St. Vincent and St. Alberto Hurtado sitting around the table with the poor they loved and served. So different yet, with so much in common.
Systemic change
A Conductor Notices
We may sometimes feel like that piccolo player – that we don’t have much to offer, that if we stopped our ministry no one would notice anyway. Yet the Great Conductor notices, and needs us to complete his orchestral masterpiece!
A Question That Built a City!
The question that built a city! “Do you love your children?” When he received an affirmative response, he said: “Let’s work together, give them a future.”
Maya Angelou, “untold stories” and the Vincentian Family
“There is no greater burden than carrying an untold story.” Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Making time for what you believe in
In "Making Time", Mike Clark, the Executive Director of the Germantown Systemic Change Initiative, reflects on his personal experiences in making time for a project to which he is deeply committed. He writes "I leave conferences organized by the Vincentian Family so...
Frederic Ozanam – Systemic Thinking and Change
The National Office of the SVDP draws attention to an excerpt of National Board of Director's Stategic Goal Leader 4, Ray Sickinger's contribution to the publication Vincentian Heritage: FREDERIC OZANAM: SYSTEMIC THINKING AND SYSTEMIC CHANGE A number of biographies...
A North American approach to systemic change
Background for North American definition of Systemic change provided by Fr. Lou Arceneaux. In 2006 an international committee was established by Father Greg Gay, the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, to focus on systemic change. That committee,...
SVDP participation in National Poverty Summit
From David Barringer, CEO of the St. Vincent dePaul Society USA... March 27, 2014 Next Wednesday April 2nd, President Sheila Gilbert and I will participate in a National Poverty Summit hosted by Catholic Charities and involving members of government, media and...
“Thanks to CLM, I know how to fight.”
CLM is part of a systemic change project in the Vincentian Family. Former Superior General Robert Maloney describes a Haitian Initiative “Pathway to a Better Life” in an earlier famvin post. The following piece from Fonkose describes the reaction of a graduate....
Saturday Study Hall – “Change your way of thinking”
"Change your way of thinking!" I was really struck the first time I realized that the root meaning of "metanoia" or "repent" was "change your way of thinking". Since then every Lent I try to look at what needs to change in my way of thinking about what God is asking...
Saturday Study Hall – Change in depth
The series "Saturday Study Hall" explores a topic in greater depth through the resources of the Vincentian Encyclopedia. (A counter-part, Formation Fridays, explores the more practical resources of VinFormation.) Many will find it particularly interesting to re-read...
Formation Friday – Systemic change
"Systemic change" - a phrase that has entered into the Vincentian Family vocabulary in recent years. For many who are used to focusing on the immediate and pressing needs of people it can seem abstract and new. Yet it has roots deep in Vincentian Family tradition...
