“When one is engaged in face-to-face charity and journeying with people the wider issues inevitably arise.” Speaking a meeting of the St. Vincent de Paul Society Bob McKeon who has lived in the inner city by choice for 30 years sees how one thing leads to another.
McKeon was one of two guest speakers at the Western regional council annual assembly of the St. Vincent de Paul Society May 30-31.
“If we are going to journey with these people sooner or later we are going to have to address these issues.”
“That shift in conversation for me was really amazing. (Meeting the basic needs of the people) inevitably forces us to raise our eyes a little bit higher and take some issues a little further
He stressed that Christian outreach walks with two feet – the foot of charity and the foot of justice, both of which are rooted in Scripture.
Sister Gertrude Mulholland, a Sister of Charity of Immaculate Conception came at the issue from the angle of Church teaching. “As members of Christ’s body we follow in the footsteps of St. Vincent de Paul who knew that when he encountered someone in need he was meeting Christ.”
“In other words, individual service in favour of the most deprived does not dispense us from working to change social structures.”
McKeon praised the St. Vincent de Paul Society because of its focus on advocacy, rather than charity alone. He also noted the society’s website is called voiceofthepoor.org, which shows where its priorities lay.
“The beauty of what St. Vincent de Paul does is that you take time for visits, you take time to listen to the poor, which is crucial.
Tags: Advocacy, Anti-poverty strategies, Society of St. Vincent de Paul
