The next time you watch a flock of geese, pause for a moment — think about what they can teach us about ministry in general and, especially, “long-haul” ministries of systemic change.
![Flying Geese, Fighter Pilots and Ministry](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2021/07/flying-jets-geese-featured2.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
by John Freund, CM | April 28, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change | 1 Comment
Think about the hot button issues of the day: Police reform, Climate change, Poverty, Homelessness, Election reform, Systemic racism, #metoo… Tou name it. People are calling for more than just quick but temporary fixes. People are calling for systemic reform.
by John Freund, CM | April 21, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change | 1 Comment
There are things we see but don’t pay attention to.
by John Freund, CM | April 14, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change, Vincentian Family | 1 Comment
When will we really buy into the systemic change of thinking Jesus came to show us?
by John Freund, CM | April 7, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change | 0 Comments
Over the next several weeks the liturgy, drawing from the Acts of the Apostles, presents selected stories of ordinary people who coped with severe polarization some 2,000 years ago.
by John Freund, CM | Jul 7, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
The next time you watch a flock of geese, pause for a moment — think about what they can teach us about ministry in general and, especially, “long-haul” ministries of systemic change.
by John Freund, CM | Jun 30, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
“When you first capture the grasshopper, it jumps and jumps and jumps, trying to get out, banging its head against the lid.”
“But the longer the grasshopper’s in there, the less high it jumps, the less it tries, until finally it just sits on the bottom.
by John Freund, CM | Jun 23, 2021 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Whose story are you most aware of? Can you recognize the interconnection of all stories? Do Vincentians have a special vocation as storytellers?
by John Freund, CM | Mar 4, 2020 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Am I part of the problem... or part of the solution? How can I know? I recently read something attributed to Coretta Scott King, "It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.”...
by Fr. Michael Carroll, CM | Feb 27, 2020 | Collaboration, Formation, Poverty: Analysis and Responses, Reflections, Systemic change, Vincentian Family
Vincent and Louise de Marillac were deeply committed to the education and moral formation of young people living on the streets or in dire conditions.
by John Freund, CM | Feb 26, 2020 | Formation, Justice and Peace, Reflections, Systemic change
What do Pope Francis (2020), Pope Pius XI (1927) and Bl. Frederic Ozanam (1848) have in common?
by John Freund, CM | Feb 19, 2020 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Over his lifetime he created a network of institutions dedicated to initial formation. We call this systemic change by the name of seminaries.
by John Freund, CM | Feb 12, 2020 | Formation, Justice and Peace, Systemic change, Vincentian Family
Demonstrations of the power of collaboration in systemic change.
by Fr. Michael Carroll, CM | Feb 6, 2020 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Former Eastern Province Provincial, Fr. Michael Carroll, CM, reflects on Homelessness – First aid AND Long-term Solutions, the first in a series of reflections.
by John Freund, CM | Feb 5, 2020 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
What’s your take on Systemic Change? I thought I would ask you to share what you think is the state of systemic change in the Vincentian Family.
by John Freund, CM | Jan 29, 2020 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
How conscious are we of being both God’s story and God’s storytellers… and of the many ways we can tell God’s story to a world desparetly in need of Good News?
by John Freund, CM | Jan 22, 2020 | Formation, Justice and Peace, Reflections, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Systemic change
Vincentians can be the storytellers to policy makers and others who may never “see” poverty in all of its forms.