We Wish All Members of The Vincentian Family a Holy and Blessed Easter Season

Sunday, April 23, 2017, marked the 204th Birthday of Blessed Frederic Ozanam, it’s also the anniversary of the First meeting of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris in 1833. Sunday also coincided with the great feast of Divine Mercy. This year also commemorates the 400th Anniversary of the Charism of Saint Vincent de Paul, who is the Church’s universal patron of charity to whom all members of the Vincentian Family trace their origin. In New York City, members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul celebrated with a Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral offered by New York’s Cardinal Archbishop, Timothy M. Dolan. The homily was preached by Vincentian Father Ron Ranson C.M. who reminded those in attendance of the linkage of receiving Mercy and the willingness to dispense mercy. Father Ron stated that the word mercy should be considered or used as a verb, implying that it involves action of the part of both the dispenser and receiver. He also spoke of how Vincentians should demonstrate mercy in their daily interactions with those around them or close to them including family members. He also stated while performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy it’s important to recognize that the receiver of our mercy is in fact Our Lord Jesus Himself. We should always be grateful for the opportunity given us to serve Our Lord Jesus in the person of those we serve, which truly is a blessing for us.

This week, members of New York’s Saint Vincent de Paul Society will be participating in Formation and Orientation Training in order to be better prepared to face the challenges of serving people in need. It’s reported that Saint Vincent de Paul when speaking about charity said it’s important that charity be organized to be effective. The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul emphasizes the importance that our membership understand that we are called by Our Lord Jesus to serve him in the person of people in need.

At the United Nations the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul is working closely along with other members of the Vincentian Family as a team to implement the 2030 Development Goals. Currently one of the sub-committees is attempting to verify if governments are actually implementing policies and programs to achieve these goals. As part of this effort the committee has prepared a survey which has been distributed to people actually working at the grassroots level to determine what If any government policies or projects are underway to achieve these goals. This survey was distributed by our membership to 44 selected countries and when completed will be submitted as a report to be delivered to the Member States during a high level political meeting later this year. Some of our team members will also attend meetings relative to issues affecting indigenous or native peoples. These meetings or events give indigenous peoples an opportunity or platform to be heard concerning issues of concern. The Vincentian Team at the UN meets on a regular basis to plan strategy so we can be more effecting in dealing with issues determined by the team to be of concern.

Our Team is very aware of our responsibility to represent people who frequently don’t have a voice,  so we must try be that voice. We are cognizant of our responsibility to represent our respective groups, however at the same time also represent the Vincentian Family and that we are called to do this in a special way.  We are aware that we serve in hope to people in need.