I Like You Just Because…: Mercy as the Surprise of Sheer Gift
I Like You Just Because…: Mercy as the Surprise of Sheer Gift Whether the “gospel” begins with the tragic or the comic, that is, with sin or grace as its first movement, begs some discussion; and, still, the answer eludes any complete grasp. Catholic intuitions tend...
Vincentians of Wherever: Our Vincentian Journey
As I sat and watched my almost 3-year-old daughter dancing back and forth about 50 times in our upstairs hallway Saturday morning, all I could think about was how wonderful God is to put me on the path I am on. The path that kept me in Western New York, close to...
Lenten Shift: Papal Perspectives
Papal perspectives on the living of the Gospel have always shaped and challenged the Vincentian story. It is part of our Lenten Shift, metaphorically "shifting gears" in Lent. Change what you do. Change what you see, change what you read. We fast so we can feed the...
Offering Hope to Children Affected by HIV/AIDS #IamVincent @NiagaraUniversity
Hope sometimes is in short supply. Vincentians give many things and struggle for many things. It’s worth the struggle. This article from Niagara University (text and photos) tells it all. It is 10 o'clock on a Monday night, and New Yorker David Loewenguth, Niagara...
Who is the Patron Saint of Social Workers?
March 11: Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Louise de Marillac In different times we hold up different models as examples of holiness. In our present time, we find holiness in people such as [Saint] JPII, Mother Teresa and Sr. Dorothy Stang. They were people so...
Journey to Discovery: #IamVincent @AdamsonUniversity
In "A Journey to Discovery: Volunteering, the Vincentian Way," Jan Roelrey Tecson of Adamson University writes about "...life-changing experience was so striking that I continued to join the summer missions even after I graduated from Adamson." Many thanks to Pamela...
Step it Up for Gender Equality — U.N. Initiative
AIC's Natalie Monteza was Facebooking up a storm on International Women's Day (March 8). Guillermo Campuzano, C.M. -- the C.M. representative at the United Nations -- wrote me about this, too. Here's a good summary of what the U.N. is up to. Senior United Nations...
Down the Tubes. #IamVincent #WeAretheChurch
Down the tubes. Down the drain. Commentaries by many say that is the future of the Church. But Vincentians know better. Vincentians are the Church. And the Church is growing and healthy. In an article on HuffPost filled with both hope and desperation, Kevin Wright and...
A Vincentian View: The Loving Father
In this “Year of Mercy,” a consideration of the lessons which the Father teaches in the parable of “the Prodigal Son” cannot be denied. Sometimes, when I speak to groups of parents about this story, they place blame on the Father. They say: “He was too lenient and...
Collective Impact: Three Basic Questions
by Mike Clark In providing services and programs to assist those in poverty, there are several basic questions we need to ask ourselves to determine whether or not what we are doing is making a difference. Namely: How much did we do? How well did we do it? Is anyone...