Society of St. Vincent de Paul

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SVdP News Roundup May 27 – June 2
SVdP News Roundup May 27 – June 2 1080 1080 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

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A Week in Prayers May 30 – June 2
A Week in Prayers May 30 – June 2 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Tuesday, May 30

O Lord, in my heart of hearts
Help me to find the strength
Of gentleness –
The kindness that overcomes,
The patience that waits,
The smile that knows only love.
Amen

Wednesday, May 31

You took my place, Lord Jesus,
When You died for me on the cross.
You took my place, Lord Jesus,
When You died so I might live.
Empty me of myself, I pray,
So it is no longer I who live.
Take my place, Lord Jesus,
Be my life.
Amen

Thursday, June 1

Speak to me, Lord, in the silence
Of the early morning,
In the softly growing light.
Quiet the noise of my worries,
The cries of my sadness,
And the groans of my pain.
Quiet my mind and heart
So that I can hear the gentle songs
Of birds that neither sow nor reap,
But still are fed by Your hand.
Speak to me, Lord, with silence,
So I can listen with only peace.
Amen

Friday, June 2

Lord Jesus,
You are light in the darkness,
Light that shows the way.
Help me also to see Your light
In the daytime,
In a sparrow,
In a smile or a tear,
And in the neighbor.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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SVdP Stores Corner: Promoting Clothing Drives
SVdP Stores Corner: Promoting Clothing Drives 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Written by: Joe Lazarich, Council of Rockville Centre,  Northeast Region

A good opportunity to increase clothing donations and promote awareness of the Society and the mission is to collaboratively work together with our stores and Conferences to promote and execute clothing drives.

Below are some suggestions to help your drive be successful:

  • Select a date and time that is convenient for everyone, including the Pastor.
  • Work with the Vincentians to reserve a SVdP truck, if available, or provide a scheduled pick up at the location of the event upon completion.
  • Provide donation receipts, as requested.
  • Advertise in the church bulletin a few weeks prior to the event.
  • Promote on social media to include local groups such as “Moms and Dads”.
  • Inform surrounding parishes that do not have an SVdP Conference.
  • Ensure Conference members are present to assist and promote SVdP’s mission and fellowship.
  • Notify the Religious Education Department to inform their students who can earn volunteer/community service hours for participating in the clothing drive.

Click here see the attached flyer that can be edited with your store’s clothing drive information.

We’d like to encourage you to attend the National Assembly – Stores Meeting on September 6, 2023 in St. Louis, MO to hear information about our National Training Store in Phoenix, store staffing, increasing donations, productivity, Point-of-Sale (POS), and hear innovative ideas to think of new ways to serve.

For those attending the Stores Meeting in its entirety on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, they will be eligible for door prizes to include:

  • 1st Door Prize:  Complimentary two-day trip for two to Our National Training Store in Phoenix, AZ (up to $1,000 for airfare and hotel). Meals and other expenses will not be covered. Must be a SVdP Store Manager/Director to qualify. Must be present to win.
  • 2nd Door Prize: Complimentary Registration for one to the 2024 National Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona. (A special code will be emailed to the winner once the registration is opened up). Must be present to win.
  • 3rd Door Prize: $250 Amazon Gift Card. Must be present to win.

For those attending the Joint Lunch with ED’s-Store:

  • Complimentary dinner for two at Charlie Gittos’s On the Hill ($200 value). Drawing after the joint ED-Store meeting. Must be present to win.

You don’t want to miss out!!

Please encourage your store personnel to subscribe to the to the e-Gazette, by emailing mboyer@svdpusa.org. If you have a topic that you would like addressed in a future Stores Corner article, please e-mail our Jeff Beamguard, Director of Stores Support at jbeamguard@svdpusa.org.

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06-01-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
06-01-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

My nine-year old neighbor thinks that my human-powered rotary lawnmower is so cool that he loves to cut my grass. My lawn is only the size of a shuffleboard court, so it doesn’t take him long, but for five bucks I get out of some work and he has fun.

When faced with a Society of St. Vincent de Paul task or obstacle, we often only see the problem before us. We wonder how much it will cost to fix the problem, how much of our time it will take, and even why it seems that God is punishing us with this situation. What we so often ignore, though, is that our problem may actually be someone else’s opportunity!

During Scouting’s 100th anniversary, I was asked to develop an arena show at a summer camp for several thousand Scouts and their families. My budget was miniscule, but the expectations, especially of the boys, were not! I had little choice but to wonder who might want to help me, and at a steep discount. Flipping the problem mindset into an opportunity mindset, I asked a “teen school of rock” if they would like to perform at a mini-Woodstock before thousands of eager young fans. They readily agreed, and even asked how much they needed to pay me for their participation!

Talented leaders of Society food pantries encounter this win-win situation all the time. They are in regular contact with grocers who have excess product that they hate to see wasted. Our acceptance of all those breads, produce and almost-expired foods solves their problem, may affect their tax and cost accounting, and even makes them feel great! Our pharmacies likewise take advantage of someone else’s problem — what to do with medicine overstocks — to help families in need.

As we approach a problem, let’s ask who would benefit from our situation. Who wants us to succeed? Who would view our challenge as their opportunity to make a difference, to help their business, or to otherwise advance their goals? Is there a local government agency, and/or a business, who could benefit from our work, and may even help us to see that we are successful? Who would love to volunteer with us to meet their service hour goals, a corporate commitment to service, or some other objective?

We must admit that not everyone works strictly from the goodness of their hearts. There may be enlightened self-interest, too, even if we consider it to be God’s grace. Perhaps God has given us an opportunity to bring others into our orbit, and to learn about our works while satisfying their own needs. There is more than one pathway into understanding the challenges of poverty and its effects on our communities. Likewise, there is more than one journey to Society membership and other support. There is certainly more than one way to learn God’s plan for us through service, collaboration or exposure to others in different life circumstances. The Society can be the stimulator for all this to happen in our neighborhoods.

Others may not see these possibilities, because they don’t yet know us well enough. They may not know who we serve or how we operate our programs. We may need to take the lead for others to see the opportunities to benefit in spirit, finances or other parts of their lives through getting to know us better. Leaders don’t go and do the work; they get the work done though others. Let’s be leaders for Christ and solve some of our challenges through the opportunities of others around us.

As for my young neighbor, I wonder if he has read “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” yet? Just wait until I show him how much fun he will have painting my fence!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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Contemplation — Come, Holy Spirit
Contemplation — Come, Holy Spirit 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Four hundred years ago, on the feast of Pentecost 1623, Louise de Marillac, known then as Mademoiselle LeGras, knelt in prayer at her parish church, Église Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs. Her husband was very ill, and unemployed. Her son was troubled. She blamed herself for these burdens, because she had never fulfilled her “first promise,” made when she was a teenager, to become a Capuchin nun. She felt all of her misfortunes traced back to this failure.

It didn’t matter that the decision not to become a nun had not been hers, but her spiritual director’s. Distraught, she was considering leaving her husband in order “to have greater liberty to serve God and my neighbor.” [SWLM, 1] She was wracked with doubts and uncertainty about her future, and even doubted the immortality of her soul. And so she knelt in prayer, alone with her thoughts, offering her cry of suffering to God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, we are taught, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It was at this lowest moment that she received what she called her lumière, her light, and her “mind was instantly freed of all doubt.” [Ibid] It was the light of the Holy Spirit that assured her that day, that eased the burdens weighing her down, that brought the hope and peace of God to her.

She would go on to care for her sick husband for two more years before being widowed. In the meantime, she would endure hardship and relative poverty. It would be ten years before, along with St. Vincent, she would found the Daughters of Charity, finally fulfilling that “first promise.”

But it wasn’t the founding, nor her many later works, in which she found her peace, it was in the hope and the light of the Holy Spirit, received in the depths of her sorrows.

Our neighbors cry out to us on days much like Louise’s. Like her, it is temporal crises that have often driven them to despair and left them in isolation and doubt about their futures.

Blessed are you who are now weeping.

In their dark night of the soul, God answers. He sends us to prove His love, and to bring His hope. At each Conference meeting we pray, “Come Holy Spirit, live within our lives.” Let us add, in our hearts, “Make me the bearer of Your light. Let me be, for the neighbor, their lumière, so they will know that whatever happens tomorrow or next week, You are with them, and so am I. Help me to bear the light of hope.”

Contemplate

Do I pray for the light of the Holy Spirit, for myself and for the neighbor?

Recommended Reading

Praying with Louise de Marillac

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SVdP News Roundup May 20 – May 26
SVdP News Roundup May 20 – May 26 150 150 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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A Week in Prayers May 22 – May 26
A Week in Prayers May 22 – May 26 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, May 22

O my Jesus, I love You.
I love You in my actions,
I love You in my prayer,
I love You in my heart and soul.
When all else is abandoned,
Or has abandoned me,
From an empty room alone,
I love You, Lord.
Amen

Tuesday, May 23

You have called me, Lord,
Here I am.
You have called me from my slumber,
Here I am.
You have called me to the neighbor,
Here I am.
You have called me to my cross,
Here I am.
You have called me to Yourself,
Here I am.
Amen

Wednesday, May 24

Holy Spirit, live within me,
Guide me and move me.
Help me to know the will
Of the Father,
And to follow the way
Of the Son.
Amen

Thursday, May 25

How can I serve You,
My Lord and my God?
How can I do Your will?
Help me to set aside
Childish things,
To trust You more fully,
And love You more deeply.
Help me to serve in hope.
Amen

Friday, May 26

Lord, may Your Will, not mine, be done.
I will accept it in faith.
Lord, if Your will for me is hardship,
I will bear it in hope.
Lord, Your will for all is eternal life.
I will seek it and share it with love.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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05-25-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
05-25-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentian Friends,

In last week’s Servant Leader column, Dave reflected on Vincentian service and poverty statistics with an encouragement to invest in systemic change efforts to complement our direct aid. Let me continue that theme with some related thoughts.

Our Society has taken steps in recent years to provide material that can help develop our understanding of what those we help are experiencing. The work of Donna Beagle has been a very good introduction to poverty in the United States. To go deeper into the complexity of the problem, I recommend Matthew Desmond’s new book, “Poverty, by America.” As in his previous best-selling book, “Evicted,” Desmond provides a well-researched analysis of the complexities of poverty in our country today. You may find fault with some of his conclusions, but you will recognize the people and situations he observes.

In last week’s column, Dave pointed out that “It seems we can’t end poverty by spending more on it.” Matthew Desmond agrees with this observation. Desmond’s analysis is: “We can’t just spend our way out of this. Over the past fifty years, we’ve tried that – doubling antipoverty aid per capita – and the poverty line hasn’t meaningfully budged. A big reason why is that we insist on supporting policies that accommodate poverty, not ones that disrupt it.”*

Desmond reviews almost every aspect of the factors that create poverty, and he refutes many myths about the causes of today’s poverty. He does not lay blame on liberals or conservatives. What he concludes is that most of our efforts, though costly, do not really “disrupt” poverty but actually “accommodate” it – to the benefit of many of us.

What about our Society’s systemic-change efforts? These programs go beyond charitable aid to lessen the suffering. We mentor our neighbors to help them out of their situation and find jobs, housing, education, and healthcare. But, do our efforts really change systems, or do they just help our neighbors in need navigate the status quo and therefore “accommodate” the systems that create their poverty?

Desmond lays out the challenges in each of these areas in great detail with real life stories. We also have these stories. If we want real systemic change, it will require that we share those stories and advocate for changes that will “disrupt” how these systems operate to the detriment of the poor. Let’s increase our efforts to be voices for the poor.

Frederic Ozanam seldom, if ever, talked about poverty as an abstract condition. He talked about misery and injustice. Poverty, as we use the term today, is often reduced to an inoffensive statistical measurement. Ozanam wrote about our charity relieving misery, and he believed that it was the place of justice to change the systems that caused the misery he witnessed. (This is the same language Frederic’s contemporary Victor Hugo used in his famous novel “Les Misérables.”)

Matthew Desmond’s conclusion is that we still have people suffering in poverty because many people, including many of us, benefit from the system. That is the origin of the book’s title, “Poverty, by America.” It may be an uncomfortable conclusion, but it’s one worthy of our attention. I don’t find most of his suggested solutions very satisfying. They are broad in scope and not likely to gain traction. Matthew Desmond has once again created a work, however, that challenges us to take a fresh look at the problem of poverty. He does this by drawing on insights both from personal relationships with those experiencing misery and from research on the causes of poverty in America today. That is a combination of scholarship and experience that would have met with Blessed Frederic Ozanam’s approval. That’s because, like Frederic, Matthew Desmond has climbed the stairs, sat by the bed, and listened to the people experiencing misery.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

*(“Poverty, by America” — p. 137)

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Contemplation — Our Sublime Vocation
Contemplation — Our Sublime Vocation 1080 1080 SVDP USA

As members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we are not simply “volunteers.” Rather, ours is a vocation. A vocation is more than a simple set of activities, or membership in a club. The word itself is from the Latin root vocāre, meaning to call. Our vocation is a call from God, a sacred invitation to follow a pathway towards the perfection that He wishes for us. It is subordinate to the vocation shared by all lay Catholics; the call to order all of our temporal affairs according to the plan of God. [Lumen Gentium, 31]

The Vincentian vocation, then, is more than the sum of the actions we take, but that we taken them for love alone. It is more than Conference meetings, and more than Home Visits. It is “a vocation for every moment of our lives.” [Rule, Part I, 2.6] It is the means by which we pursue the integration of life that Pope Saint John Paul II describes. [Christifidelis Laici, 59]

If you are a Vincentian, it is because God called you here. You may not have recognized His voice at the time; His words may have come to you from another Vincentian. But it was God who called you here, the same God who calls, again and again, asking for your help; asking for a rent payment, an electric bill, a listening ear, and an open heart. You may not recognize His voice every time, but when He calls you, you answer, and you in turn pass along His call to the neighbor by your wordless witness in living your faith, and loving the neighbor as yourself.

When the tasks seem daunting, we follow St. Vincent’s advice, remembering that in responding to our vocation, “our Lord will be [our] guidance and [our] guide and [we] can do all things with Him.” [CCD I:589]

This is, as Frédéric put it, “the sublime vocation God has given us.” [Letter 90, to Curnier, 1835] It is the vocation to which God has called us, the vocation in which we are blessed to encounter Him, the vocation that each and every one of us should be offering to “to all those who seek to live their faith loving and committing themselves to their neighbor in need.” [Rule, Part I, 3.1]

It is certainly true that all of our actions as Vincentians are voluntary, but volunteering is something one does; Vincentian is something we are by virtue of our sublime vocation.

Contemplate

When recruiting new members, do I focus only on the work, or consciously share God’s call?

Recommended Reading

Apostle in a Top Hat

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SVdP News Roundup May 13 – Mary 19
SVdP News Roundup May 13 – Mary 19 1080 1080 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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