Formation: systemic change reflections
Courage, An Overlooked Virtue?
by Jim Claffey | December 26, 2018 | Formation, Systemic change | 0 Comments
Bold advocacy calls for courage. We might lose friends, not everyone will agree with us. And for an organization it can be very challenging to take a public stance on a controversial issue.
Thanksgiving with Mary – Celebrating God’s Upside Down World
by John Freund, CM | November 21, 2018 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change | 0 Comments
Mary’s thanksgiving hymn is actually a hymn celebrating God’s “systemic change” of seeing things as God sees things … and an invitation to live it in our lives.
Questions for Digital Passersby and Good Samaritans
by John Freund, CM | November 14, 2018 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change, Vincentian Family at the U.N. | 2 Comments
The Voice of the Poor, the wounded on the road to Jericho today. Some questions for digital passersby and good Samaritans.
Some Things We Can All Agree On!
by John Freund, CM | October 31, 2018 | Formation, Reflections, Spirituality and Spiritual Practice, Systemic change | 1 Comment
We pray in thanksgiving for the privilege and responsibility of being able to organize as individuals politically. We pray that each of us, as citizens, feel compelled to exercise our right and responsibility to vote…
Who Would Have Thought They Would Be Collaborators?
by John Freund, CM | Feb 6, 2019 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
An idea worth imitating! EnerCasa Co-op has come up with an idea of harvesting energy from mall shoppers who stop by to pedal on a stationary bicycle, giving electricity to local non-profit organizations.
Needed Not Needy: A Systemic Change in Perception
by John Freund, CM | Jan 23, 2019 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Why Changing The World’s Perception Is Critical To How We Tackle Poverty
Revisioning Our Ministry in the New Year
by John Freund, CM | Jan 2, 2019 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
What Herod and the Wisemen can teach us about revisioning our ministry with people trapped in poverty.
Personal Experience of Need for Systemic Change
by John Freund, CM | Nov 23, 2016 | Formation, Systemic change
Frequent visitors of this site are deeply committed to helping those who suffer poverty and are committed to a systemic change approach that goes beyond handouts. At the same time it might be that despite good will, not all have personal experience of what it is like...
Eucharist and The Need for Change
by John Freund, CM | Nov 9, 2016 | Formation, Systemic change
Eucharist challenges us to recognize and confront the structures of sin. It prepares us for a mission to transform the world.
Going Beyond Rigged Cycles
by John Freund, CM | Oct 26, 2016 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
VinFormation offers this 67 second video insight into the concept of systemic change as breaking the cycles of poverty.
“I Was in Prison….”
by Famvin Media Resources | Oct 16, 2016 | Formation, Systemic change
A group of women aim to break the cycle of incarceration in families in the U.S., caring for those who were formerly imprisoned much as St. Vincent and his collaborators were motivated by charity to care for the galley slaves in the 17th century.
Looking Through the Eyes of Another…Fresh Eyes
by John Freund, CM | Sep 14, 2016 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
The connection between empathy and our efforts at fostering and enabling systemic change.
Who’s Missing: A Systemic Change Reflection
by James Claffey | Aug 31, 2016 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
A recent U.S.A. news headline: “Poor seem far down list on candidates’ agendas.” No real surprise there! In the last presidential campaign in the United States, neither President Obama nor Mr. Romney ever mentioned people living in poverty in major campaign addresses...
Charity from the perspective of Systemic Change: A Reflection from Fr. Gregory Gay, C. M.
by Javier F. Chento | Aug 22, 2016 | News, Systemic change
Father Gregory Gay, CM, former Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity, was recently interviewed by the news agency Rome Reports, offering a reflection on how we as Vincentians understand charity from the charism of St. Vincent...
Prayer and Action: A Systemic Change Reflection
by James Claffey | Aug 17, 2016 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Prayer and Action go together for Vincentians. There cannot be one without the other. “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient…” Abraham...
Friendship as a Key to Systemic Change
by John Freund, CM | Aug 3, 2016 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Have you ever thought of friendship as a key to systemic change in our approach to poverty? If you lost everything, how long would it take you to get something to eat, find a place to stay, and a get some work? Tough situation? Yes! But nothing compared to the...