Bold advocacy calls for courage. We might lose friends, not everyone will agree with us. And for an organization it can be very challenging to take a public stance on a controversial issue.
Jim Claffey
Author
Matthew 25: A Vincentian Life Process
It is interesting to consider Matthew’s chapter 25 as a whole, all three parables together in sequence, one building on the other.
Rest in Peace Deacon Pat
Let me tell you about a Vincentian martyr for the cause of the homeless. Deacon Patrick Logsdon directed a program for the homeless, men from the street and men just released from prison, at Anthony House in Roosevelt, NY. This residence is a transitional housing...
Seeing Better and Systemic Change
In his wonderful new book Vincentian Meditations, Tom McKenna has a chapter on “seeing better.” He asks “what does standing under Vincent’s influence do to an individual?” And one response is that one can see better. That can mean many things but it might would...
Intersections
“Those on top, like politicians and church leaders, talk a lot about peace, but not about justice, because speaking of peace sounds good to others on top and to the naïve on the bottom, but to speak of justice sounds bad to those on top because it opens the eyes of...
Bullfights and Systemic Change
It caught my eye immediately. A statue on his desk—a bullfight scene. But not what you would expect. This one was strikingly different—here the bull was sitting on the matador holding him down! Talk about the unexpected. A paradigm shift? No, a complete reversal! We...
Systemic Change Seminar: Lucena City, Philippines
Recently, Ana Maria Escano, our SC coordinator for the Philippines, gave a 2-day seminar at Sacred Heart College in Lucena City, a Daughters of Charity Institution located 4 miles from Manila. The 58 participants of this seminar were the staff of the different Social...
Advocacy and Systemic Change
“Speaking truth to power….Making our voices heard---" Advocacy: the process of supporting a cause or proposal, pleading or arguing in favor of an idea or policy. Advocacy is active, not passive, and can take many forms. But for Vincentians it means taking the...
Systemic Change: India Workshops
The Vincentian Family in India celebrated its 11th annual meeting of the major superiors of the Family on March 11 and 12 at the Niveditha Center for Faith and Fellowship in Kerala. The first day was dedicated to...
Systemic Change Workshop in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
On February 14, a workshop on Systemic Change was started in Guatemala by two members of the Commission for Systemic Change. Here is the information we received from the first day: Two members of the Family’s Commission for Systemic Change arrived to the city of...
