Reflections
Prophetic Episcopal Message Washes Up On Beach (Part 1)
The story echos one that appeared in the Washington Post earlier this year. A message in a bottle that traveled 3,200...
Sacramentals (Mt 10:27-32)
The years-ago world of sacramentals — as you might remember, these were the scapulars and medals and holy cards and statues you’d find in a Catholic home.
New Wineskins Today
This past weekend I experienced a bit of what is sometimes called an “earworm.” Some use this as shorthand for not...
The Hidden Poor
Becoming homeless ‘not chosen' Homeslessness is not something people choose – sometimes they are simply unlucky and fall on hard times. St Vincent de Paul Society executive and volunteer Herbert Portanier regularly meets people experiencing housing insecurity. “All it...
A Prayer Practice for Discernment
The following is a discernment technique to help you examine your day, to see if you can discover how God is calling you.
What It’s Like to Visit Châtillon
In this video, Tom Judge of DePaul University reflects on his visit to Châtillon, the birthplace of the Ladies of Charity (AIC).
The Pressures of Financing Ministry!
Just about any ministry requires financing to some degree. What can St. Vincent and St. Paul teach us?
Social Justice Conversations: Racism and Poverty
In today’s “climate,” one of the questions constantly nagging at me as the Director of Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation for the Sisters of Charity of New York is: “How to have meaningful conversations with people of color about their experiences of...
The Planted Word
The Planted Word (James 1: 17-27) Early in the last century, a boy came home from school to tell his mother how he had thrown snow balls at a homeless man lying drunk in the winter street. Taking him aside, she drove home reasons why he should never demean...
The Pot Roast Principle and Change
Generations have done the same thing in spite of the fact there was no longer any necessity for doing it that way. It was just “the way I have always done it.”
Flesh and Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant
Jesus Christ offers us his flesh as true food and his blood as true drink. If we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have life within us. This time, Jesus does not spark murmuring but a quarrel. They quarrel among themselves those who do not understand how Jesus...
Fostering a Culture of Encounter on Our Streets
Famvin Homeless Alliance: Vincentian Family Annual Theme 2018 ‘There was no room at the inn’ – Luke 2:7 Street Homelessness Looking after our homeless brothers and sisters living on the streets has been at the forefront of Vincentian charity since the inception of our...