Mar 11, 2019 - Spiritual Reading - Stones into bread

Yesterday, Sunday, I read a short reflection on the Sunday readings by a nun, Sr. Mary McGlone. A particular paragraph that she wrote rang my Vincentian doorbell.

With reference to the Sunday gospel where Jesus rejected Satan's temptation to turn stones into bread, Sr. McGlone writes, "The devil took normal human desires and blew them out of proportion in such a way that pursuing a natural good deteriorated into a perversion of the human vocation to love God and neighbor. When Jesus rejected the temptation to turn stones to bread, he rejected both the opportunity to devote his power to his own satisfaction and the impulse to feed the hungry without converting those who hoard the world's goods."

Feb 11, 2019 - Spiritual Reading - Frédéric Ozanam & Social Justice

Rule and Statutes

3.22 Working for Social Justice

The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying the injustices that cause it. Therefore, it is committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and contributing to their elimination. In all its charitable actions there should be a search for justice.

Affirming the dignity of each human being as created in God’s image, Vincentians envision a just society in which the rights, responsibilities and development of all people are promoted. The distinctive approach of Vincentians to issues of social justice is to see them from the perspective of those in need who are suffering from injustice. The Society helps those in need to speak for themselves. When they cannot, the Society must speak on their behalf so that they will not be ignored.

Jan 14, 2019 - Spiritual Reading - The Baptism of Jesus

Yesterday we had the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Here are some take-aways for us as Vincentians from a spiritual reflection by Sr. Mary M McGlone CSJ.


"What can we take away from today's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord? First, we can celebrate the reality that our baptism links us to Christ and to all who have gone before us in faith. At a time when legal papers have become so important for determining status, we can claim our baptismal certificate as our principal identity card. It tells us to whom we belong and to what we are called.

"Jesus' response to his baptism reminds us that the ceremony is but one tiny moment, the meaning of which is determined by how we live it out. Observing Jesus, we realize that baptism does not give us a status but a mission. To discern that mission, we too must pray and listen to the Scriptures.

"God will continue to send vibrant characters like John to remind us of the Spirit's fire. After those prophets wake us up, we will be called to prayer as was Jesus. Then, like Jesus, the first message we will hear is that we too are God's beloved. That love will then send us into the mission that only we can accomplish in our own day." (1)

The point is, for us as Vincentians, if we hope to be effective in bringing the love of Christ to the poor and others whom we serve, we need to have enduring confidence that God loves us. One essential way for nurturing that confidence is listening to God speak to us in daily prayer and reflecting on scripture.


(1)  The Baptism of the Lord: No script but Scriptures
Jan 12, 2019
by Mary M. McGlone
 From <https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/baptism-lord-no-script-scriptures>