What the St. Vincent de Paul Society Means To Me

~ A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with a very nice lady who had just moved into the neighborhood.   She had just found an apartment in a senior living center in our area and had asked our St. Vincent de Paul conference for assistance in obtaining a bed.  As a member of our St. Vincent de Paul Conference here at St. Margaret’s, I went to meet this lovely lady, and on behalf of all of you, I was able to fulfill her request.  The time I spent with her was a gift.  We were about the same age, had both recently lost our mothers, and both delighted in our children and grandchildren.  I doubt that our paths would have crossed if I hadn’t been a member of the St. Margaret Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

I have been an active member of our St. Vincent de Paul conference here at St. Margaret’s for about 35 years.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an “old” ministry.  The Conference here at St. Margaret’s was founded well over a hundred years ago.  We have a simple mission – to help the poor, to try to meet whatever needs a neighbor has, and we do this on a person-to-person basis, meeting our neighbors and talking to them face-to-face.  It is a beautiful and humbling experience to be able to sit down with someone who has been brave enough to call someone they don’t know and ask for help and try to answer that person’s needs.  Many of us in this community live relatively easy lives (myself included).  Sometimes, we are unaware of the many among us who struggle on a daily basis.  Sending a check to help is an act of charity and a necessary aid to our work, but it gives you limited insight into the struggles our neighbors endure on a daily basis.  When I sit down with someone whose life has not been easy, who has chronic health issues, or who is raising children alone and without a sufficient income to meet her family’s needs, or who has been struggling with addiction,  I have been given the opportunity, maybe for just a few minutes, to let that person know that we care, that we are here, that we see them for what they are – God’s beloved children and that we value and love them, too.  It is all too easy for all of us to go about our daily lives – which are busy and full – and not see those in need except as that person standing at the intersection with a sign – to whom we may or may not hand some money.  Like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we take the other side of the road and walk on by.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has given me the opportunity to seek out the poor among us and to try to bring a personal and loving message to them – we care, we will help, and we love you.  I am a very, very imperfect person, but when I visit our neighbors, I often feel that God is using me for a very important purpose, and I am honored to be part of that work.  

I invite all of you to consider participating in this very important ministry.  We meet monthly – usually on the first Sunday of the month after the 8:00 a.m. Mass in the Rectory basement.   

Give it some thought – give it some prayer, and see if God is calling you to make a little more time for those whose physical and emotional needs are not being met by our fast-paced culture.

During the Summer months, this column will be highlighting the good work and parishioners involved in one of our various Social Justice Ministries.  Each week, we will feature an article from a different ministry, written by one if its members, as a reflection on the calling to Catholic Social Teaching at St. Margaret of Scotland.