March 2016
For our last meeting, we were a mere seven days into Lent and here we are, seven plus days until Triduum and the Glory of Easter.
In recent reflections, I have shared various thoughts from avoiding the trappings of simply dispensing food and monies to a definition of mercy and how Mercy is core to our mission.
I thought tonight might be a good time indeed to revisit just what our mission is.
Quoting Vicomte Hendecourt, (SVdP) President-General in 1915:
“The Society has two aims: to do a great deal of spiritual good to its members through the exercise of charity, and to do a little spiritual and temporal good to a few poor families in the name of Jesus Christ. If it (that is, we / us) did not continually seek to combine these two aims, it would lose its raison d’etre.”
And earlier, from President-General Baudon in 1877
“It is laid down in our Rule, and it has been always understood among us, that in uniting to serve our masters the poor, as St. Vincent de Paul expresses it, our objective is not only to relieve material misery, a very laudable purpose in itself, but to aspire, especially, through the practice of that most sublime of virtues “charity” to render ourselves better and more fervent Christians, and to make our poor enter on the same path, if we have the happiness of succeeding.”
There are no mentions of advanced metrics, statistical measurements or performance ratios in these mission statements. Bank balances (no offense Jackie, you do good work which we’re all grateful for) and required TPS reports are all merely a means to an end.
So I propose, as we prepare ourselves for Holy Week and likewise to honor the one perfect sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, that we keep in mind why we’re here tonight – To render ourselves better and more fervent Christians.
Welcome to 10 Angels 