CELEBRATION WITH ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY
ST MICHAEL’S, LINLITHGOW
HOMILY PREACHED BY CARDINAL KEITH PATRICK O’BRIEN
SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2011
INTRODUCTION:
It is indeed a pleasure for me being with you again at our annual Archdiocesan Mass with members of the St Vincent de Paul Society.
We gather here as always in prayer praying for the needs of the Society especially in our own Archdiocese – and considering as a Society of the St Vincent de Paul just where we are going now and where we should be going in the years which lie ahead.
FOUNDATION OF THE ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY:
We might say that the origins of the St Vincent de Paul Society go back to the Gospel teaching of Jesus Christ himself. We are reminded of the command of Jesus in St Matthew’s Gospel to “love one another”. And Jesus himself stated: “When you show it (love) to one of the least of my brothers, you show it to me!”. Throughout the Gospel passages we are reminded of the ways in which Jesus himself instructing his followers always reached out to those who were poor in any way in body, mind or spirit!
As you know it was not until the year 1833 that seven young men, students of the University of Paris met to establish the first “Conference of Charity” later named the Conference of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.
The driving force behind the Society was Frederick Ozaman who indicated that those in this group of Christians should show they were prepared to work for Christ and their suffering brothers and sisters as Christians to show their own faith.
It is of course a matter of great joy for us here in Scotland to realise that the first foundation of the Society took place in Edinburgh in 1845 just a mere 12 years following on the foundation of that first Conference in Paris. From that first Conference in Scotland of course Conferences spread throughout the length and breadth of our country until at this present time it is unusual to find a parish which does not have a Conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIETY OF THE ST VINCENT DE PAUL IN SCOTLAND:
I think it necessary to say that the initial rules of the St Vincent de Paul Society survived and stood the test of time for over 100 years.
However shortly after the Second Vatican Council it was found necessary to bring the Rule in to line with the modern world – and the new Rule was finalised at a plenary meeting in Dublin in 1973. Following on that and more recent decisions I would make two points with regard to the development with regard to the St Vincent de Paul Society.
I would say that despite the Welfare State in our own time there are still needs and often very great needs to be answered for those who are members of our communities in Scotland.
Travelling around our own Archdiocese and visiting schools, primary or secondary basically every week I realise that there are more and more children needing a nourishing meal provided by the State each day and this is accomplished throughout schools with the help of the State. No one can say that unemployment is no longer with us – rather at times it seems to be increasing. Further with the present economic recession biting harder and harder the needs of our people have become increasingly difficult to satisfy and it is not just the “poorest of the poor” who have to be helped by the St Vincent de Paul Society but rather people who might have considered themselves rather well off.
In previous years it might have been relatively easy to recognise the signs of poverty in our community – but that is not quite the same at this present time when not only do the poor become poorer but very often the rich become poor! I would put it to the members of the St Vincent de Paul Society that they should consider how best to answer those calls for alleviation of poverty by an increasing number in our society who previously were and consider themselves “well off” but now find themselves and their families in rather straitened circumstances.
And I say all this realising, as you must do, that your own income – perhaps your only income – that from the church collections is not at the same level as it once was. There were strong headlines in our national press just a few days ago indicating that the income to all charities at this present time was falling drastically because of the financial situation in our country at present. And you, as members of the St Vincent de Paul Society, have to do more practical charity with less income!
The second point I would make is that the St Vincent de Paul Society as well as relieving need must also help in addressing the situations which cause that same need. This is basically stated in the update of the Society’s Rule in 1973 where it is stated: “The Society is concerned not only in relieving need but also in addressing the situations that cause it”.
One might say that this leads us to the situation when at times, difficult though it might be, the St Vincent de Paul Society must be almost a lone voice in crying out for the “needs of the poor”.
THE RESPONSE TO PRESENT NEEDS:
When Pope Benedict XVI was preaching just over a year ago at that great Mass at Bellahouston Park he spoke of St Ninian the first Apostle to Scotland and stated: “St Ninian was himself unafraid to be a lone voice. In the footsteps of the disciples whom Our Lord sent forth before him, Ninian was one of the very first Catholic missionaries to bring his fellow Britain’s the good news of Jesus Christ”.
And the Pope did not hesitate to stress the responsibility on our shoulders as Christians, and as Christians actively concerned in living and handing on our Christian faith, to have that same strong faith as those early disciples of the Lord.
In very strong and stirring words the Pope also proclaimed to the great audience who were listening to him in Westminster Hall in London: “Religion is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation. In this light, I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance”.
And he went on to state that: “There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebrations of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue, paradoxically with intention of eliminating discrimination, that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against our conscience”.
The Pope threw out a challenge to each one of us and I would suggest to each member of the St Vincent de Paul Society: “I would invite all of you, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life”.
CONCLUSION:
Consequently I have no hesitation in saying to you today a very warm word of congratulations for all that has been and is being achieved by the members of the St Vincent de Paul Society throughout the length and breadth of Scotland. Without you the Catholic Church in Scotland would be failing in a vitally important part of its mission – extending the love of Jesus Christ to those in need.
But I do remind you of the changing face of society and the ways in which our society has changed drastically, not just since the time of the foundation of the St Vincent de Paul in 1833; not even since that time in 1973 when the Rules were updated; but society has been changing drastically even since then.
You know something of that moral abyss which sometimes seems to surround us. You are aware of the sometimes lack of responsibility for the poor and the needy sometimes evident in our Governments; you are aware not just of material need but great spiritual and moral need in our country at this present time.
I look on the members of the St Vincent de Paul Society as people who are increasingly grounded in the strong spirituality which membership of the Society brings. I call upon you to continue to be leaders in your own parish community – and where necessary to lend your voices to that “national debate” of which the Holy Father speaks. We each have a right as Christians to not only live according to our beliefs but to let others know of these beliefs founded on the teaching and the example of Jesus Christ himself.
May God indeed bless each and every one of you in your endeavours and may that Society of which you are members and of which you are so proud continue to flourish in our country and have an increasing influence on those who hold positions of responsibility.