Serving the poor is to be our first preference - St Vincent de Paul

Christ begging from Fr Vincent

From the writing of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest,
taken from the Office of Readings for September 27th.

Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor. Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool... and a stumbling block..., he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: He sent me to preach the good news to the poor. We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.

Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to understand the poor and weak. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: I have become all things to all men. Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbors’ worries and distress. We must beg God to pour into our hearts sentiments of pity and compassion and to fill them again and again with these dispositions.

It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been given to us as our masters and patrons.

Prayer

O God,
who for the relief of the poor
and the formation of the clergy
endowed the Priest Saint Vincent de Paul
with apostolic virtues,
grant, we pray, that,
afire with that same spirit,
we may love what he loved and
put into practice what he taught.

Can Neutral Be Truly Neutral?

 

Coats For Kids

 

Hope: A spiritual reflection

 

Spiritual Reflection selected by Deacon Steve

“… I have experienced the Cross to mean mercy and not cruelty, truth and not deception: that the news of the truth and love of Jesus is indeed the true good news, but in our time it speaks out in strange places. And perhaps it speaks out in you more than it does in me: perhaps Christ is nearer to you than He is to me: this I say without shame or guilt because I have learned to rejoice that Jesus is in the world in people who know Him not, that He is at work in them when they think themselves far from Him, and it is my joy to tell you to hope even though you think that for you all hope is impossible.

Hope not because you think you can be good, but because God loves us irrespective of our merits and whatever is good in us comes from His love, not from our own doing. Hope because Jesus is with those who are poor and outcasts and perhaps despised even by those who should seek them and care for them most lovingly because they act in God’s name. No one on earth has reason to despair of Jesus because Jesus loves all humanity, loves them in their sin and we too must love all humanity in their sin.”

“Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours”, Kathleen Deignan, Sorin Books, Notre Dame, Indiana, p. 129

Working for Social Justice

 

Does the society of St Vincent de Paul only try to alleviate immediate needs, such as feed the hungry in the spirit of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25?

The following is from clause 3.20 of The Canadian Rule and Statutes of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying 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.

The Society opposes discrimination of all kind and strives, through charity, to foster new attitudes of respect and empathy for the weak, for people of different cultures, religions and ethnic origins, thus contributing to the peace and unity of all the people of the world.

The Society’s vision goes beyond the immediate future and looks towards sustainable development and protection of the environment for the benefit of future generations.

If charity facilitates maintaining an unjust status quo, then it is not true charity but a sop, which is an insult to Christ who lives in the poor.