Homily for the Annual Vincentian Appeal, September 26, 2021. Gospel of St. Mark 9:38-48. Theme: More Than a Cup of Water
In today’s gospel, Jesus assures us that even something as simple as giving a thirsty person a cup of water in his Name does not go unnoticed, unrewarded by God. Well, it’s my privilege to speak today about a group of Christians in our parish who give the needy so much more than simply a cup of water.
They are called Vincentians, members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which was begun in Paris in 1833. In the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution, a 20-year-old Catholic law student named Frederic Ozanam along with some friends began to bring help and hope into the shacks and hovels of the Parisian slums. Supported by the donations of others, they gave tangible proof of the love of Christ for the poor, the sick, the suffering and the vulnerable. The Society quickly spread throughout Europe and immigrants brought it to the USA in 1845 and to our Archdiocese in 1860.
St. Sebastian’s has been blessed to have had members of the Society active here without interruption for the past 50 years. Like those first Vincentians they make personal contact with those in need, bringing help and hope into their lives. Covid restrictions have made their work challenging, but our Vincentians have not allowed it to interrupt their service. Nothing can stop within them the love of Christ that urges them on! Even if at this time they cannot carry out their usual person-to-person in-home visits, they make use of phone calls, outdoor encounters and digital communication to hold their monthly meetings and keep their good works going.
And as we all know, these good works cannot be sustained without the support of the larger community. Due to your generosity these Vincentians have distributed over $60,000 for the current fiscal year. This has made it possible to do such things as restore long-overdue garbage collection for a 101-year-old homeowner and provide unemployed persons with emergent dental surgery. It has enabled them to bring help and hope to others in a variety of ways such as assisting with medical bills, utility bills, insurance premiums, buying furniture, satisfying DMV fees and getting car repairs so that lives could be lived without additional burdens. Your support also made it possible to help relocate an abused woman and her children to another state in advance of her abuser’s release from prison. And this Christmas, which will soon be upon us, the Vincentians will distribute gift cards to needy families and children on your behalf as they do every year.
The long list of good works might sound like they were being carried out by an immense network of people covering a large territory. But actually they were done by only a small handful of your fellow parishioners, working just within the physical boundaries of our little parish of St. Sebastian. This is what can happen when Christians decide to band together to do good and when the larger community decides to stand behind them with spiritual and financial support!
You might be interested to know that the Society doesn’t simply meet a person’s present needs without thought for their future. Whenever possible Vincentians direct those they serve to additional forms of help such as safety and protection, legal advice, financial management, employment possibilities, addiction recovery, all various ways of assisting a person to get back on their feet and become self-supporting again. Vincentians seek to serve the whole person.
Vincentians intentionally go beyond material assistance and seek to touch the very soul, because they know that their work is an extension of Jesus’ ministry. It is so much more than simply humanitarian aid. They strive to see and serve Jesus in the persons of the poor and demonstrate the love of Christ by offering empathy, compassion and hope, and also by praying for and with those they serve. Many whom they have helped have commented that this emotional and spiritual support was appreciated as much or more than the financial and material assistance.
Please...prayerfully consider if God might be calling YOU to become a Vincentian! Currently our Vincentians are few and more hands would make for lighter work and enable the Society to bring more help and more hope to more people. All that’s required is the desire to help others in Christ’s Name. There is a place for all kinds of skills and ways of participating in the Society. For example, we could really use a Vincentian or two who can speak Spanish and we also need a Vincentian who is computer savvy to help transition to and maintain confidential online record keeping. There are so many ways to be of great service to Christ who reaches out to us through the hands and voices of the poor. If you are interested in becoming a Vincentian or simply curious to know more, please contact me or send an email to the SVDP email address (st.sebastian.svdp@gmail.com) given in the parish bulletin and on our website.
As you might imagine, the need for financial donations is likely to increase significantly in the coming year since government rent assistance and eviction moratoria are expected to end soon. This means that a vast number of renters will face homelessness without our help so please be as generous as you can with today’s special collection for the Society.
- If you are donating by check please be sure to note in the memo that your contribution is for the Vincentians.
- If you are giving cash, please use one of the St. Vincent de Paul envelopes so that we know your donation is meant for the Society and not the parish fund in general.
- And if you are not prepared to make a contribution today, please mail or bring back your donation, using one of the SVDP envelopes that can be found at each of the church entrances.
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