Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Most Vincentians are aware that we should not use the word “client” to refer to the neighbors we assist, but this is more than a matter of preference for specific labels, or even euphemisms. The reason we don’t say “client” is not that the word itself is particularly offensive, but simply that it is the wrong word.

Money is not our only resource, nor even the most important one. Rather, “giving love, talents, and time is more important than giving money.”

In the early days of the Vincentian Family, St. Vincent instructed the priests of the Mission to regularly read The Martyrology, a listing of the names and stories of the Church’s martyrs. In this way, they would be reminded of the great cloud of witnesses before them who had truly imitated Christ, which all the faithful are called to do.

Apostolic reflection helps us grow in holiness by sharing, listening, and refracting God’s light together in community.

In home visits, over-recording steals presence: focus less on clipboards and cameras, more on listening, dignity, relationships.

To answer a call to volunteer is to do something. To answer a call to vocation is to be something. This distinction is at the heart of what it means to be a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

When our personal efforts pay off with the results we’d hoped for, we naturally feel a sense of exhilaration, and even pride in our accomplishment. We pat ourselves on the back a little bit, hang a certificate on the wall, or put a trophy on a shelf. We tend to do the same thing collectively, too, when the group we are part of tallies up the results of our work.

To be a member of the Society of St Vincent de Paul is not merely to volunteer, because to volunteer is to do something. Vincentians are not called simply to do something, but rather to be something. That is the nature of a calling, or vocation.

Loving “for love alone” means embracing the Great Commandment: giving the neighbor our full heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is deep empathy, shared dignity, thoughtful understanding of poverty’s causes, and concrete action that brings presence, hope, and real support to those who suffer.