Mass for the National Conference of the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul
- Your work
is the care of the poor and needy in our communities. Your
work is much appreciated by the Catholic Church in Scotland
and is admired by many others. I am happy, on behalf of the
Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, to associate myself
wholeheartedly with that appreciation and admiration. Your
Society – often just known by its initials, the SVDP – is a
household name among Catholics. I hope that that will
continue to be the case for a long time into the future.
- In today’s
Liturgy of the Word, your Society is accorded an indirect
endorsement of its work from the Apostle James who gives a
severe rebuke to the heartless rich. The Apostle berates
them for their unfair treatment of workers, for their lavish
and selfish lifestyles, and for their indifference to the
sad fate of so many of the poor. He warns them that a day of
reckoning is approaching. “Start crying,” he says, “Weep for
the miseries that are coming to you.”
- These
uncompromising words remind us that the poor must always be
at the heart of the attention of Christ’s people. Our
response to the boundless love of God for us on the cross of
Jesus can only be one of obedience to the command of the
Lord, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This love will
be like the love of Christ if it directed to everyone
regardless of whom they may be and if it is prepared to go
beyond what anyone could expect. A love of this kind
certainly justifies the dedication of the members of the
SVDP Society. A love of this kind is expressed in your
demanding schedule of weekly meetings when you come together
in parish Conferences to pray and plan your work and account
for the donations that have been given to you so generously
by the People of God. A love of this kind is put into
practice when you visit the people who need your caring
attention, whom you help financially, whom you encourage
with human contact, whom you dignify with the gift of your
time, with your conversation, with a smile, and with your
warm human contact. As a parish priest, I was able to see at
first hand how some elderly, infirm and lonely parishioners
looked forward to and enjoyed your visits. I know too how
your visits sometimes prepared the way for my visit as a
priest because the love that you had shown and the good you
did disposed them so well to open their hearts to the Lord
in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. In
this way we are pleased to recognize once more how the work
of your Society and care for the poor becomes part of the
Church’s great mission of evangelization.
- As a
Catholic Association, the SVDP must also try to be an
instrument for the sanctification of its members. So I
encourage each one of you, through your belonging to the
SVDP, to grow in union with Christ because He is the source
of the love we seek to share with our poor and needy
brothers and sisters. And may the SVDP enjoy the
intercession and protection of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Renfrew, 1st October 2006
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