contemplation - SVDP USA

Contemplation – Proof of Friendship

All of us have had many friends in our lives: childhood friends, work friends, teammates, Army buddies, fishing buddies, maybe you even have a “BFF.” Still, when we hear the…

Contemplation – From the Fullness of Our Hearts

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a rash of people across the country who swore they’d seen the late Elvis Presley filling his gas tank or eating…

Contemplation – Save Space for the Neighbor

The spiritual dimension of our Vincentian formation is based on the understanding that we are created to live in community, to grow in faith together. This is why we always…

Contemplation – The State of Angels

There is an old saying, perhaps originating with the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, that we should “expect the unexpected.” Practicing what St. Vincent termed holy indifference, we instead are reminded to…

Contemplation – Those Irritating Questions

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…

Contemplation – Better Things To Do

“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…

Contemplation – Forever a Beautiful Tree

We can sometimes feel frustrated, even guilty, when our works don’t seem to achieve the results we’d anticipated, forgetting for a moment that we are called to serve our neighbors…

Contemplation – For Love Alone

In describing the Vincentian Vocation, our Rule says that our “ideal is to help relieve suffering for love alone.” [Rule, Part I, 2.2] Many, if not most Vincentians are first…

Contemplation – Small Things Compose Great Things

Today’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul, with nearly a million members worldwide, may fairly be said to have fulfilled Blessed Frédéric’s vision of a “network of charity and social…

Contemplation – The Best Way to Help

“In appearing again before you after the great events that have taken place,” Frédéric said in a classroom lecture in 1848, “I am happy to say that, looking back over…