Encounter that is the foundational basis of who and what we are. At our core, at our spiritual center, at our faith grounding, we are people serving people through a process of encounter: Encounter in a Home Visit, a food pantry, a thrift store, a pharmacy, a housing program, a shelter, a prison visit, any of the many special works we provide.

My visits to the Vatican helped to define further areas and opportunities for collaboration and cooperation between SVdP and the Holy See to support people in need in the United States and internationally. Those visits also helped to reinforce to me the outstanding work of the Councils and Conferences across the country in support of our neighbors in need and in alignment with Catholic Social Teaching.

Peace and God’s blessings,
John

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In Memoriam: Roger Playwin
In Memoriam: Roger Playwin 459 649 SVDP USA

Roger T. Playwin
1941 – 2024

Former National CEO, beloved friend, and dedicated Vincentian Roger Playwin passed away last week at the age of 83.

The model of servant leadership, Roger’s long history with nonprofit organizations led him to become Executive Director of the St. Vincent de Paul’s Detroit Archdiocesan Council in 1998. Roger was named Executive Director of the National Council in April 2003; five years later, he became its first Chief Executive Officer, in recognition of the expanded duties and responsibilities of his position.

As a Society leader, he structured the National Council to include all aspects of diversity and better compliance in areas of governance. He served on the National Board of Directors and when he retired in 2013, he remained active with the Society at various levels and roles, including serving as Treasurer for the National Foundation Board, and stepping in for a time as an Interim Executive Director for the Detroit ADCC.

Passionate about serving families impacted by disasters, Roger was on the first Board of the Disaster Services Corporation in 2017, and stayed active with the Board as Vice Chair until the end of 2022. He continued to serve on the DSC Governance Committee, lending his expertise in NGO policies. While serving as CEO of the National Council, Roger was instrumental in getting the Katrina Aid Today Contract, which served Katrina survivors in 17 Councils across the United States. This was the largest contract of its kind for the Society and helped to keep thousands of displaced Katrina survivors from becoming homeless across the nation.

National President John Berry remarked, “Roger was a beloved friend to many people both in and out of the Society. He lived the virtues of being a Vincentian through his service, his friendship, and his deep spirituality. Roger mentored many of us when we came into the Society, and he was always there supporting us when we needed him. When I was elected National President, Roger was a trusted advisor helping me navigate my new role. I will miss him very much.”

Roger is survived by his wife, Sue, three children, four grandchildren, and all of us who knew and loved him well.

“Roger was a tremendous support and mentor to me in the role of National CEO,” noted National CEO Dave Barringer. “He continued to be available at any time for any reason for so many local Executive Directors as a great friend and coach in his retirement. He will be greatly missed.”

A visitation will be held today, May 16, from 4 to 8 PM at Chas. Verheyden, Inc. Funeral Home in Grosse Pointe Park, MI. Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, May 17 at 10 AM at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Park.

Roger’s family has asked that memorial contributions be made to the National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at www.ssvpusa.org/donate/.

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Contemplation: Invitation to Grow
Contemplation: Invitation to Grow 1080 1080 SVDP USA

By Timothy Williams, Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development

Why did you join the Society of St. Vincent de Paul? And why do you stay? These are two very important questions for every Vincentian to meditate upon from time to time. Membership is a vocation, a calling. Each of us heard a call, but it spoke to each of us differently, based on our own backgrounds, our own motives, our own unique and unrepeatable persons.

Were you drawn by the invitation of a friend, motivated, as we often are, to love what our friends love? We sit through concerts or ball games only because our friend is a fan, and sometimes we also become fans over time. St. Vincent once pointed out an even deeper friendship flows from this tendency, asking, “Can we have a better friend than God? Must we not love all that He loves and, for love of Him, consider our neighbor as our friend!” [CCD XI:39] If you joined because of friendship, is that still the reason that you stay? If you were drawn by something else, have you grown in friendship that keeps you in the Society?

Others, of course, perhaps most of us, heard a call to live our faith in acts of service; we weren’t drawn as strongly to prayer groups or “conference table ministries”. Instead, we wanted, as St. Vincent so famously put it, to “love God…with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows” [CCD XI:32], serving Jesus exactly as he asked us to! After all, aren’t works of charity what the Society is best known for? Yet over time, the work can sometimes be wearying, the calls can be interruptions, the stress we share with our neighbors in need can begin to wear on us. The service may be the reason you joined, but is it the reason you stay? Is it the work itself, or is it something deeper that flows from the work?

Some of us were called by the inspirational example of our patron Saint’s holiness, and truly sought first to deepen our own faith and spirituality by following his example, even as he imitated the example of Christ. If we sought prayer and meditation, we certainly have found it in our Conferences. We are people of prayer. But as you’ve prayed and reflected with fellow Vincentians, have you discovered new levels of friendship? Has your prayer led you to action? Why do you stay?

It is difficult to separate these motives, because they all work so closely together. Our friendship informs our service and becomes part of what we offer to the neighbor. Our encounters with the neighbor, in whom we see Christ, strengthen our faith and spirituality. Our faith grows stronger as it is shared with each other in prayer, reflection, friendship, and service. One of the best ways to continue in this growth is to take the time to reflect on it, and to share our own growth with our fellow Vincentians.

You might say this is essential.

Contemplate

Take some quiet time this week and ponder these questions: why did I join, and why do I stay?

Recommended Writing

Write down your thoughts on these questions, then share them with your fellow Vincentians. Journey together.

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