Vincentians

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Contemplation: Answering God’s Call
Contemplation: Answering God’s Call 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Central to the spirituality of St. Vincent de Paul is the importance of fulfilling God’s will. Even more than that, he teaches, we must unite our will with His. In order to fulfill God’s will, to make it our own, we must first discern His will, we must hear His calling for our lives.

From the Latin vocare, “to call,” we have our English word “vocation.” God’s calling, then, is our vocation. The Catechism teaches us that all people “are called to the same end: God himself.” [CCC, 1878] Each of us also has personal vocations specific to our particular gifts and talents. [CL, 49] Whether it is the vocation to marriage, to the ordained priesthood, or to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, our personal calling is meant to help us answer the universal vocation to holiness. But to answer God’s call, we must hear it.

In founding the Society, Blessed Frédéric clearly heard God’s call, sharing with his friends that “we must do as Our Lord Jesus Christ did when preaching the Gospel. Let us go to the poor.” [Baunard, 65] In this, he anticipated Pope Saint John Paul II’s teaching that all the lay faithful are called to share in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king. [CL, 14]

When we gather together, especially when meeting fellow Vincentians for the first time, we often exchange stories of how we came to join the Society. Those stories usually begin with “I wanted…” or “I thought…” Somehow, many of us managed to answer before truly understanding God had called us.

God speaks to us through the events and people we encounter in our lives, and while we do not always hear His call at the moment it happens, we can always “re-read” our lives, just as we can re-read books in order to find things that we either missed, or were not prepared to comprehend the first time. We do this individually, and we do this together through spiritual reflections, especially apostolic reflection. God speaks to us in His own time. His call awaits our readiness to hear it and to answer.

Alongside the importance of doing God’s will is St. Vincent’s understanding that in the poor we serve the person of Jesus Christ. The neighbor is God to us, and if we see His face in them, we also hear His voice. This is our vocation, this is our calling, and if we are blessed today to hear His voice on our Conference helpline, let us harden not our hearts.

Contemplate

How often do I pause to discern God’s will for me and God’s call to me?

Recommended Reading

Faces of Holiness

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01-18-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
01-18-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Well, here we go. We have been reflecting on change recently, and just as we begin a new year where change and how we are going to adapt to it will be a major focus of discussion and discernment for us all — a substantial change is announced.

Last week, Dave Barringer made public his plans for retirement. If his ‘retirement’ is anything like Ralph Middlecamp’s or mine, it just means he will be working just as hard for the Society… but — as my Archbishop once told me — for indulgences rather than dollars. Seriously though, Dave has done a wonderful job for us and replacing him won’t be an easy task. Luckily, he gave us notice that this was coming long before my election. So the Board and I already have a search firm working on finding a successor, and hopefully there will be a seamless transition in September.

In 535 BC, the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus is purported to have said, “The only constant in life is change.” And there really wasn’t a heck of a lot going on back then, right? He’s probably talking about a couple of changes a year, maybe two a month in a crazy time. Heck, it took three months for a letter to get from Rome to Athens! (And talk about change — letters were chiseled on a stone tablet. Think about that postage stamp today.) So, can you imagine what he would be thinking about change today? In today’s world, change comes at a dizzying pace.

Back in the 17th century, when Vincent de Paul was championing the cause of the less fortunate, the world was a tad different too. No smartphones, no internet — can you imagine? Encounters were purely face-to-face, and if you needed directions, you had to ask an actual person instead of Siri. Ah, the good old days!

Fast forward to the 21st century — our opportunities to create Encounters with those we serve have evolved. We are not just knocking on doors; we are navigating through virtual spaces, sending emails, and sharing information with other organizations. While we may miss the simplicity of the past, it is important that we embrace the opportunities that technology offers to expand our reach and impact. We can, must, and do leverage technology and change to maximize our ability to create personal Encounters with those we serve. But we cannot, must not, and never can allow technology and change to replace the human-to-human Christ-centered Encounter that embodies who we are.

Frédéric Ozanam once said, “Charity must never look beyond the needs of the present hour.” Wise words, indeed. Our ability to expand our encounters may have transformed, but the essence remains the same — addressing the needs of the hour through the Encounter has not changed. We sit with people. We pray with people. We talk with people. We serve people. We do not serve computers. We do not serve phones. We do not serve paper. As some of our trucks and signs say, “We serve people.”

Technology can be — and is — our friend. Picture Saint Vincent de Paul trying to send a text message with quill and ink — “Help needed at the soup kitchen. Bring bread!” The challenges of communication in the 1600s…so much easier with an iPhone, eh?

And Frédéric Ozanam might have appreciated the convenience of a group chat — “Team, we have a mission! Let us band together and make a difference. Who’s bringing the coffee?” Because come on, let’s be real, coffee is essential for any charitable endeavor.

As we navigate these changing times, let us remember the spirit of Vincent and Frédéric. Our Encounters are a testament to the enduring power of compassion. Each interaction is a chance to bring warmth, understanding, and a touch of humanity into someone’s life.

As we embrace change, and use it to do what we do better, we must make sure we also continue to cherish the human encounters that define the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Whether it is a 17th-century doorstep in the slums of Paris or a 21st-century personal Encounter in the suburbs of Atlanta (set up through a text message to the caseworkers that came from the Vincentian on Intake who took a call off the Conference phone line), our commitment to serving with love remains unwavering.

Peace and God’s blessings,
John

John Berry
National President

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Contemplation: What Good Have I Done?
Contemplation: What Good Have I Done? 1080 1080 SVDP USA

In the course of the works of a busy Conference, we often become overwhelmed. The needs are many, and often are greater than our resources enable us to alleviate. We no sooner complete one Home Visit than the phone rings again. It can be exhausting, and even discouraging, if we measure our works the way they are measured by social service agencies or philanthropic societies. We may begin to question whether we are really helping the neighbor at all.

This feeling can lead us to a crossroads where we must choose: do we seek “efficiency” by trying to divvy up the resources as widely as possible, substituting phone calls for Home Visits, or asking the neighbor to come to us instead of we to them? Do we stop meeting, because our “business” can be conducted by phone or email? Or do we pause to reflect that these are the same questions that led to the Society’s founding and defined its purpose; the perpetual questions raised in the minds of members for nearly 200 years? Do we choose to recommit ourselves to the true good that we are called to do?

The introduction to the first edition of the Rule, written in 1835, assures us that “we must never be ashamed on the smallness of our alms.” Indeed, shortage of funds for “considerable works of charity” is, it said “one of the conditions of our existence.” [Rule, 1835] Our works and the good that we do have never been measured by the amount of money we can offer, or by the number of problems that we “fix.”

In founding the Society, Frédéric and his friends were challenged to show the good of the church in the modern world. Their challengers were quite convinced that they had better answers to poverty and the social question. What they could not see, but Frédéric could, was that the true good of the church, the message of Christ’s incarnation, is not that we are promised material abundance, but that we are promised eternal life by a God who loves us so much, He sent us His only Son. Bringing ourselves closer to eternal life and His love to the poor, is the good that God calls us to do.

Our Conference meetings are not business meetings. They are opportunities to share in prayer and reflection the ways in which we have grown closer to God, and the ways in which we have encountered Christ in our works. To the critics of his own time who accused the Society of not doing enough, Frédéric replied that they were only repeating the challenge the Saint Simonians had posed 15 years earlier. [Baunard, 279-280] But the measurement of achievement only in material terms will always lead to disappointment. The poor, we are taught, will always be with us – not as burden, but as a challenge, a measure not of our alms, but of our love.

The good that we do is not in our works, but in our charity – our love of God and neighbor.

Contemplate

How often do I pause to reflect on the presence of Christ in my Vincentian encounters?

Recommended Reading

What Good Have I Done – a poem that asks and answers the question

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2023 National Assembly Closing Banquet
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2023 National Assembly Day 4 Highlights
2023 National Assembly Day 4 Highlights 1024 683 SVDP USA

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2023 National Assembly Youth Poverty Simulation
2023 National Assembly Youth Poverty Simulation 1024 683 SVDP USA

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2023 National Assembly Host City Night
2023 National Assembly Host City Night 1024 683 SVDP USA

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National Foundation Honors Deacon Gene Smith With Founders’ Award
National Foundation Honors Deacon Gene Smith With Founders’ Award 1024 683 SVDP USA

At the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s recent National Assembly in St. Louis, the SVdP National Foundation honored former National President Deacon Gene Smith with the Founder’s Award.

The National Foundation works to support the work of the National Council and strengthens the Vincentian network of charity through financial support and other endeavors. Their award recognizes Smith’s exceptional service and outstanding contributions to the National Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Smith served a six-year term as National President from 1999 to 2005. Among the hallmarks of his presidency, Smith let the Society through its first strategic plan, and helped implement the Society’s first formal mission statement. He also oversaw establishment of the Voice of the Poor Committee, developed “to uphold Catholic social teaching by researching, validating, documenting, advocating, and promulgating issues related to the condition of the poor and disenfranchised.”

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

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2023 National Assembly Day 2 Highlights
2023 National Assembly Day 2 Highlights 1024 683 SVDP USA

Workshops

Welcomes & Keynote

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2023 National Assembly Day 1 Highlights
2023 National Assembly Day 1 Highlights 1024 683 SVDP USA

Morning Mass

Workshops

Welcome Reception

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