It is incredible that, in the 21st century, we are still witnessing such great inequalities and injustices, as those we see, every day, in newspapers and newscasts.

Vincentians cannot, and must not keep silent. We must speak up against injustice and let it be known clearly that we put ourselves on the side of the person in need, unprotected, refugeed, exploited, prostituted, and children who are raised by trafficking networks. That we stand by those who are poor in our neighborhood or city, but also those who, far from us, suffer these or worse injustices.

Vincent de Paul knows that being specifically Christian is not the simple ethical commitment to solidarity with the marginalized, which is indispensable for every man, but to make of that commitment the experience of God. And these basic lines will mark all his action: a “different” sensitivity to the poor, a critical reading of the “perverse mechanisms” that produce and perpetuate structural situations of injustice, a wide and committed vision of what today can be called “political charity,” a dare to the “prophetic denunciation,” an integral and liberating dimension of evangelization, a constant creativity to find new methods, new forms and new helpful expressions…

Celestino Fernández, C.M., in “Vida nueva” magazine, December 2010.

What can we, Vincentians, do more to make our world more just? To make those who have more pay off? To create a world with heart? To turn our hearts —and our pocket— to the God of the poor?