Society of St. Vincent de Paul

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SVdP News Roundup December 10 – December 16
SVdP News Roundup December 10 – December 16 3600 3600 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 December 12 – December 16
A Week in Prayers December 12 – December 16 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, December 12

Lord, Creator of all,
The mighty and the lowly,
Teach me to love them
As You do
Without exception
Without condition
In Your name
And for Your sake
Amen

Tuesday, December 13

Lord, be patient with me
When I am strong in will
But weak in faith.
Help me to hear
The cry of the poor.
Help me to do Your will
By serving them in hope.
Amen

Wednesday, December 14

Your peace is upon me, Lord,
And the joy of Your kingdom
Fills my heart.
May Your justice fall
Like a gentle rain,
And Your mercy
Shine like the sun.
Amen

Thursday, December 15

Father of all mercies, maker of all things,
May Your light shine from within me
So that I can offer Your love,
Which multiplies as it is shared,
With all those the world has forgotten
Who are precious still in Your sight.
Amen

Friday, December 16

Lord Jesus, Son of man,
With all the power of heaven within You,
You chose to suffer to do the Father’s will.
Help me to follow Your example of selflessness,
Willing the good of the other before my own,
Seeking to serve and not to be served,
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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12-15-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
12-15-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentian Friends,

For Vincentians, Advent is the season of conducting toy and gift drives, assembling special food baskets, and preparing holiday meal programs. It is also the time of donor solicitation and, no doubt, some Christmas parties. Of course, the regular requests for Home Visits don’t take a break.

Most of our “special” Christmas programs require our neighbors in need to sign up, or we may send them an invitation to participate. These programs require this level of organization, but I have found that some of my most meaningful experiences have been with the person who was not on the list or who arrived just when we were about to close. I know making exceptions to program rules can create problems, but I have also found that when I listened to that person’s story, it often melted my heart.

Many of those stories are the ones I still remember. When I really listen to a person asking for me to make an exception to help them, it is a tough call. Usually, I still stick to the plan, but sometimes I am reminded of Mary and Joseph finding no room left in the inn. They had a pretty compelling story, and someone at least let them use the barn for shelter. Can I be at least that flexible?

I remember a father who came to ask if we had any toys left the day after our gift program. He was not on our list, but I learned he had nothing to give his children because a fire had destroyed their apartment that week. I realized that maybe he was conning me, but his gratitude for the gifts we did supply was real. It turned out he had been telling the truth, and we were able to help with furniture and food when the family relocated a few weeks later.

Sometimes when I listen to these stories, I experience a shared helplessness. One such instance was a Christmas Eve morning when parents with kids in their van asked if I knew of somewhere they could stay for the next week until their apartment was available on January 1st. All I could offer was a suggestion for a place where they could get a meal that evening and where there would be some gifts for the children. Sometimes, these interactions have no elements of Christmas joy — like the time I sat with a man who was crying because he was no longer welcome home for the holidays because of his addiction and past behavior. Sometimes, the only gift we can give is a listening presence to another human being.

A final story I will share involved a man who was so angry at his family on December 23rd that he took all his wrapped gifts and dumped them into one of our thrift store drop boxes. The next day, he regretted it. I was locking up on the afternoon of Christmas Eve when he came and begged me to go with him and retrieve those presents. Listening to the conversion experience he had the night before made me wonder what ghosts of Christmas past, present and future had visited him. How could I not try to help? Sure enough, the gifts were all still there in the drop box. After getting a big hug, we loaded two large bags of wrapped gifts into the trunk of his car. It was a story worthy of a Hallmark Channel movie.

We have experiences all year long of special interactions with the people we serve. Somehow, these stories seem a little more magical at this time of the year. Let’s not forget that people deserve to have us listen to them and respond to them with the same care all year long.

This can be a time of year when our many tasks can seem overwhelming, but I think most of us do look forward to all of our special efforts. I hope your Conference has shared the responsibility for your programs, so that no one person gets burned out. I also hope you make sure your own family does not feel ignored or left out. Even our Rule reminds us that “Vincentians are available for work in the Conferences after fulfilling their family and professional duties.”

Finally, I hope each of you experiences the beauty of this Christmas season and is blessed with knowing that God is with us. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

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Contemplation — Close Enough
Contemplation — Close Enough 1080 1080 SVDP USA

There’s an old joke, when a task is incomplete or incorrect, that “it’s close enough for government work!” There is no comparable joke for charitable works, because we have the highest standard possible: we are called to do God’s will as best we can discern it. How can we best help this family? What is the best decision for the Conference? Through prayer and discussion, we come to a consensus that we hope reflects God’s will.

It is true that to begin works of charity, offered for love alone, requires very little discernment because Jesus very specifically told us His will that we should love the neighbor, and serve the least among us! Yet we know that in the course of these works, as we walk our Vincentian pathway, we encounter more questions along the way. We are never really done with seeking God’s will.

Our prayers, individually and together, draw us closer to Him. We offer praise and thanks, and place our needs before Him, but, as Jesus prayed, “not as I will, but as you will.” We seek His will in the answers to our prayers. In our Vincentian friendship, we seek to be of one mind and one heart, “following the example of the blessed Trinity.” [SWLM, 771] We seek to do His will by imitation.

The Society’s primary purpose is our own growth in holiness, towards “perfect union with Christ”. [Rule, Part I, 2.2] That isn’t limited to the works of the Conference, because ours is a “vocation for every moment of our lives”. [Rule, Part I, 2.6]. Both as Vincentians and as Catholics, we are called to discern God’s will for the spiritual journey through our lives.

In between all our talking and doing, we must also stop to listen, to try to hear that tiny whisper in the storm. We must look back upon the events and people in our lives and “re-read” those moments that changed us. We may accept a loss or misfortune as God’s will, but that is only one step. Placing ourselves silently in God’s presence, we also look back to see where that misfortune led us – something we could only know by looking back.

Little by little we move closer to knowing and doing His will and doing it fully. It isn’t the gist of God, it’s the will of God. If that seems very specific, that’s only because it is. God’s will is for each of us, very specifically, because He loves each of us very individually.

To seek and to do His will is nothing more than to love Him back, and when we truly love Him, we are close enough for charitable work.

Contemplate

Consider a moment of conversion in your life. How did it change your heart, and your path?

Recommended Reading

A Heart on Fire – Apostolic Reflection with Rosalie Rendu

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SVdP News Roundup December 3 – December 9
SVdP News Roundup December 3 – December 9 3600 3600 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 December 5 – December 9
A Week in Prayers December 5 – December 9 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, December 5

Lord, show me Your will.
Help me to see it
In the people
And experiences in my life.
Seeking You in all things,
May I come to know You.
Amen

Tuesday, December 6

Lord, be my shepherd
Lord, hear me pray
Lord, find Your sheep
When I wander astray

Lord, guard the pasture,
Watch over the field,
And all of Your strays,
Once broken, now healed.
Amen

Wednesday, December 7

I love You, God, with all my heart,
With all my soul, and all my strength.
No burden is too heavy,
No day too long to work,
No mission too demanding,
For I’ve found my rest in You
Amen

Thursday, December 8

Sweet Virgin Mary,
Mother of Jesus,
Chosen by God
From your birth.
Humble, obedient,
Holy, and pure,
You brought forth
Our Savior on earth.
Pray for me, Mary,
That I may be
An offering to God
Of great worth.
Amen

Friday, December 9

Jesus, Lord and Savior,
Present in bread and wine,
Just as You were present
For Your disciples.
Because Your love
Is infinitely creative,
I may dine with You,
Proclaiming Your glory,
Until You come again.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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12-8-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
12-8-2022 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentians,

This time of the year, when we give thanks for all our blessings, I always reflect over my seventeen years in disaster relief work for the Society and recall so many Vincentian heroes. The work we do at Disaster Services is difficult as we witness so much destruction and heartache, but we also get to see lives healed and systemic change in action. I would like to share with you some of my very special memories of Vincentian Servant Leaders and their gifts.

I have worked or overseen relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike, Gustav, Alex, Mathew, Florence, Harvey, Irma, Maria, Michael, Ida, and now Ian, in addition to numerous tornados in IL, KY, MO, OK, TN, and TX, and floods in the Midwest, IL, KY, NE, and WV, Wildfires in the West, to include CA, NM, OR, and WA, and other disasters like the COVID-19 Pandemic and West Texas Fertilizer Explosion. No matter the disaster, we have always had Vincentian Servant Leaders that have come forward to deploy to help other Councils or were willing to go in and help a neighboring Catholic community where we had no Conference. From these experiences, we have also indirectly helped with the extension of the Society.

During Hurricane Katrina, Dick Reimbold and his wife Irene were two such leaders and they came to Dallas to help me run a 70,000 square foot warehouse for our Katrina House in a Box™ Program. The hours were long and there were so many stories of loss and death, but they stayed for weeks and through it all kept me going, as I was so stressed out from the thousands of families that needed assistance. To this day, Dick still volunteers and is now serving as our Mideast Disaster Chair. Then there is the amazing Vincentian, Jim Butler, who has deployed to numerous disasters over the years. During Hurricane Ike, Jim went with me and a local Catholic priest to visit an area called Oak Island, TX. Oak Island was a Vietnamese community, and the survivors were camped out on the ground near their destroyed properties. They were afraid to go to shelters as they thought people would loot the very little they had left on their land. Jim said, “well if we cannot get them to shelter, why don’t we take them shelter.” We worked with the Council of Beaumont to raise money for tents, and I called the Red Cross who donated blankets and bug spray. Jim and I, along with local Vincentians carried in all these items to the disaster zone on Oak Island, so that the immigrant families could stay on their land.

When West Virginia had a series of very heavy and fatal floods in 2016, Jim Butler, Diane Clark and Tom Link all deployed with me to help set up a SVDP Recovery Center in a former Kmart building. Many of our local Vincentians could not travel the distances between the flood impacted counties and this dynamic team of three came to assist. The state of WV and WV Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD) had very little supplies and Diane, Jim and Tom sat on old plastic paint containers and did intake and casework for hundreds of families. When I walked in the building and saw them sitting on those old plastic containers, it brought a tear to my eye, but they never complained.

One of our superstar Vincentians over the years was Gail Bertrand, who is now guiding us from above. Gail was always willing to go the extra mile to help disaster survivors. Gail had gone through many hurricanes and had her own property heavily damaged. She understood what it was like to come home to a mold invested dwelling with all your family pictures and family bible under water. Gail had a big heart and always found a way to help disaster survivors. One special memory of Gail , of which there are many, was when we deployed to help our Vincentians in the Carolinas, after Hurricane Florence. We had set up a Disaster Relief Center and an elderly woman came to the center. The woman had lost her documents in the Hurricane and was so embarrassed that she did not know how to retrieve any of her documents. She just cried and cried. Gail held her and told her not to worry. The woman was also very hungry, and Gail fixed a plate of food for her from the food we had bought for the volunteers. After Gail got her registered with FEMA, she worked to find her temporary housing in a nearby hotel and to find a local community agency that could provide eldercare. When the woman left, I told Gail how impressed I was with her empathy, and she said “Liz I get to see the face of Christ in what we do. It is not empathy or sympathy, but my faith that drives me.” Gail modeled Vincentian Charism. For her it was a way of life.

So, as I was driving into Dallas, to be with my family over the Thanksgiving Holidays, I realized that I have been so very blessed to be in a leadership role with Disaster Services Society of St Vincent de Paul USA.  The hours are long, and I am often gone from home for up to six months. However, it is has been so very spiritually fulfilling to watch the growth of our Parish Recovery Assistance Centers, where we provide one on one disaster relief services,  to our Disaster Case Management Programs, where we provide a road map to recovery for the most vulnerable survivors and create systemic change in their lives, to our nationally known House in a Box ™ Program where we have helped so many families in complex and life changing situations. I want to thank each of you for your support of our mission and we could not do what we do without our Vincentian family.

Gratefully,
Elizabeth Disco-Shearer
CEO, Disaster Services Corp SVDP-USA

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Contemplation — On Our Way
Contemplation — On Our Way 1080 1080 SVDP USA

One of the central activities of the Conferences and Councils of the Society is formation. Because we often use this word as a synonym for “training” we can begin to think of it as an isolated event, something to check off on a list when we join the Society or enter into specific positions. But formation is not a single event – it is a lifelong journey of becoming…of becoming what?

As Vincentians, we have chosen a specific way of being Catholic, and this way, this vocation, forms us. The Foundation Document on Vincentian Formation, adopted by the Society more than twenty years ago, suggests four different dimensions of formation, closely mirroring the areas outlined in Pastores dabo vobis, an apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests.

Our human formation, the basis for all formation, begins with our actions, which are shaped by our virtues. We become by doing, we build habits of virtue in order to become virtuous. For Vincentians, these include the Cardinal Virtues, the Theological Virtues, and our Vincentian Virtues.

Our spiritual formation has to do with the transcendent aspect of our nature; the aspect in which we are truly made in God’s image. Our spiritual formation reminds us that we are created to live in community. The model of the Holy Trinity reminds us that the eternal life is a shared life, and that our path to it is also shared. As Vincentians, we pray and reflect together often. Our spiritual reflections and prayers in each Conference meeting are a vital part of our ongoing formation. Our individual prayers, retreats, Mass – and prayers shared with the neighbor are all part of our spiritual formation. We journey together towards holiness. [Rule, Part I, 2.2]

Our training falls within our intellectual formation. The efforts we make to learn the practical aspects of our vocation, to learn about poverty, and about specific works and programs. But our intellectual formation also demands that we take the time to read about our heritage, the words and deeds of our saints and blessed, as well as to devote time to personal study of Holy Scripture.

Finally, ministerial formation comes from a commitment to our vocation as mission, accepting our service as a means to our growth, and remaining open to all ways to serve, including servant leadership.

Our particular way of being Catholic, our particular process of becoming, is our Vincentian vocation. We follow, in every part of our lives, our Vincentian pathway towards becoming what Christ calls us to be, “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Contemplate

In what way was I formed today? How did I grow closer to holiness?

Recommended Reading

Faces of Holiness

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SVdP News Roundup November 26 – December 2
SVdP News Roundup November 26 – December 2 3600 3600 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 November 28 – December 2
A Week in Prayers November 28 – December 2 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, November 28

Come to me, Lord
Lift me up from darkness
Lift me up from sorrow
Heal me, Lord,
Ease my burdens,
Fill me with Your light
If it is Your will
Amen

Tuesday, November 29

Father in Heaven,
Giver of all things,
We gratefully offer our praise
And our thanks.

And all that we are given,
Is meant to be shared,
For the love of the Father,
With all of our neighbors in need.

So, with hearts full of love,
We give back to heaven
All that we have received.
Amen.

Wednesday, November 30

Father in Heaven,
Your child is at Your feet
With no expectations;
Fully trusting,
Fully loving,
And fully content
In Your presence
Amen

Thursday, December 1

Father in heaven,
In my prayer I seek You,
In my silence I listen,
My life is not my own.
Lord, as You will,
So shall I do.
Help me to know Your will.
Amen

Friday, December 2

Lord Jesus, You are light in the darkness.
Lord Jesus, You are sight for my blindness.
Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the World.
Lord Jesus, open my eyes.
Amen

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