Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Succession planning in a Conference should never be a last-minute emergency. By sharing leadership, recognizing members’ gifts, encouraging new initiatives, and fostering consensus, Conferences naturally prepare future presidents. Leadership grows through service, trust, and friendship, making the path from member to chair, officer, and president a continuous process.

The words of the Lord’s Prayer are so familiar to Christians that we perhaps sometimes recite them out of habit, without truly reflecting on the many graces that accompany them, graces that we seek for ourselves and for the neighbor.

One of the most pervasive (and pernicious) views of leadership is the idea that the leader is the one who always knows best, who makes every decision, and exercises leadership best by telling others what to do. This belief can lead those entrusted with leadership to make decisions in isolation, and without explanation.

Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which arose in the earliest days of the church, is also closely intertwined with our Vincentian history and spirituality. As Pope Francis explained, this devotion has its roots in the image of the wound in the crucified Christ’s side, which pours out blood and water as “a fountain of grace and a summons to a deep and loving encounter.”

Success in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul cannot be measured by money, numbers, or visible results, but by growth in holiness and love. Service is fruitful when it unites us with Christ and the poor. Failure is not poor outcomes, but failing to give ourselves in love and trust God.

We are called to give as generously as we can, trusting that, like the poor widow, our generosity will be measured not by its price tag, but by the love, the selflessness, and the presence which accompanied it.

Study and prayer, Vincent taught, is essential, but it cannot stop there.

The quotes we read online from our founders and saints, the Rule, and even Holy Scripture, are always best understood within the context of the full passage from which they are excerpted. Reading and repeating only short clippings not only leads us astray from their wisdom but can also tempt us to seek quotes to support what we already have decided, rather than seeking understanding that can help us to better discern.

When faced with two apparent contradictions or polarities, the true answer is less about deciding either-or and more about arriving at both-and.