Reflections

THE Question (Mt 16: 13-19)

by Tom McKenna, CM | July 9, 2025 | Reflections | 0 Comments

There are questions and there are QUESTIONS. How about the life-altering one Jesus puts to Peter in Matthew’s gospel?

Contemplation: Catching a Glimpse

by Tim Williams | July 8, 2025 | Formation, Reflections, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, SVDP Contemplation | 0 Comments

True acts of compassion often have less to do with material aid and more with making others feel seen, loved, and not alone in their struggles. In visiting those in need, we offer more than assistance—we offer presence, friendship, and a reminder of God’s love that can uplift their spirits long after we’ve gone.

Close to the Blessed according to Jesus

by Ross Reyes Dizon | July 8, 2025 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments

Jesus, the Word made flesh, dwells in our midst. Through him, God, whom we do not see, draws close to us and makes himself known. There seems to be hope for the man the robbers have left on the road to die. For, by chance, a priest goes down that road. Yet he does...

The Scandal of Excess: Luxury, Indifference, and the Forgotten Poor

by .famvin | July 6, 2025 | News, Reflections | 1 Comment

A growing divide between wealth and suffering mirrors past eras of decadence that ended in collapse, revealing a moral and spiritual crisis. Grounded in the Gospel and Vincentian tradition, the call is to stand with the poor, confront injustice, and resist systems that glorify excess while ignoring human dignity.

What Jesus Saw In the Temple

by John Freund, CM | Nov 13, 2024 | Formation, Reflections

Jesus is doing what he always does in the gospels. What catches his eye and draws his heart are those in most need: those who need forgiveness. Jesus sees the widow.

Contemplation: To Be Vincentian

by Tim Williams | Nov 12, 2024 | Formation, Reflections, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, SVDP Contemplation

The Essential Elements of the Society—Spirituality, Friendship, and Service—are equal, inseparable, and essential to its identity, as they unite members in a shared mission of faith-driven charitable action.

Defeat Is Triumph; To Die Is to Live

by Ross Reyes Dizon | Nov 12, 2024 | Formation, Reflections

Jesus empties himself and humbly obeys, to the shameful death on the cross. So, God lifts him up, fills him with glory. Through him, with him and in him, defeat is triumph.

Drinking At The Fountain of God’s Word (Isaiah 55: 10-11)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 26, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

With this hot weather scorching many parts of the globe, it’s not hard to appreciate the metaphor the prophet Isaiah offers as a picture of how it is between ourselves and God — more specifically, between ourselves and the Word of God.

Has Pope Francis “Made a Mess?”

by John Freund, CM | Jul 26, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

Almost ten years ago to the day, Pope Francis told young people his hopes for World Youth Day. The sound bite people remember… “make a mess.”

Supreme Value of the Kingdom of God

by Ross Reyes Dizon | Jul 25, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

On top of being the scribe who is trained in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus embodies also the supreme value that this kingdom is. The teaching is clear that the kingdom of heaven is the supreme value. For there is this saying: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his...

The Vincentian Family: A Fruitful and Flourishing Tree

by Vinícus Augusto Teixeira, CM | Jul 24, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

The Vincentian Family could be compared with a lush and youthful tree laden with fruit and adorned with flowers.

The Virtue of Holy Indifference

by Fr. Binoy Puthusery, C.M. | Jul 24, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

In Christian spiritual tradition, the state of perfect acceptance of the will of God by an entire resignation is called as the virtue of holy indifference. It is not a virtue among many other virtues, but it is a state of virtuous life. There is a famous philosophical...