“If we had only a little of that [divine] love, would we stand around with our arms folded? Would we let those we could assist perish?”—St. Vincent de Paul, CCD, volume 12, p. 216.

Of course not, no one in the Vincentian family would ever just ignore or abandon anyone whom we could assist. And yet, isn’t that what we do when we ignore an opportunity to advocate and plead the cause of our neighbors in need and those on the margins?

All of us in the Vincentian family are experts at direct service. No question. Tim Williams, the Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, clearly states that “Our mission is to serve those in need–people without jobs or without money, people who are hungry, people sitting in darkness because their electricity has been cut off, people who are losing hope. We go to them in a home visit, we listen to them, we pray with them, and we provide whatever help we can to meet their needs. We show them that even in their darkest hours, God has not abandoned them.” This is what we do as Vincentians, and other members of the Vincentian family do the same in their own way.

Advocacy, however, seems to be a challenge for most of us in the Vincentian family. Advocacy seems to smack of politics and partisanship, something that no good Catholic should be involved. The tendency is to stay with the familiar and the successful. Members of the Vincentian family must remain true to direct service. As laudable as direct service is, we cannot remain in direct-service mode only. As John Berry, National President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul states, “When we advocate for policies addressing affordable housing or living wages, we embody Isaiah’s call to ‘loose the chains of injustice.’ Our faith and our actions must walk hand in hand. We must support organizations that are working to address the root causes of poverty, including systemic racism and economic inequality.”

Vincentians are called to practice both charity and justice. The Rule of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Section 7.2 as well as the rule or mission statements of the other members of the Vincentian family is “Where injustice, inequality, poverty or exclusion are due to unjust economic, political, or social structures or to inadequate or unjust legislation, the Society should speak out clearly against the situation, always with charity, with the aim of contributing to and demanding improvements.”

The Rule further states in Section 7.4, “The distinctive approach of Vincentians to issues of advocacy, is to see them from the perspective of those we visit–who suffer from injustice.”

We are the ones in the trenches. We work with the poor. We go to their homes. We listen and see their pain and suffering. It is the “love of Christ” that St. Paul tells us that impels us to act. One aspect of that action impels us to tell our legislators what we see on a consistent basis and “calls to be advocates for the poor–not as political lobbyists, but as friends, helping the voices of the poor whom we have come to know be heard, or when needed to speak on their behalf.” [Rule, Part I, 7.5]

Our elected officials from the President of the United States to the members of Congress to our local and city officials MUST hear our voices–we who sit, walk, and know the concerns of the poor. This is NOT partisanship. WE ARE THE VOICE FOR THE POOR.

Reflection Question: What steps are you taking to make yourself more knowledgeable in advocating for our neighbors in need and those in the margins of society?