Servant Leader

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Our mission statement says that we are “A network of friends inspired by Gospel values.” True to the vision of our principal founder, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, our network of charity has come to embrace the whole world. Administering that global network and making it feel real to Vincentians is the work of the Council General International. To strengthen the bonds of this network, our tradition going back to our first President General, Emmanuel Bailly d’Surcy, has been for the President General to write an annual Circular Letter to all members.

Renato Lima d’ Oliveira, our current President General, has preserved that tradition and recently released a Circular Letter that will be the final of his presidency. You can find the full text here: 2023 PGI Circular Letter.

Please take the time to read the letter. Renato covers many topics of interest to all. The 17 pages of this year’s Circular Letter are organized around seven topics. Brother Renato, who will be leaving his position on September 9th, has given the text a farewell tone, while at the same time sharing reflections on his seven years in office. The letter would be a good topic for discussion at one or two of your Conference meetings.

I am grateful for the tireless servant leadership of Brother Renato, who constantly demonstrates a deep commitment to serving the poor and to growing in holiness. Below, I include a small sample from the beginning and end of his letter.

Serviens in spe,

Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

Excerpt from International President General, Renato Lima de Oliveira’s Circular Letter

Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ! Once again, I am delighted to write, for the seventh consecutive year to my dear fellow members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul around the world, as well as to new members, volunteers and staff at our various projects, Councils and Conferences. May our Blessed Lady show us the path of charity promoted so well by Saint Vincent de Paul.

This year, 2023, I end my term of office as the 16th President General International of our International Confederation, an honor for which I was never properly prepared. Only with God’s help was I able to reach the end of this path, with many successes on the basis of our 10-point strategic plan, thanks to the dedicated work of the International Board and the Superior Councils. …

So as I always say: the writing of a Circular Letter is a gift from God for any President General. I hope that members of our Society can reflect on the sections of this Circular Letter, and I count on you for any comments, criticisms and suggestions, by e-mail: cgi.circularletter@gmail.com. …

The Lord Jesus accompanies me throughout my life, in both joyful times and in the difficult times. The good God protects me every day, washes away my flaws, corrects my mistakes, calms my heart, reduces my anxiety, cares for my family, and makes our plans for life prosper. So I always ask the same thing: pray for me, that I may continue in this fine mission as President General for you all.

I also ask prayers from now on for the 17th International President General who will take up their role on 9 September 2023. To my successor, whoever it may be, I promise I will be a loyal and discreet servant, always available when called upon for any task. I urge my successor to remember that our best response to critics is forgiveness, service, love and goodness, giving to God all the difficulties we experience. Only thus will we gain the Paradise which we so long to reach some day.

I wish to express my deep gratitude to the Board of the Council General, who have helped me govern the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in the past seven years. As well as the Board, some 100 members belong to the various departments, committees, vice-presidencies, working groups or missions of the Council General. And at our head office, located in Paris, we rely on our well prepared and experienced members of staff. For Father Andrés Motto, our beloved spiritual adviser, I have no words to thank him for the advice he has given us. I also have to express my special thanks to all the territories forming our Confederation. Without the support of the Superior Councils, it would be impossible to be a good President General. A warm embrace to everyone, and see you soon!

Brother Renato Lima de Oliveira
16th President General International

What do these famous music albums have in common? Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Band on the Run,” Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions,” Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the Eagles’ “Desperado,” and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man?” Among many other well-loved albums, they all were released in 1973. In case you blinked, that’s now 50 years ago!

We still hear songs from these albums on the radio, as TV commercial backgrounds, and of course in retailers and elevators nationwide, even globally. While every generation’s favored music comes and goes, the music from this Baby Boomer period seems particularly lasting.

On the other hand, some of today’s young adults think that the Beatles played alongside Beethoven or Irving Berlin. Chuck Berry is considered more of a “classical music” historical figure than a musical influence.  Some actually believe that Kanye West gave Paul McCartney his big break on a single just a few years ago. What’s old can indeed be new again, or at least a discovery for a new audience.

Earlier this month the Society participated in the Fellowship of College and University Students (FOCUS) giant SEEK event, with more than 17,000 mostly college students gathering in prayer, fellowship, and introduction to Catholic discernment and volunteer opportunities. Our Vincentians and Society staff talked with hundreds of young people about starting Society Conferences on college campuses and how to volunteer either at school or back home in their local Conferences.

A common message we heard is that while the student knew of the Society, and perhaps had a family member who is a serving Vincentian, they had never been asked to participate themselves. I began to think after a few of these conversations that we could grow our Society’s membership if we did nothing more than ask our own children and other relatives to join us!

Our children often learned about our generation’s music by listening to it with us in the car. Along the way, did we forget to tell them, or show them, what we do as Vincentians?

Likely, if you began your own Society service when you retired, your kids were already adults themselves. Their habits including volunteerism may have been formed, largely from their exposures as teens and young adults to what they saw around them. Some children, at any age, have an unintentional blind spot when it comes to their parents. They are certainly influenced by what they see and hear from parents, but they can be more influenced by a teacher, coach, Scout leader, or other adult who gave them a positive experience. Please consider this both as a parent or grandparent, but also in your dealings with young adults in any part of your life. You might not consider yourself a mentor, but your examples, character and, hopefully, your invitation to join the Society, can be incredibly impactful.

On Broadway they say that every performance is someone’s Opening Night, so the actors are encouraged to give their best every time. Don’t we owe our young relatives and friends this same enthusiasm and Vincentian example when we encounter – and invite them – into our Society path to Holiness and service to those in need?

Those albums from 50 years ago still play well today. So too does our mission after more than 175 years!  So roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Over the past few years, COVID-19 has meant many organizations’ well-intended plans and initiatives were put on hold or received little attention. For our organization, one such set of delayed efforts were our plans to improve the policies and practices needed for safeguarding vulnerable persons. At the National Council meeting in Houston in August 2021, your delegates approved Resolution 189 – National Safeguarding Policy for all Member Councils. The resolution asks all Councils to create a safeguarding policy that would follow the guidelines provided and also address their local circumstances, paying attention to local laws and the policies of their diocese.

This is not a popular topic to bring up. Creating and implementing a safeguarding policy is complicated, can cost money, and brings a variety of responses from our membership. My own Conference had a member resign when we put a safeguarding requirement in place many years ago. That departing member told us, “So, some priests have been abusing children, and now I have to take a class and have a background check.” Many members had similar reactions to our national policy at first, but I hope we have moved past this attitude.

For the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, not much of our work is directly with children, but all of our neighbors in need should be considered as vulnerable persons. I am sorry to say that we have had credible reports of incidents of that vulnerability being exploited, which reinforces my belief that we need to keep working on this.

The safeguarding resolution we approved details a number of reasons why it is important to have an appropriate policy and effective training. Certainly, we want to prevent abuse and protect those we serve, but having a plan for what to do if something is reported or suspected is an equally compelling reason for having our members well-trained. There are many states in which our home visitors and volunteers are even considered “mandatory reporters.” By law, they are required to report observed incidents of abuse. Do you know whether that includes you? Do you know what constitutes a reportable incident or to whom you must report it? Does this include reporting a neighbor in need whom you have visited? Are you clear about the process you should take if one of our members violates our safeguarding standards?

At the January Board of Directors meeting, we discussed the implementation of Resolution 189 at length, and it is clear to your National Council leadership that this is a complicated matter. Many Councils already have policies and training in place. Some of them were required to do so by their dioceses many years ago. Many others have not even started – finding the effort too complex or maybe too costly, or the resistance from members too significant.

As we move forward, our National Council is looking for ways to support your safeguarding efforts and share best practices. Please support your local leaders as they create and implement your local safeguarding policy. Your Council leadership already has plenty on its plate, and I would encourage some of you to step forward to help lead the effort. Forming a local task force of members who see the importance of this process and are willing to spend time investigating options will help us make the progress needed.

Doing nothing is not an acceptable option. So far, fortunately, we have avoided major lawsuits and harm to our reputation. The time to act is before something happens. Our Church and many other organizations have suffered incredible harm because they were not proactive. From the beginning, our founders realized that our home visits should always be done in pairs. That early practice of safeguarding is still a key element of our protecting vulnerable neighbors in need. Unfortunately, it is not enough in today’s environment.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

Mom passed away years ago, but she left each of us a cookbook of family recipes. Over the Christmas break, I prepared to bake her blue ribbon-winning coconut pound cake for one night’s dessert.  I laid out all of the contents in front of me, followed the directions and eventually had the cake batter ready to put into the oven. That’s when I noticed that I had left out one ingredient – the flaked coconut!

I had used some coconut extract, which is a great invention if you otherwise would need to squeeze actual coconuts, so there was some flavor. And it was still a pound cake. If needed I could have explained that “generic pound cake” was the original intent, not the county fair recipe, but Mom might have struck me down with a spiritual rolling pin! Fortunately, there was still time to add in the flakes, re-stir, and pop it into the oven. Dessert and many calories ensued.

How often do we start on a project, have something change on us, and then we just “make do?” As Society members, we get a great idea, and lay out all of the plans and “ingredients.” Then real life happens, and we no longer have the time, talent or funds we originally envisioned. Or we get so excited about one of the specifics that it changes the nature of the original project. The result is still good, and maybe even very good. What it might not be, however, is Vincentian.

The omission or change of one detail may have had us drift from the parameters of our charism or our Rule. That event may still be an excellent service project, but it became one that any social service agency or nonprofit could have conducted. Sometimes we leave out, or forget, one of our Essential Elements of Spirituality, Friendship, and Service. Yes, it’s a committee meeting, for example, but if it doesn’t have all three Elements, it isn’t a Vincentian meeting.

Fortunately, we have a Society of St. Vincent de Paul recipe and all the basic ingredients right in front of us. It’s called our Mission Statement. Check off the ingredients with me: A network of friends. Gospel Values inspiration.  Growth in Holiness. Build a more just world. Personal relationships. Service to people in need. These are all just as vital as flour and eggs are to a cake batter.

Need some extra flavorings? Look no further than our Society’s seven Cultural Beliefs, and sprinkle as many of them as possible liberally throughout your recipe.

Maybe you are the Bobby Flay of Society activities and don’t need a written recipe. Most of us, however, aren’t master chefs as much as we are technicians who (usually) are good at following directions such as a recipe. We refer as needed to the wisdom and successes of our founders and others who have come before us to create, or re-create, what still works in today’s many local neighborhood “kitchens.” There is always room for new innovations, but we agree as members to stick to our Rule just as bakers rely on their basic formulas to make bread rise. We hope to rise, too!

Just as mom left us her family cookbook so that her descendants could enjoy the fruits – and meats and veggies and desserts – of her labors, trials, and errors over a lifetime, our Society founders and other leaders wrote down for all of us members today what they learned, experienced and envisioned. In my case I can’t remember mom’s recipes, nor can I recite our Rule. I can, however, tell you where it is all written down for me to review when I need it.

When I pulled mom’s cookbook off the kitchen shelf, I could not help but remember her and smile. When I quite regularly pull the Society’s Rule off my office shelf to look up a particular Statute, I smile in memory of Blessed Frederic and all the others who have left us such a rich and powerful legacy of good governance and Vincentian values. Neither are just books; they are blessings!

May your Conference cook up something wonderful, and wonderfully Vincentian, in 2023!

Yours in Christ,

As we prepare to celebrate the wonder of Christmas once again, we often are flooded with glowing memories of Christmases past. Impatiently waiting as a child for Santa to bring us toys. Sitting down with family and friends for a joyous meal. Going to Midnight Mass, smelling the incense and hearing the bells. Decorating the house and stringing up outside lights. Feeling the joy and beauty of the season. Realizing the nearness of God!

One of my earliest memories is waking up from a nap at the age of three, coming out into the living room and looking with absolute wonder and amazement at the Christmas tree, radiant with lights and ornaments. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my short life! Another Yule-tide memory was at my first priestly assignment, St. Anthony Parish in Menomonee Falls, a classic country church which had had a suburb grow up around it. My first Midnight Mass, both as a priest and at that parish, was packed with people standing up the side aisles. The choir offered a beautiful concert at 11:30, and then, with all the lights off, everyone held lit candles and sang “Silent Night.” We all have glowing Christmas memories that linger in our hearts as signs of God’s great love for us.

During this Advent season, I have meditated often on the power of hope. “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit … (Hope) keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1817-1818). Because of Christmas and all the spiritual gifts, which the Lord has entrusted to us in Christ, we dare to hope that we will live forever with God, know forgiveness and love, and rejoice even now in our identity as beloved children of the Father.

Hope is different from optimism. The latter is a vague, naïve expectation that things will somehow get better, we know not how. Tragedy, suffering and death crush optimism, making it seem foolish and false. Hope is made of sterner stuff. Hope can look the darkest nights of evil fully in the face and still rejoice, because it knows that God has already gained the victory, that Christ has entered the world as savior, that, if we are faithful to the Lord, we will overcome every obstacle and come into the kingdom of heaven forever, and that there is no sin or death which has the final word on us. Hope relies on the promises and power of Jesus Christ. As the saying goes, “I do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

These past years have been difficult ones. I do not need to recite the litany of woes which afflict us; we have all lived through them. In the midst of pain and challenge, we can all lose hope, focus, perspective and even faith. We can give in to sadness and despair, and even give up on the Lord, thinking that we are abandoned and alone. How important it is for us to retell the ancient story of Christmas in order to recharge our hope and faith. Mary giving birth to Jesus in a humble stable. Angels appearing to shepherds at night, bathed in heavenly radiance. The Christmas star guiding mysterious astrologers to the Child. The Son of God stepping into the pages of human history, born on the fringes of the Roman Empire, quietly and humbly coming into His own creation, unnoticed by the important personages of the world, yet ready to redeem and save this world forever.

The hope of Christmas rekindles our wonder and astonishment in a world grown old and jaded by broken promises, sinful failure and empty selfishness. Can we look at God, the Church, our families and friends, our work and responsibilities, our home and possessions, and even ourselves with new eyes and grateful hearts, renewed by the glory of God shining on the face of Christ? Hope enables us to do so!

My profound prayer for every member of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, is that this holy season of Christmas may renew us in faith, hope and love, filling our hearts with a deeper desire for God, and that the peace which flows from the Christ Child will give us strength in every difficulty and challenge. In Christ, God has promised to be with us until the end of time, and so we rejoice in hope!

“A God who became so small could only be mercy and love.” – St. Therese of Lisieux

Merry Christmas
Bishop Donald J. Hying
SVdP National Episcopal Advisor

Many of us have tried out a store or restaurant because of great and appealing advertising, only to have an unsatisfactory user experience once we arrived. Maybe it’s a price we didn’t expect, unfriendly or even rude personnel, or simply a feeling that the reality just didn’t live up to the expectation. Perhaps it is even worse when we walk into a favorite establishment to find it isn’t what we remember, but now only some shadow of its former glory and our former fondness.

As we think about inviting a friend or fellow parishioner to join the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, are we unknowingly guilty of the same bait-and-switch between how we sell the Society to others and what they experience when they come to our meetings or otherwise encounter us? In marketing terms, we often think of promotion first to attract new members, when perhaps we need first to review and change the product. We may need to change who and what we are – not the Rule but our behaviors – before we can promote ourselves.

Do we only meet during the day, making it nearly impossible for working people to join our meetings and become an Active member? Could we meet once a month during the day, and another time at night or on the weekend to allow for more people to join based on their comfort and other commitments?

Likewise, do we conduct Home Visits only when convenient for us, but not for others who would like to help, or even for the friends in need who may not have our flexibility?

Are our meetings full of Conference business (Service), and don’t offer much if anything in the Society’s other Essential Elements of Friendship or Spirituality? Do we take the time to pray and reflect? Do we even take the time to enjoy each other’s company and make new or better friends among fellow members?

Is everyone invited to participate, or is it often the case that just 2-3 leaders or salty old vets dominate the conversations, planning and meetings? Do we follow term limits, and create leadership posts that don’t require experience, just interest and dedication?

When someone new attends, how do we treat them? Do we give them an opportunity to serve? Do we give them a Member Handbook and then review it with them? Or do we shunt them to the sidelines, don’t let them speak, and don’t follow up after the meeting to gauge their interests or ideas?

Do we quickly train and engage prospective members in our Home Visits, food pantry, or other works? Do they learn how these works are Vincentian faith in action, or are they just another service project?

How quickly do we begin Formation activities from introductions to Ozanam Orientations to Conference use of Vincentian Reflections? Is this a coordinated Conference priority, or is it left to individuals to figure out on their own?

Are young adults and people of color invited, and made to feel welcome? Or do we focus our recruiting and our meetings only on those who look like those already in our ranks? Does our membership reflect the parish demographics? The community’s?

All considered, are we who we say we are? Are we even who we think we are ourselves?

Between fall recruiting season for parish ministries and the added activities many Conferences take on during the holidays, it’s a good time to step back and assess the “product” of our local Society’s offering to prospective members. There may also be good value in asking someone from the outside to attend and tell us what they think of the Society from that experience. We might be surprised to learn how we have drifted toward certain behaviors and habits that make our Society less attractive, even less accurate, than who we say we are. Before we spend resources of time and money to advertise our product, let’s be sure it’s the product that we want to be and indeed, God calls us to be!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Almost 40 years ago, I was part of a group that started a free community meal program. In the beginning, many of our guests were homeless and living on the streets. On one occasion, one of my fellow organizers pulled a man aside to address some behavior issues and concluded by telling the guest, “You only have one job here and that is to be grateful, and you are not doing that very well.”

As the years passed, this friend and I realized that the pithy comment we once thought was on-target no longer matched our hoped-for relationships with meal program guests. How different that comment is from what our Rule tells us in the section titled “Gratitude to those we visit.” This is where we read, “Vincentians never forget the many blessings they receive from those they visit. They recognize that the fruit of their labors springs, not from themselves, but especially from God and from the poor they serve.”

Often, we think of being grateful for material things – the stuff we have. That’s maybe why we often expect those we serve to be grateful; we are providing “stuff” for free. We eventually learn, however, that what we are most grateful for are the relationships we have with family, friends, and those we serve, and – most importantly – with our God. I am grateful for my daily bread, for a warm place to live, for meaningful work and for beautiful sunsets. I think all of these blessings are more meaningful, however, when I have someone with whom I can share them.

Giving thanks is not just for a once-a-year holiday. It is something we should do always and everywhere. Those are words we hear at Mass to begin the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayers. “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just. It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.” What are we thanking God for? Is it for food, clothing, or the beauty of the earth? No, the Eucharistic text goes on to tell us that we give thanks for Jesus, who was sent to us to restore our relationship with God, and that we should be grateful for this always and everywhere.

This Thanksgiving week I hope you give thanks not only for the material blessings we enjoy but also for the relationships that enrich our lives. I appreciate the gifts I have received from everyone I have met this year, and I am grateful for you and the relationship we have in the network of charity that we have inherited from our founders.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President