Vincentians

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September is National Preparedness Month
September is National Preparedness Month 940 788 SVDP USA

National Preparedness Month Information From Disaster Services Corporation

Recently, it was reported that 246 people lost their lives from the ice storms that hit Texas last year.  The United States census bureau also released that at least 1,400 people lost their lives last year due to the fact they were not prepared for extreme cold weather. Not all winter storms are created equal; but when you are properly prepared, it can mean the difference between life and death.

Blizzards and other extreme cold weather events can last from a few hours or a few weeks. It can cause frozen roadways, dangerously high winds, and raise the risk of frostbite and hypothermia.

Like hurricanes, freezing storms can cause widespread power outages, cutting off your access to heat, and increasing the likelihood that your children, elderly loved ones, and pets will get sick from the cold.

That’s why preparing for extreme winter weather is so important. The following is a list of preventive measures you can take to “winterize” your home.

  • Stock your home with enough food, water, and supplies to last for days without power. Essential supplies include batteries, flashlights, radios, portable cell phone chargers, medication, pet food and supplies, and any necessary items for family members with health conditions.
  • Insulate doors and windows with caulk or weather stripping.
  • Make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly, and keep backup batteries on hand.
  • Insulate walls, attic, and any water lines that run through exterior walls to keep them from freezing.
  • Consider adding exterior storm shutters to your windows for extra protection from flying debris.
  • When temperatures are at or below freezing for an extended period of time, keep faucets on a constant drip to prevent pipes from freezing and potentially bursting.
  • Make sure you know where the main water valve is in your home in case a pipe bursts due to the cold. And schedule a family meeting to brief them on how to shut it off.
  • Make sure your roof is free of leaks. The better shape your roof is in, the less the cold can get in.
  • Cut down any tree branches that may break off and damage your house.
  • Plan on using your fireplace to stay warm? Schedule yearly chimney and flue inspections to ensure it’s safe to use.
  • Have a set of blankets and clothing stored in a water-resistant bag that can be easily accessed in an emergency.

No one ever expects their life to be turned upside-down by a natural disaster, but preparing ahead of time can make a stressful situation a bit easier! #BePrepared

 

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Contemplation — Working for God’s Sake
Contemplation — Working for God’s Sake 940 788 SVDP USA

Studying the words of our Vincentian predecessors helps to remind us of the challenges we share, and the spirituality, traditions, and friendship that bind us to them and to the poor. For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some members of the Society in the United States began to adopt a term for home visitors: the friendly visitor, a term that captures what our Rule now calls establishing “relationships based on trust and friendship” with the neighbor. [Rule, Part I, 1.9]

The Proceedings of the National Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, held in Boston in June of 1911, contains numerous accounts of the importance of this personal and spiritual connection which remains at the heart of our Vincentian vocation.

In a talk about our works of love, Fr. Hugh Monaghan of Baltimore explained the importance of each member committing at least an hour a week to the work of visiting families, bringing gentleness, patience, and perseverance to those visits, so that the family may “realize that there is someone interested in them, someone who does care when things go wrong, someone who makes their joys and sorrows his own.” [Proceedings, p.77]

What greater gift could we bring than to reassure our neighbor not only that while we are there, they are the most important people in the world to us, but that when we leave, their troubles are also our own? If it takes one month, or six, or even ten years to make a difference in a neighbor’s life through our friendship, Fr. Hugh said, we will have “accomplished a work of charity greater, by far, than could be represented by any amount of money.” [Ibid, p.77]

It was in this spirit of friendship and mercy, also, that James Dougherty of New York explained our obligation to get to know the neighbor ourselves, not to rely upon, or contribute to shared databases (“card catalogs”) to determine a neighbor’s worthiness for assistance. Pointing out that our mandate to perform works of corporal mercy does not include any “conditions as to the character of the needy,” Daugherty went on to explain that many in need would “rather die than expose their condition,” which obliges us, in respect of their dignity, not to share their names and stories. [Ibid, p.119]

We cannot understand Christ’s reminder that the poor always will be with us apart from his admonition that our treatment of the poor will be judged as if done to Christ Himself. How we serve the poor is not a measure of our efficiency, but a measure of our love and of our faith.

Today, as in 1911, “we are apt to allow ourselves to get into a rut and forget the spiritual side of the work,” but to be friendly visitors is to “bear the fact constantly in mind that we are working for God’s sake. Do this and note the effects in our work among the poor.” [Proceedings, P. 118]

Contemplate

Do I always seek to make the neighbor’s joys and sorrows my own?

Recommended Reading

Turn Everything to Love

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SVdP News Roundup Sept. 3 – Sept. 9
SVdP News Roundup Sept. 3 – Sept. 9 1200 1200 SVDP USA
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Daily Prayers September 6 – September 10
Daily Prayers September 6 – September 10 940 788 SVDP USA

Tuesday, September 6

Heavenly Father, Lord of All,
Hold me in Your hand
Give me the faith
That moves mountains
The hope that
Turns night into day
The love that multiplies
Only when given away
Amen

Wednesday, September 7

Heavenly Father,
May neither my blessings
Nor my woes
Separate me from You
Make me Your instrument
Seeking first the kingdom
And serving the neighbor
For love alone
Amen

Thursday, September 8

Mary, Mother of God
And Patroness of the Society
Pray for us
That we may have the strength
To follow your example
Of humble obedience
And undying love
And that through your Son
Jesus Christ
We may be brought to new life
Amen

Friday, September 9

Pray for us, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam!
That we may share your passion for mercy, charity, and justice;
That we may bring the word of God fearlessly to the public square,
Promoting a civilization of love,
So that charity may accomplish what justice alone cannot.
Pray for us Blessed Frédéric Ozanam!
That we may dedicate ourselves to serving God in all parts of our lives,
Burning slowly, like perfume on the altar.
Pray also that we may follow your example of humility,
Going in simplicity where merciful Providence leads us.

Father in Heaven, we pray to You

For Your faithful servant, Frederic Ozanam,
Founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
If it be Your will, may the Church proclaim his holiness a Saint!

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.

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Vincentians Gather in Baltimore for 2022 SVdP National Assembly
Vincentians Gather in Baltimore for 2022 SVdP National Assembly 1171 862 SVDP USA

Last week, the halls of the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront were abuzz with Vincentian camaraderie. More than 700 attendees gathered in Baltimore for the 2022 SVdP National Assembly. It was a wonderful four days full of shared knowledge, experience, and the Vincentian charism.

“Hosting the National Assembly for over 700+ Vincentians was wonderful and inspiring working with a team of generous Vincentians and volunteers, and welcoming so many joyful Vincentians from across the nation,” said Pauline Manalo, Baltimore Council President. “It was uplifting to receive expressions of gratitude from countless assembly participants. an indication that the National Assembly in Baltimore was a blessed and graced experience for Vincentians coming to the Water. Praise the Lord!”

The meeting officially began on Wednesday with exhibits opening, and a preparedness workshop hosted by Disaster Services Corporation. Several National committees, including Stores and Governance, held meetings, and the National Board of Directors met. Attendees had the unique opportunity to participate in one of three special tours to see Baltimore! These tours included religious sites, the Baltimore Council’s Family and Housing Services, and the Council’s Hunger Services. Vincentians loved seeing the work of their fellow Vincentians, up close and personal.

On Thursday, things really ramped up and National Committees met in-person to discuss business. Workshops also began on Thursday covering a plethora of topics including fundraising, Conference Revitalization, and Spirituality.

The first keynote address of the Assembly was given by Alexia Kelley of FADICA. Her address was about “Catholic Philanthropy: Inspiration, Impact, and Next Generation Engagement.”

Former SVdP National Episcopal Advisor, Bishop John Quinn was awarded the SVdP National Foundation’s Inaugural Founder’s Award. He was recognized for his exceptional service to the National Council, Society of St. Vincent de Paul. To learn more about this special recognition, click here.

The afternoon featured more workshops, including one specifically for the youth and young adult attendees. It was given by John Paul Brissette, a member of the National Youth Committee, and discussed how youth can run a successful project called “Do Güd Day,” in their local Conference or Council. “My favorite was the Do Güd Workshop because it was a direct way for us to serve our neighbors in Maryland,” said one youth attendee. “I enjoyed meeting other youth and young adults in the U.S. who also care about serving our brothers and sisters in need.”

That evening, attendees spend an evening under the sea at the Host City Event which was held at the National Aquarium. There, attendees were treated to delicious food, a variety of sea life, and a special meet and greet with the four nominees for SVdP National President.

First thing Friday morning, Vincentians gathered for the Spiritual Retreat. This year’s retreat was lead by Dan Schutte and was titled, “Here I am Lord — Feeding the Hearts of a Servant.” The Spiritual Retreat is one of the things that attendees look forward to most that the National Assembly, and this year’s did not disappoint! It was a beautiful time for Vincentians to come together and celebrate the Society’s essential elements of Friendship, Spirituality, and Service.

After more workshops, daily Mass, and the General Session hosted by Kerry Robinson of Leadership Roundtable titled “The Path to a Better Future: Co-Responsibility and a New Culture of Leadership in the Church,” Vincentians had the chance to catch a Baltimore Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards. They must’ve brought the city some good mojo, because the Orioles brought home a winner!

The final day of the National Assembly is always a little bittersweet, but that didn’t slow anyone down. We were blessed by the attendance of International President General Renato Lima de Oliveira, who addressed attendees on Saturday morning.

In a beautiful moment near the end of his presentation, President Renato led the entire room in song. We were all one voice in that moment. “The energy in the rooms in Baltimore really made it feel as if we were finally leaving our pandemic ‘shell shock’ behind, and that a real re-founding and revitalization is beginning to dawn across the whole Society,” said Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.

Youth and Young Adult attendees spent time Saturday doing an off-site service project. They worked at the Baltimore Council’s Beans and Bread Program, packing bags with essentials for neighbors in need. “I really enjoyed the Beans and Bread service project. It was useful to see how an organized service event is run and get ideas for incorporating it in the young adult groups I am a part of. I wish I could have attended everything!” said Andrea Behler, youth attendee.

Saturday marked the National Business Meeting and signified the next step in the National Presidential Election when the nominee field was narrowed down to two candidates, John Berry and Brian Burgess. To learn more about the election process, see Ralph Middlecamp’s column here.

After the final round of workshops, Vincentians gathered for the final celebration of the Liturgy together at the Vigil Mass, which was celebrated by Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore.

Mass was followed by the closing banquet. There, Brandon Davis and Mia Humphrey were named co-winners of the first-ever Alice Garvey Excellence in Youth Award for their exceptional work with their local SVdP Councils to help their neighbors in need. Before officially ending the evening, leadership recognized key players that helped make this year’s National Assembly happen and the host Council passed the baton to the St. Louis Council who will host next year’s National Assembly.

“The St. Louis Archdiocesan Council looks forward to hosting the 2023 National Assembly, September 6-9, in St. Louis, MO,” said the St. Louis Council. “Because the first Conference of the Society of the U.S.A. began in St. Louis in 1845, we are blessed to say this is ‘Where it All Began.’  Our Board of Directors, Assembly Committee members, Council staff, and 3,400 Vincentians look forward to welcoming you and meeting you in St Louis next year!”

Overall, it was a lovely few days spent with brother and sister Vincentians focusing on all things SVdP. Thank you all who helped make it possible! We cannot wait to see everyone in STL next year!

“Participating in the National Assembly is such a blessing for me. I love being with other Vincentians and sharing joy, friendship and our spirituality. With over 700 attendees I get to meet new Vincentians from diverse communities and that makes me happy,” said Katherine Ramirez, Vincentian from New York. “This year I was especially glad so many youth and young adults were there. And so many Latinos too!”

 

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09-08-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
09-08-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1367 1520 SVDP USA

A wonderful Annual Assembly of the National Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society wrapped up last Saturday evening in Baltimore. I want to warn our members who did not attend that we who were there are returning home with many new ideas and zeal for the renewal of our Society. I hope you catch some of that enthusiasm. I am back home writing this column with the intent of featuring the highlights, and I am having trouble – not because of my aging memory but because there were so many of them.

It was not the National Assembly’s most important moment, but for me the most-moving highlight took place during our Friday-morning retreat. With fervor, nearly 800 Vincentians sang “Here I Am Lord” with musician and composer Dan Schutte. They sang “I will go Lord, if you need me, I will hold your people in my heart,” and there was no doubt they meant it.

A close-second highlight also came in song. At the end of an informative and passion-filled speech by Renato Lima de Oliveira, the President General of the Society’s International Council, he led us in Matt Maher’s powerful song, “I Need You Lord.” A song fervently sung and meant by the overflowing crowd of Vincentians made tangible the bonds of friendship we forge as we journey together toward holiness.

The most-important thing that happened at the Assembly was the choice made during Saturday’s Business Meeting, when your delegates chose the two candidates for whom you will vote in the months ahead to be your next National Council President. After listening to talks by the four candidates, delegates chose John Berry and Brian Burgess to advance as the final nominees. I want to thank all four highly qualified nominees for their willingness to serve. More will be shared with you about the voting process in the weeks ahead.

One of the specific initiatives we kicked off at the Assembly was promotion of a revised version of an evaluation of our organization at all levels. Started back in 2009, this evaluation framework is called our Standards of Excellence. We will be asking every level of our organization to engage in this self-evaluation process to ensure our Councils and Conferences are prepared structurally to meet the challenges we are facing in the years ahead. Please take this process to heart and use it to assess your current activity and structure and then to create the plans that will make us a stronger, better Society.

The talks, workshops, and liturgies at the Assembly were excellent. The workshops, especially, gave us much to take home and work on in the months ahead. At the meeting, we also celebrated our accomplishments and challenged ourselves to meet the needs of the changing world in which we serve our neighbors in need. We featured the 20th anniversary of the highly successful Invitation for Renewal Program. We also recognized the work of our Disaster Services Corporation, which has significantly grown its capacity and credibility since we established it five years ago. Thank you to all the organizers and presenters who made this an exceptionally great meeting.

Music always moves me and enriches my prayer life. That may be why hearing hundreds of voices singing “Here I am Lord” together in Baltimore was so powerful for me. I hope you, too, can say, “Here I Am,” and make that commitment to serve, to be a leader and to grow our organization. It is not easy work we do. Our need for being spiritually grounded in that commitment could not have been more powerfully communicated to us than it was by having our very own President General choose to sing, “Lord, I need You, oh, I need You. Every hour, I need You.”

I left the meeting in Baltimore with a desire to work for this Society with a renewed commitment in this last year of my presidency. That’s a commitment to serve all of you as we grow in holiness and live out our Vincentian mission together. Even though you may not have been with us at the National Assembly, I hope you choose to renew your passion for that mission with me.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

P.S. This Friday, September 9, is the Feast of Blessed Frederic Ozanam. Please take time to pray for his canonization, which we hope will occur in the near future.

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SVdP National Foundation Honors Bishop John Quinn With Founder’s Award
SVdP National Foundation Honors Bishop John Quinn With Founder’s Award 1694 1125 SVDP USA

At the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s recent National Assembly in Baltimore, the SVdP National Foundation honored recently retired Bishop John Quinn with its Inaugural Founder’s Award.

The award recognizes Bishop Quinn’s exceptional service and outstanding contributions to the National Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Bishop Quinn was enthusiastically chosen as the inaugural recipient of the award, which will be given by the National Foundation annually going forward.

“Like the Society’s original founders, Frédéric Ozanam and his friends, Bishop Quinn’s contributions have had a lasting impact on SVdP, and he has left a legacy of faith and service,” said Chief Advancement Officer Ryan Carney.

Bishop Quinn served the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as its National Episcopal Advisor for 12 years, helping to advance the Society and champion its mission to his brother Bishops. A beloved figure within the Society, he also spiritually fed and guided the Society’s leaders and Vincentian volunteers during that time.

More recently, he has served as Spiritual Advisor to the National Foundation, which works to support the work of the National Council and strengthens the Vincentian network of charity through financial support and other endeavors.

Bishop Quinn recently retired as Bishop of Winona-Rochester, but will continue to advise and support the work of the National Foundation.

Congratulations, Bishop Quinn! We thank you for your service and devotion to the Society.

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News Roundup August 27 – September 6
News Roundup August 27 – September 6 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

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Contemplation — Our True Friend
Contemplation — Our True Friend 940 788 SVDP USA

When we think back to the times in our lives when we have needed some help, or advice, or a shoulder to cry on, those are the times we learned who our true friends were. If we were blessed already to know who our true friends were, those are the ones we called to help, to advise, or to offer their shoulder.

Of course, we know there are certain things you can ask only of a friend – when you are in an embarrassing predicament, your true friend is the one who will not only help, but will do so without laughing (at least not until you can both laugh about it later).

Blessed Rosalie once wrote back to a friend who had asked her for a favor so she could thank him for the request, saying: “I cannot tell you how you please me in giving me the opportunity to do something for your interests. Always act this way with me, without any hesitation. It is the proof of friendship that I hope for.” [Sullivan, 237]

And isn’t this how we react to requests from our friends, too? We might not say the words, but inside we are proud and grateful to be the ones who are trusted to help, and to share the burden. We also share our friends’ secrets; the troubles they will only confide in their closest friends. Bl. Frédéric wrote about home visits, explaining that when we visit the neighbor, “we share the lonely secret of his lonely heart and troubled mind”. Just like any good friend, we listen and we keep those secrets, without being asked.

Our Rule calls us to “form relationships based on trust and friendship” with the neighbors we serve. [Rule, Part I, 1.9] The neighbors who have called us, who have asked us for help, even though it may have been embarrassing for them to do so, have taken the first step of friendship. By confiding in us their stories, their secrets, and their struggles, they have treated us not only as friends, but as true friends; the closest of friends.

There are times when our Conferences may be short on money and may not be able to offer the material help that the neighbor needs, but that is never a reason not to visit. If we truly believe that “giving love, talents and time is more important than giving money” [Rule, Part I, 3.14] then our treasuries are always full!

The friendship we share with each other, we are bound to share also with the neighbor, welcoming them into our community of faith. After all, our true friends are the ones who ask for help.

Contemplate

Have I inadvertently withheld my friendship from a neighbor, focusing too much on the “transaction?”

Recommended Reading

Mystic Of Charity

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Contemplation — Experts In Their Own Situation
Contemplation — Experts In Their Own Situation 940 788 SVDP USA

To “offer humble advice” is a natural part of the home visit. [Manual, 2.1] Bl. Frédéric even listed “good advice” among the things we offer to the poor that we may ourselves one day stand in need of, rendering our help mutual, and therefore honorable. [O’Meara, 229]

Yet, at the same time, we are cautioned to “not be quick to advise” and to offer advice only when it is “wanted and appropriate.” Above all, we must never make our assistance dependent upon the neighbor taking our advice. [Conference President Handbook, 35]

To offer advice humbly is to acknowledge that we do not necessarily know what’s best; that ours is only an opinion based on our own experience. In the course of building “relationships based on trust and friendship” [Rule, Part I, 1.9] we will learn more about the neighbor’s experience, but they will always remain the experts on their own situation.

Advice between friends is always better received than advice from a stranger. Yet even between friends, advice must be given humbly. As Frédéric once described his own advice it in a letter to a friend, “they are not counsels, for I am not capable of counseling anyone; they are reflections I have had, and I pass them on to you for you to do whatever you wish.” [Letter 82, to Curnier, 1834]

The poor, like any other friend, are free to do whatever they wish with our advice, and that can’t be a condition for continued assistance. After all, what if they took our advice and it turned out badly for them? To offer advice humbly is to accept that this is entirely possible, and that it is therefore just as reasonable to reject our advice as to take it.

Frédéric once described the poor as “beaten souls, who always receive us the same way, always with the same reserve at the end of a year as on the first day, who are very careful not to contradict a single thing we say, but who for all that change none of their ways.” He went on to explain that this is one of the very reasons that we choose to assist them, even though “we could go to others who would listen and understand!” [Letter 107, to Curnier, 1835]

We sometimes talk about the poor becoming “dependent” on our assistance, but we should also be mindful that they can just as easily become dependent on our advice, particularly if we demand that they follow our advice as a condition of our assistance.

The poor are and always will be the experts in their own situations. Advice offered humbly is not an expression of expertise, but of love and encouragement as neighbors develop their own solutions, while we walk alongside them as friends.

Contemplate

Do I sometimes become impatient with neighbors who do not take my advice?

Recommended Reading

Serving in Hope, Module VII

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