SVDP Contemplation

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org To offer the benefit of the doubt is to assume the best of somebody even when you are uncertain of the truth. Is this not what we are called to do in our encounters with the neighbor? Thomas, we are told in John’s gospel,...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org Our Vincentian formation, we are taught, is a lifelong process of becoming. Like all of God’s people, our lives are not simply a series of events, but a journey – a spiritual journey towards perfection in union with our...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org “Life,” the old saying goes, “is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” There is a deeper truth captured in this witticism, one that St. Vincent often repeated. It is not that we should make no plans and...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org With the rapid growth of the Society within its first two years, there arose a debate as to whether the first Conference, now grown quite large, ought to split in two. “Do you not think that our charitable society itself...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org Have you ever had a friend with very different interests than your own? Maybe he was a big baseball fan, and you just didn’t follow that sport, or he had a great appreciation for art, but you couldn’t stand museums. How did...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org In Monsieur Vincent, the 1947 movie about our patron’s life, he is asked near the end of his life if there is anything he wished he had done. His reply is simple: “More.” This captures the indefatigable commitment to new...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org   To boast about our accomplishments in works of charity brings to mind a routine by the comedian Chris Rock, in which he jokes about people who brag when they do what they are supposed to do. (“I graduated high...

This post originally appeared on ssvpusa.org There are thousands of agencies, organizations, and individuals who offer assistance to the poor. In our Conferences we often get to know them and refer neighbors to them when it seems they may be better able to provide for...