John Monaghan is the National Vice President of the Society of St Vincent de Paul
The driving force and inspiration for our work at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) is the message of love and hope contained in the gospels, the writings of our founder Blessed Frederic Ozanam and our patron St. Vincent de Paul. One of the prayers we use at each of our meetings challenges us to ‘seek and find those who are forgotten, to bring love to the suffering and the deprived’; we are also challenged to ‘be generous with our time, our possessions and ourselves’. So members of the SVP have three objectives when we go out to assist those in need:
– to offer friendship and support in a non-judgemental and confidential manner to anyone who seeks our assistance;
– to help people achieve self-reliance and independence;
– to work to identify the structural causes of poverty in Irish society and to advocate for their elimination.
In essence this is a call for the daily application of the story of the Good Samaritan, but with the additional challenge that members of the SVP must ask why the poor and injured man was lying on the ground in the first place.
We are all aware that economically things have changed very dramatically over the last year. We have all had to cope with two difficult budgets with income and pension levies, and despite the recent reduction in inflation, costs for basic essentials such as food, electricity and heat are still high.
I am sure that most readers of the Messenger are aware of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and of at least some of our work in parishes throughout Ireland. What you might not be aware of is that the Society is an international organisation for Catholic social action operating in over 130 countries, covering all five continents and having over one million volunteer members worldwide. Here in Ireland, we have over 9500 volunteer members, who between them last year spent over €50 million, made over 350,000 visits, provided over two million free volunteer hours across forty different activities helping people in need.
Over the past year, families with children had to find more money to keep them in school or take care of health needs, and today many households are worried about a in their incomes, possibly the security of their jobs, or paying their mortgage or rent. It is worth remembering that in parishes throughout Ireland people in need are often well camouflaged. We can pass them on the street, meet them at the school gates or in the shops, we can be sitting beside that at Mass, yet to most of us their problems are well hidden, their pain and insecurity invisible.
As you read this article, Christmas is fast approaching, the decorations are going up, traffic has increased and shops are crowded as we engage in our frantic annual preparation. But as you can imagine the winter months, and particularly the Christmas period, is a very difficult time for people in need. During these months spending on food, heating and ESB, and clothing all have to increase and the daily struggle to make ends meet can become unbearable. And then there’s the added financial and emotional stress of Christmas itself.
Sadly, what should be a time of celebration and joy is all too often a time of great sadness and isolation, of feeling left out, of not being able to participate. This is happening at this very moment to individuals, older people living alone and to families with children.
It is a particularly difficult time of year for the parents of young children in poorer households. They often feel very stressed, surrounded as they are by Christmas lights, the incessant adds on TV and radio, and their children coming home from school talking excitedly about what their friends are asking of Santa this Christmas. In such circumstances, it’s hard being a parent with little money, and often even less hope. But we in the Vincent de Paul, with the help of many very generous people throughout Ireland, will again this year try in a small way to make Christmas a little less bleak for all those in need.
But of course the problems of the poor will not end with Christmas. You can be certain that when all the excitement of Christmas is over, the tree gone and the decorations packed away, that because of the current difficult economic times the members of the SVP will be making even more visits, and spending even more time and money trying to help those in need throughout the country. That’s because their financial and emotional problems won’t evaporate on St. Stephens’ day. Life will go on, and so will the problems of those who seek our help during what is often the bleakest and coldest period of the year. It’s during those days that life can appear very dark, and problems and worries insurmountable.
The SVP could never do its work were it not for the fantastic generosity of so many good individuals, groups and businesses who provide the major part of our funding. And it is worth reflecting that, at this time of year, generosity will come as a very welcome Christmas present to those of our friends and neighbours – and their children – who are so much in need of our help and support at this time. Remember that through your generosity and support they will know that they are not forgotten, that Good Samaritans and Guardian Angels do exist and that the real messages of Christmas, a message of love and above all hope, are still alive and well in our parishes throughout Ireland.
And so finally, on behalf of all the members of the SVP, but more especially on behalf of all our friends, neighbours and their children helped by your generosity over the past year, I would like to wish each of you a very happy and peaceful Christmas.