9/25/2007

Just a brief message today to speak about an organization in the Church that, because it operates under the radar, is rarely recognized for the wonderful apostolate it carries out in the Church and in society. 

Thursday, September 27, will be the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest who, in company with Louise de Marillac, brought about renewal in the Church, particularly by better formation of priests, and daily service to the poor. 

A hundred and fifty years after Vincent, a young intellectual in Paris, Frederick Ozanam, was searching for a way to make his own faith, and that of his companions, a faith tested and tried in a France marked by political revolution, much more meaningful, and began a group to serve the poor on the streets in the spirit of Christ.

From this came the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  

Men -- and now, women, too -- come together in this society first of all to strive for holiness. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is not a nice hobby, or a group of “do-gooders.” They see it as a way of live, as an invitation to follow Christ more closely, and thus consider prayer, the Eucharist, and the spiritual support of one another to be essential. 

In the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul and Blessed Frederick Ozanam, they know, though, that their love of God must bear fruit in love of neighbor, especially the poor. They do this humbly, almost anonymously, so that most of us hardly even know who they are, when they meet, or what they do . . . 

. . . unless you’re someone in need who approaches the parish for help in paying for medicine, or making the rent, or buying food, or needing a bus pass for a new job, or just out of jail. The charism of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is to encounter these situations, never as “cases” or “numbers,” but as people with names and stories. The “Vincentians” meet them, hear them out, keep track of them, and visit them, animated by the words of Jesus, “whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” Their work is always in confidence, since the family they help may be right down the block, in their own parish, and others need not know their hard times.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society now has stores and outlets, where the poor can shop and buy much needed supplies at much-reduced rates, and are active as well in our prisons.

If you ask them their charter, their mission statement, they will reply, The Corporal Works of Mercy. Remember those?

To feed the hungry.

To give drink to the thirsty.

To clothe the naked.

To visit the imprisoned.

To shelter the homeless.

To visit the sick.

To bury the dead. 

Not bad at all . . . Happy Feast Day, St. Vincent de Paul Society! Keep up the good work!

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan