Vincentian Service of Charity – Choose Happiness – Remembering – Vincentian Pilgrimage

Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast – Tuesday October 20, 2015

Greetings Vincentian Family:  Always take time to pray for one another and especially our youth, our future.  We always remember our priests, bishops, deacons, seminarians, religious and our dear Pope Francis.  Pray always and always appreciate in gratitude the gifts of our Spiritual Leaders. Lord, help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out toward others. Amen.

Vincentian Service of Charity – Vincentians follow the Church’s teaching on service and poverty.  Vincentians take this role seriously.  Vincentians are called and it becomes a vocation.  “The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia) and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable” (Deus Caritas Est, 25).  The service of charity is also a constitutive element of the Church’s mission and an indispensable expression of her very being (cf. ibid.); all the faithful have the right and duty to devote themselves personally to living the new commandment that Christ left us (cf. Jn 15:12), and to offering our contemporaries not only material assistance, but also refreshment and care for their souls (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 28).  We serve as the Gospel teaches and we continue to do so because of our love to the Good Shepherd, to tend His lambs.  Follow God and the Church and you will be in the fast lane of success.

Choose Happiness – Spend the day appreciating every little thing that comes your way, and you’ll end the day feeling deeply grateful for your life.  If we all do one random act of kindness daily we just might set the world in the right direction. Be happy in all situations.  Wake up each morning happy and prepared to share this happiness with others.  Vincentians, especially when visiting our friends in need, SMILE. Remember you are someone’s reason to smile.  Your smiling presence during your home visit or prison visit is a reason for those you are visiting to have hope for their future.  Give then your happy face and words.  Caution, do not make promises to them, but help them to see the good things they have.   It is in the poor that we encounter the compassionate and merciful God and therefore the poor become the goal of our visits.  We bring our happy face and see Jesus in every situation.  The reason we became Vincentians was for this very thing.  Being present in one’s time of need and making a difference.  Always choose happiness.  Anyone can be grumpy and officious, but a Vincentian brings happiness and joy to everyone God places before them.  Have a happy week filled with smiles.

Remembering – This past week my parish honoured Fr. Len Hagel on the 10th Anniversary of his death.  We remembered all priests who have died.  The service was amazing.  Our Deacon found the homily for the last mass he celebrated.  The music amazingly performed by our choir brought back memories and were the songs chosen at his funeral.  One point in his homily stood out for me.  It did in 2005 and it did last week.  Fr. Len always encouraged prayer and always asked us to pray for our enemies.  I remember my grandmother giving me the same advice when she said, “Pray for your enemy to get the most precious thing you want.”  I always remember.  In Fr. Len’s homily he particularly asked us to pray for the Terrorists.  I know this caught most people off guard.  He asks us to pray to God and call on all the Saints to pray with us, so they may be more loving.  I have never stopped praying that prayer for all who have done horrendous crimes.  I believe God wants us to pray for all people.  He created us to be equals.  Thanks to Fr. Len for my current prayer life and to my current pastor, Fr. Julian who encouraged and challenge me on our Tuesday Prayer and Fast.  Both priests encouraged fasting and not always from food.  We can fast from gossip which is huge and wasting our time.  When I was suffering from cancer, a mutual friend came to pray over me.  She said, “I feel Len’s presence.”  I told her I did, too.  So our prayer session ended in peace and I never worried another day.  I knew Fr. Len was intervening and his prayers were always powerful.  Cheers Father Len.  Continue praying for Vincentians.

Vincentian Pilgrimage – Our Pilgrimage is a journey  with God in our service.  He is there all the time, when we seek Him.  Do not visit without Him and the Trinity coming along with you.  It becomes easier to love and share.  We have been taught to be the best.  Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Louise de Marillac, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, Blessed Rosalie Rendu and in Canada we had help from Saint Marguerite d’Youville celebrated across Canada on October 16.  The Church in Canada celebrates the life and witness of Saint Marguerite d’Youville, founder of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Grey Nuns).  Sisters of Charity are an integral partner with SSVP. On August 12, 1722, she married François Youville de la Découverte. He died in 1730, leaving Marguerite, who was pregnant for the sixth time, with two living children and considerable debt. In 1737, she rented a house in Montreal where she gave hospitality to women in need. She was canonized on December 9, 1990, by Pope (now Saint) John Paul II. We are blessed to have these leaders in our life.  The more we learn from them, the better our service.  Join our special teachers on this pilgrimage to bring good news to the poor and lift those we serve from poverty.

Blessings dear Vincentian Family.  You are all in my prayers.  Lynn